Thank Goodness For Wristbands

The wee ones' school does a Carnival each year as its major fundraiser.  And yes, in this case, it's big enough that Carnival is capitalized.  It takes over 400 volunteers to put it together and run it, and it's a blast.  The wee ones love when I'm volunteering not only because it means they get to run around everywhere but also because they get no homework passes for each shift I volunteer.

The best part about those passes?  They love getting the passes.  In three years, I've yet to actually have them remember to use them.  It's a great incentive all around.

Our Carnival is huge, and everyone loves it.  It is a great community builder where you see absolutely everyone there.  And yes, this year, I even saw my chiropractor.  Everyone is there, not just kids from the school.  There are games and rides and food and everything you could want from the midway of a real fair.

The first year I went, we bought tickets by the sheet.  I went back to buy more tickets only a few times before my wallet was exhausted.  I think we lasted an hour.  Wow those tickets go fast.  The wee ones had fun, but it was a much shorter day than I'd anticipated.

After that first year, I learned my lesson.  We bought wristbands.  The wee ones actually do love the rides and spend the majority of their time there, and the wristbands are valid from noon until 4pm on a given day.  That I can handle.  It's far more cost effective, and we know we can spend four hours at Carnival before we're done for the day.

The wee ones are now thrilled.  They run from ride to ride, finding friends to go with them, and giggling the whole time.  We still purchase a couple sheets of tickets so that we can buy food.  And so the wee ones can have their faces painted.  It never fails to amaze me how talented some of the people who attend our school are.  Each year when they come show me what they've chosen for their face paint... I just giggle, thankful that it will wash off when we shower.

Little Miss was  vampire this year.  Have you ever seen a cuter one?

Mister Man chose "Bruce" - his made up character from Star Wars XIX (don't ask).

Without the wristbands, our time would be much shorter at Carnival.  And we'd probably spend less money overall because we'd see how fast it was going.  Whoever came up with the idea of doing wristbands was brilliant - and not only because it means I can volunteer for my shifts, knowing the wee ones are being chaperoned by a friend who won't need to keep coming back to me for more money!

Does your school do a Carnival, too?  Or maybe a carnival?  What's your favorite part about the one at your school?

I know we can't be the only ones who love carnivals.  Carnival Savers has a contest going on now through October 4 where you can win $250 in carnival prizes.  Go enter quick though, because this ends October 4!

I am writing this post in conjunction with VolunteerSpot, a website that helps manage volunteer activities.  I've been using it for the past two years with our PTO, and it's a lifesaver.  I found it on my own and have been using it on my own.  I recently met up with VolunteerSpot and found out that they love bloggers, too.  I'm beyond excited to help spread the word about them because I personally love them so much.  Writing this post means I'm entered to win $50 from Carnival Savers, but that's not why I wrote this post!

Seriously? It's For Charity

I spent much of last week and this weekend at our local elementary school helping them set up for and run the annual rummage sale. This is a huge rummage sale, bringing in between $15K and $20K each year. People look forward to it all year.

But after the work I've put into it, my faith in humanity is a little shaken. This is a fundraiser for the school. This isn't life or death, and it certainly -- in my mind at least -- isn't worth cheating over.

And yet, cheat and lie and steal people did.

Yesterday, I went through all the shoes midway through the day and reorganized them. I matched up every shoe that the evening before had perfect matches. There were sixteen shoes now lacking a mate. In other cleanup, I found three of the missing mates tucked behind the bleachers and under racks by enterprising souls who hoped to buy the $2 shoes for half price today.

My duty in the morning was to stand near the toy table to ensure that no one opened the bags and rebagged the $1 per bag toys or changed prices. To everyone's surprise (this was the first year they'd stationed someone at the table), I didn't catch anyone doing anything like this. Instead, people were caught in the back of the gym opening bags and stuffing as many Barbies in them as they could instead of paying the $1 per bag. And the $2 stickers for some of the nicer toys were littered on the floor.

I sorted through the jeans to straighten out the piles after the morning rush, only to find nice clothes thrust under the piles in the hopes that no one would find them. The same thing happened when I started returning items to the belt and socks and hat bins.

Even during setup, we weren't immune. As I would price one section, I'd notice a random box under a table and discover items that someone had put away for themselves. And at the worker presale -- for those of us who put in at least eight hours during setup -- people showed up who hadn't done one iota of work and then pulled out the items that other people had hidden for them.

