EVENING WITH THE STARS

This was it! We look totally posed in the pic, but it is what it is. Thank you all so much for your advise on the dress. It felt sooo good, and I got a TON of compliments on it!

Of course, I can't tell you about the fundraiser without telling you the whole story.

It all started last Sunday. Once the weather turned cooler, we were itching to get out to the farm. Joe had a deer stand that he wanted to put up, so we thought we would go out there for a couple of hours. That turned into 9:00, which meant we had bust a move to get things done for the next day. Once a month I work extra and it just so happened it fell on this Monday. Long, but OK. I had also committed myself to work everyday last week. Which would have been OK too, but the weather had turned cold the weekend before and I was freaking out that I would be cold on the big night. I felt like I need to find an alternative to the outfit I had picked out. I know it sounds crazy, but my night would be ruined if I was cold, and I get cold EASY! So I took every opportunity to do a quick pass through the stores that I thought might have something different that I could work with between work and picking up kids. There was also a big meeting I had to attend for Elijah in the mix. And to top it all off I had volunteered to make beer cheese! Whew, that wore me out just saying it!!

Fast forward to Fri. (ha ha) Work, pick up younger kids (Joe has to get Elijah because he has a choral festival to attend). Get to school, Naomi has her hand over her eye, said that mulch had gotten in it. I look at it, she is crying, red, swollen the whole bit. Not to worry, we already had an appointment with the Doc for Levi's yearly check up. We go home, I flush it out, Naomi's crying holding her eye. By the time we get to the docs it feels better but looks terrible. He checks her out and confirms she is OK. Now off to help with the set up that started at 3 (better late than never), there was not a lot of people that showed up so I was glad we made it. The one's that did had their kids so Naomi was loving it. Levi got to stay for a little and then Joe picked him up to go to soccer. We were able to set up 50 tables and 200 chairs before we left. Do a few more things but had to be back the next morning for the real set up. Which worked OK because Elijah had to be back at the University early the next morn anyway.

Now to the big day. The weather forecast was HOT AND DRY. Perfect for the party as far as I was concerned but we still had to get through the day. Work till 1 setting up, race home, eat lunch, jump in the shower and get to the soccer game by 2. It last till 3, come home, freshen up, get concert clothes on, drop Naomi at a friends and head down to Elijah's concert. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL, I will post on that later. Pick up dinner for the boys, freshen up again and leave for the party! Did I mention about 1 I wanted to come home and lay on our tile floor like a dog after setting up? I was hot and tired. The shower really helped and I couldn't even think about slowing down then.

We got to the event and everything looked soooo good. All our hard work had payed off. There were 150 tickets sold, people everywhere, looking great smiling and having a great time. The food was awesome , we had beef tenderloin, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail with some great sides. It felt so good to be a part of so much happiness. The silent auction went really well, we had some great things to bid on. The music was entertaining, and winning the football game put everyone in an even greater spirit. All in all, it was worth it.

I hope I didn't wear you out with the details, that's just my style (skip over the boring parts). I met and worked with some really great people. One's that I would like to get to know better, share in the friendship with our kids and branch out a little more. Our lives are always evolving, open to experience new adventures and be bless with the outcome.

Joe got a Muskie fishing trip out of the auction that he is really looking forward to. We don't know all the details but we are hoping to get to invite a few family members. We'll keep you posted on that one.

And last, it you want to check out the pics from the evening go to http://www.topsinlex.com/ and look under evening with the stars.