Break time!

Phew! What a week!

2 of my 3 favorite aunts came to visit last weekend. They flew in from DC on Wednesday and stayed until Sunday. We shopped, shopped some more, and ate. I have been off WW for exactly 7 days, though I have made a FEW good choices in there. I don't entirely blame them...TOM was also in town, and so I just basically took the week off. WI day is Saturday, so I will be hopping back on the wagon then. I'm not entirely unhappy about this...I think I needed the mental break with everything going on.

Before they arrived, however, we had some effects of the hurricane...rain and some wind. Unfortunately, some of that rain made its way into our house on Tueday...the night before visitors and 3 nights before our housewarming party. STRESS! Luckily, it wasn't major damage, but it was still frustrating. The insurance adjuster came out yesterday to check things out. No storm damage to the roof, but when they built the house, the morons didn't fill their toe-board holes. *Sigh* Looks like DH will be climbing up there to do it, since the insurance won't cover THAT little gem...but they will cover the inside damage. Waiting on final numbers now, but really not so optimistic that it will be worth it.

Housewarming was Friday night. Went reasonably well, with a few stressors, but most seemed to have a good time and everyone liked the house. Got a few Tastefully Simple orders, and waiting until payday for a few more. Right now, it looks like that will be a $15-20 donation. Every little bit helps!

After the housewarming, it was time to focus all of my energy on Oz...and that was a GREAT night! We ended up with about 29 people that came out, including 3 awesome women that go to the same gym I do. I had put up a flyer there, and they skipped their spin class to support the walk. We talked for quite awhile, and I hope that they will consider walking with me this year. They said they had been considering it for awhile. I'll work on them some more. :o) They asked me to make sure I tell them when I do another event and they will bring more people. Not a huge number of bidders in the silent auction, but those that did really were awesome. In total for the night, including the 20% from Oz, the silent auction bids and a few extra donations I received, it was a $350 night! It was mostly checks, so it's not showing up on my link just yet (they take 4 weeks to post), but I'm THRILLED! I had hoped for $500, but I knew it was a long shot. I still have 1 item that didn't get any bids...probably my own fault. The Rack Room gift card thing (free pair of shoes up to $50) came in an envelope...and I didn't pull it out to show it. I was in a hurry and got sidetracked. Such is life, and now I have a head start on my next auction/raffle.

The one disappointment is that someone stole part of the Rita's bucket. :o( It had the bucket with a letter to get a free gallon of water ice, and 2 coupons for free regular size ices. Some jerkwad took the 2 coupons out. I was sitting where I could keep an eye on things, because I was afraid the Taco Mac GC would "walk away"...but I never saw anyone by the table, except for one family with 3 kids that were in teh booth that was next to it. I am guessing one of the kids took them. Upsetting, yes. Frustrating, very. End of the world, no. I think I'll donate $10 to myself and drown my sorrows in a bucket of Black Cherry Italian ice.

I have a test this week in my math class. Thank god the semester is almost over. Finals are the week of Dec. 8, so only 1 more week of class. I'm HATING this whole thing and really leaning toward saying screw it and just not taking any more classes. I have never wanted my masters. Hell, I never really wanted a bachelors, but my mom made me start, and when I tried to quit in my Junior year, I realized you can get a much better job with a degree, so I went back and finished. I'm only doing this now because it's free. And really, who am I to pass up a bargain like that? But it's really not free. I have to pay for books, and I'll have to pay for the GMATs at some point, and there is the time...the most expensive part. Maybe it's just this semester with the required 3 hours of lab time that makes no sense to me. Why force me to do my homework on YOUR schedule? So I'm hoping next semester is better...one night a week of class, and no lab requirements. I can do my homework when and where I choose. Of course, I'm taking Econ, which I hate, so it may still be a struggle to find motivation.

And finally, I was going to take a break from my hard-core fundraising until after the first of the year. I'm tired, and the holidays are hard enough...plus as it is, people are asking for money left and right this time of year. But then I got the idea for a Poker Tournament...so now I'm emailing people to get info about hosting one. Granted, it still won't be until after the first (in fact, I'm looking at March or April), but it means kicking some planning into gear again already! My preliminary thoughts are to have a ticketed event at a restaurant that will also donate a portion of sales (like Oz did...perhaps even AT Oz, because they said I was welcome to come back as often as I wanted!). I'm leaning toward $10 tickets, and prizes for the top 3 finishers...perhaps cash (taken from the ticket sales) or donated items, depending on what I can get. Since GA doesn't allow buy-ins, that's where the tickets come into play. But I'm not sure about details, so I've emailed one place that specializes in poker fundraisers and one place locally that hosts poker nights at restaurants to see what they can give me. As plans develop, I will update. Right now, it's mostly an idea in the info-gathering stages.