Today was the bag sale. At the entrance, you bought a bag for $5 and could fill it. If you had more items than fit in the bag, you had to go back to the entrance and buy a new bag -- no stashing things and then buying bags later in an effort to be fair to everyone. You don't want to know the giant boxes I saw being filled with no regard paid to the workers requesting that they follow the rules.

C'mon, people. Do you really need this stuff? Is it worth cheating over? Do you feel better about yourself for having done so?

I know that I felt like I needed a shower by the time I left.

Cook Book Thank You

Wow. That's really all I have to say. Oh yeah, and thank you! Do you remember the cook book where I was asking for recipes? We had not nearly enough at the time, and it was looking a bit dire. Want to know what happened? I got a ton of recipes. So did everyone else who asked for them. In total, we have more than 976 recipes in the cook book. In fact, there were so many that some of them couldn't even be input (those don't count toward the 976 total). You guys are fantastic.

Even though we have 976 recipes, we're keeping the price of the cookbook the same at $20, which is a great price for any cook book. I took some sneak peeks at recipes while inputting them, and there are some really great ones out there. Several people asked me if you'd be able to purchase a cook book when they're published.

The short answer is yes.

However, there isn't an official shipping process. But I did some thinking about it, and here's what I can do. The books are being sold via a presale with delivery (here) on November 21, still plenty of time before the holidays. If you are interested in buying a book, I've calculated the approximate price of shipping (based on a similar cookbook). You can send me a check for the $20 book plus $3 for parcel post or $9.80 for Priority Mail shipping, and I'll order the book with the presale orders that I'm placing for myself and then mail it out myself.

However. All the book orders need to be received by the woman coordinating this on Monday October 6. That's one week from Monday. Like really soon. So if you're interested, you need to email me ASAP so I can get you my address so you can mail me you check so it arrives by the 4th so I can get it to the coordinator by the 6th. Capice?

So let me get on with it here. A huge thank you goes to:

Angela at Hello, Dahrlin' gave access to all her recipes, and I selected a couple that looked particularly good (like her Salmon with Peas in Butter Broth!).

Edbteach submitted a divine-sounding Key Lime Cake.

Jules over at Just Because offered up her Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. And I'm totally bummed because I just found out that her blog is invite only which I didn't realize because I'm using the reader thing now and don't visit each invidivual site. But I promise that banana bread is yummy!

Janet makes a mean Brownie Cobbler with Homemade Whipped Cream. Plus Ranch Chicken. And a Vidalia Onion Casserole. And an easy Cherry Cobbler. And Cheesy Potatoes. Yeah, she's an overachiever!

Holly gave us a Carrot and Toasted Cumin Soup, some Black Bean Salad, and Polenta Bruschetta.

Jackee at Runs With Scissors contributed two yummy hot wings appetizer recipes for us.

Debbie at My Noggin Bloggins (I LOVE that name) gave us a yummy Cocoa Pie.

Susie over at Susie's Homemade offers up anything on her site but particularly recommended her Grilled Strawberry Shortcake.

Eleanor provided the an Apple-Sesame Cake.

Melissa is after Little Miss's heart with her Macaroni and Cheese.

Cass from Chop. Stir. Mix. offered up any of her recipes, and there were lots of good ones to choose from. I feel horrible, but I forget which ones I chose. I had some really late nights typing these in!

Carrie at Barely Controlled Chaos submittd a Hummingbird Cake.

Jules from The House of Jules created the most yummy sounding Guinness Cake that I soooo need to make.

Emily contributed a recipe for Spicy Chicken Enchiladas.

Greedy Grace gave us her Sour Cream Chicken recipe.

Stacie offered up a Mexican Casserole.

AngiDe from Nana's Box makes Pani Popo for her three year old.

Swati via hello, net baby! provided Matar Ghugni.

Stacy from Salmon and Milk offered up anything on her website, and I know I grabbed a couple of her Friday recipes. Shame on me, I can't recall which (I blame it on another late night). Sorry!

Maureen sent me a Red Chicken recipe that is super easy to make and sounds great.

Annette sent me the Lazy Man's (or Busy Women's) Spicy Chicken Corn Chowder, and I love corn chowders!

