The giveaway I'm hosting with I Am A Reader, Not A Writer starts tomorrow!! :-D I can't wait!! You gotta love summer and the idea of Lazy Summer Days even if they are more a figment of the imagination vs. reality. This summer has been anything but lazy for me. In fact, my muscles ache when I lay down to sleep as if I'm working out. Lol.Keeping four kids busy is a bit of a workout, it's true. VBS (Vacation Bible School), swim lessons, football camp, soccer camp, nerf gun wars... house cleaning. (They'll be experts after this summer!!)
Organizing my house and moving everyone around is also a bit of a workout. I even hammered a bit. Those cheap bookshelves still work even after they get wobbly if you add a bunch of tiny nails to the flimsy back cardboard thing. Do you use those cheap bookshelves? I've got 'em all over the house. Lol. I rock with a hammer. Lol.
The car show I volunteer for is comin' up fast: August 4th. I also remember the date as day #1 of the Summer Wrap Up Readathon. I won't be reading too much that first Saturday, but that's just how this summer's goin' for me.Our Awesome Car Show....
The Abundant Life Cruise-In goes from 10am - 4pm. So, cars are lining up to get in about 8am. We try to get there by 7am. I help out at the Registration table. My Cool, Man heads up the judging team, so he watches cars as they arrive - right after he parks whatever we're bringing. Our kids wear the t-shirts, too, and help the maintenance guy keep up with grounds and stuff. They look like a gang, almost, with their friends... only they're polite and respectful of cars, especially, which makes them look like a cool classic car gang. If that exists.
To register for the show, everyone pays $15. They get a Goodie Bag full of whatever fun stuff we could find to put in there. They also get a 10x13 picture of their vehicle, which is unique to our show. We have a photographer team and a graphic artist onsite printing the pictures so everyone can take it home by the end of the show. If they pre-registered, they get their handmade wooden frame for free, otherwise it costs a few bucks. We also have t-shirts, of course... I think we're charging $15/shirt this year except the volunteers will get one for free as a "thank you" for volunteering - along with a free lunch.Lunch!! We have a full food court!! Hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches... corn on the cob, french fries... hand-dipped ice cream sandwiches, caramel corn, sno-cones... it's like a mini-fair!!
We also get a bounce house or two for the kids who come as well as a face-painter.
I'm on the team that helps get raffle prizes and fun stuff for the Goodie bags. (Which is where I'm getting my main work-out right now!) So far I've gotten tickets for a fee bowl at Mt Hood Lanes for every Goodie bag, coffee mugs or gardening gloves, & fun coupons. Other volunteers have gotten free cheeseburger tickets, bogo minigolf tickets, water bottles and more coupons. The Goodie bags will be worth the $15 registration fee all by themselves!!The funnest thing at the show (I think) is the raffle. We get so many prizes that they start drawing tickets and giving stuff away as early as 10:30 and continue steadily 'til 3:00. Lots of people buy $100 worth of tickets and win lots of cool stuff. We make more money for the food banks on the raffle than we do for the lunch!!
I love finding creative stuff for the raffle. We always want a lot of prizes that the car-guys wanna win, obviously. Like free oil changes or car washes. This year we're getting an exhaust system - how awesome is that?!
I like to find things for the wives, too, since so many of 'em get to come and hang out in the sun all day with their spouses. Accent on Attitude gave me over $850 worth of fashion purses and Avon products. Terra Casa gave me a huge gardening pot worth over $250.Today I'm picking up a golf basket and cat, dog & wild bird baskets and a salon basket. We've gotten gift certificates to Enchanted Forest, the Aquatic Park, Baskin Robbins and tons of restaurants. One of the ladies on our team gets over 20 different Starbucks prizes. I'm telling you... we have the BEST raffle around!!
That's not counting the signed basketball by the Blazers I'm working on. I seriously hope we get that!!
There's something about putting on a great big event that I find exciting. I've never claimed to be very organized, you know? Even tho I lose my notes all over the place, I'm enthusiastic and creative. :-D And... maybe a little tired and behind on my reading.
Ya gotta love summer, though. My homemade blended coffee was delicious!! Sounds like just what this summer day needs!
What are you up to?!