Jamy sent me a recipe for Taco Soup, Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie, Mexican Chocolate Cake, Chicken and Broccoli, Baked Quesadillas, Easy Chicken Pot Pie, Vegetable Dip, Fruit Dip, Fast Fried Rice Bowl, Club Quesadillas, Spaghetti Pie, Parmesan Zucchini Sticks, and Mastacciohi with Spinach and Feta. I want to head over to her house for dinner!

IF I missed anyone, I apologize. I tried really hard to keep good notes, but I know I'm not perfect. Also, with so many recipes, I know a few recipes were weeded out where there were duplicates. I haven't seen the final version so I can't guarantee that every one of these recipes is in there, so my apologies if your recipe was left out. It's nothing against you or the recipe, but we had a massive outpouring the last two days of the collection period that everyone was overwhelmed!

And for those of you who missed it before... there is a new foundation in my area supporting the families of children with special needs ages 3-21. This cook book is the first fundraiser they've done, so this is the base that they'll use to get their programs off the ground. Totally worthwhile cause, plus it's a rockin' cook book!

And once again, thank you to EVERYone who contributed recipes or asked how they could help. It means a lot!

They Don't Want Me!

I’m so bummed. I donate blood every 8 weeks, making my appointment for the next donation as I’m munching on the cookies the nice people at Heartland Blood Center so generously provide.

This is my 8 week appointment, and since I usually go right after yoga, I had a 9:50am appointment. However, there was no yoga today due to a conflict on my instructor’s part, which actually worked out well. A local elementary school had a huge rummage sale today, and they volunteered to share the profits with Mister Man’s preschool and another local elementary if parents from the two schools pitched in with volunteers.

Peachy! I rescheduled my blood donation to the earliest available appointment, at 8:10. I was still going to miss the opening of the rummage sale, but I’d be there by 9:30 – since the school is 15 minutes south of me while the blood center is about 20 minutes northwest of me.

I showed up right at 8:10 on the dot, yay me! And it wasn’t too busy, which is unusual for a Saturday morning. I filled out my paperwork and read my educational materials. At that point, I realized my temperature was going to be very low because I’d been drinking water in the car, but I figured I could explain that upfront and have it not be an issue.

I actually briefly thought about deferring. I didn’t feel sick at all, but I was slightly sniffly. While I was 99% sure it was due to allergies, I’m a neo-natal donor (O Negative blood is all they’ll give to newborns and for good reason!). The immune systems of those babies are especially delicate, but I pretty much knew I was fine, and if for some reason I felt at all off over the next couple of days, I can call and ask them to toss the blood.

The nice lady was pretty much immediately ready for me, and we headed into the little room for our chat. She checked over my paperwork and verified that I’d indeed read the educational materials. She handed over the little thermometer, and I explained about my water issue. No problem.

Then she starts taking my pulse. Up next is the blood pressure, which in a twisted way is my favorite part. I tend to have low blood pressure, and I always try to see if I can beat my last score. Last time it was 96/58.

As I was thinking about this, the pulse check continued. Finally, she looked up and asked me if I’d had a lot of caffeine this morning. Curious, but sensing that something was unusual, as I’d never had this question before, I explained that I – horror of horrors – don’t like coffee and don’t drink anything with caffeine.

She hmmm’ed. Uh-oh. I figured that for some reason my pulse was racing, which was a bit of a surprise. Then she explained that my pulse was skipping, and that they have a new order in the last two weeks that anyone with a pulse that skips has to be deferred. She tried it again, but apparently my pulse skipped again, so I have to wait 24 hours to donate. Which is Sunday when they’re closed. Which means I am now rescheduled for next Saturday.

Per the nurse, this is sometimes a fluke thing where your pulse skips but the next day, it’s fine. She assured me that most likely it’s nothing to worry about. So now the debate starts – do I google skipping pulse and see what horrors await me in the 0.005% chance that whatever I discover applies to me or wait until next Saturday to see if my pulse has stopped skipping?

The only good news is that I was able to get to the rummage sale by 8:45, and they definitely needed my help. They sold tons of stuff (probably literally) by the time we closed at 4. Amazingly though, there was still so much stuff left that hadn’t sold – including some really nice stuff, which is a shame. Fortunately, they have arrangements with charities to take what doesn’t sell (with the exception of things that should have been thrown away in the first place by the people who donated them). Quick PSA: when donating something, if you wouldn’t give it to your best friend because it’s too gross/broken/out of date/torn/stained, please don’t donate it to charity!

I won’t know until next week how much the rummage sale made, nor our split, but between the Cinco de Mayo event and the rummage sale proceeds, our PTO definitely will have some funds to start off our year right.

Plus, a woman I was talking to at the rummage sale has a brother who can most likely donate ice cream for our school if we do a back to school picnic (which I have my eye on doing as a way to build more of a community).

Oh yeah… and the wee ones are back safely from Florida! They had a great time and told me all about the purple and rainbow slides that they loved and the Shamu jumps they saw and the belly splashers they did. Then they crashed. At least they know that tomorrow is Mother’s Day and they they’re supposed to be quiet when they wake up. We’ll see if that really happens though!

A Pocket Full of Money!

Today was Mister Man’s preschool’s silent auction and raffle. Of course, he’s currently in Florida, so he wasn’t there to enjoy the Cinco de Mayo festival, but it was pretty cool.

There were two parties during the day, and because I had no children to mind, I was able to be there from 8:30 am until 6pm – set up to every last thing put away – with no distractions. Both the morning and afternoon preschool classes really seemed to enjoy the parties, as did the parents who attended.

A couple classes sang and did dances during each party, which was so adorable. There were a couple of Hispanic boys who really got the dancing, even though they were only 4 or 5. They had their hands in the right places, their feet were in step, and they had great rhythm. Plus, they looked great in their cowboy boots and hats. Many of the girls were similarly attired in traditional Mexican garb, but none of the girls were half as good as two boys in particular.

There were also traditional dancers from the high school who came and danced for the students for about a half hour for each party, including costume changes. Now they were impressive. I have a feeling that I would have weighed less in high school had that been my hobby – those dances are fast and aerobic!

But best of all was the support for the fundraiser portion. When this was done two years ago (the last time it was done), I’ve been told it raised around $1,700 for the PTO. That’s good for us for a fundraiser, as our annual budget is well under $10,000. While we haven’t totaled up all the items, it appears as though we’ve raised in the neighborhood of $5,000 today! Not that anyone I know reads this, but in their hearts, they know that I am so very thankful to them for participating.

It was a lot of work to approach the local businesses and collect all the donations, not to mention getting the word out, putting together the displays, etc, but bringing in this much money – which will allow us to purchase so many things for the school and its students from more listening centers to mini-trampolines the therapists have requested to art supplies and more, not to mention helping the low income students attend field trips – is well worth the effort.

For anyone who lives in or near Chicago (or who has any of these chains nearby), please patronize them and thank them for supporting the Early Learning Center for special needs and at risk 3-5 year olds:

Sandy Ruff Photography
WineStyles
Cartoon Cuts
Barrington Fire Department
Barrington Park District
Catlow Theater
Color Me Mine
Dunkin' Donuts
Panera
Starbucks
The Canteen
Dinner by Design
Pizza Hut
Manic Mommy
Ace Hardware
Pet-A-Coat Junction
My Sister’s Obsession
Julie Buxbaum (author of The Opposite of Love)
Keson Industries
Schaumburg Flyers
Language Stars
Brunswick Zone
Dolphin Swim Club
Amazing Gracies
Barrington Chocolate and Ice Cream Shoppe
Portrait Innovations
Young Tootsies
Barrington Gyros
Crickets
Elevation Salon
Great Clips
Curves
Pump It Up
Village Pizza
Body Soulutions
Domino's Pizza
Aristica Wave Salon de Belleza
G. Whiz!
Jewel
Mia Francesca's
Evamarie Pilipuf
Learning Express
Go Roma!
Chuck E. Cheese
Cary Gymnastics
Wool Street
Stairway Studio
Chessie's Restaurant
Clarke's Deli and Bakery
Sanctuary Salon & Spa
Good Shepherd Health & Fitness
La Mesa

And next year, we hope it will only be better. After all, I’ll be PTO president then! As for now? I’m now working on our last fundraiser of the year. We’re selling gift cards to businesses at face value. The school earns a portion of every gift card purchased. Who doesn’t need or use gift cards, especially at the end of the school year when there are graduations, teacher gifts, etc? Hey – if any of the three of you reading are interested, let me know and I’ll get an order form to you (yeah, I see that happening!).