Thursday, February 24, 2011

Auction Basket Case


My first experience with being involved in the creation of an auction basket was last year, for the preschool fundraiser. I really just dipped my toe in the water -- was present for the selection of the theme, and okay-ed decisions made by my more pro-active co-room mom. It all went very smoothly.

This year, I am the more experienced of the room moms in terms of how this all works. Our theme last year, "cooking" went over well, (two baskets, one for pretend cooking, one for real cooking). I suggested we nab the theme. We have less money to use this year, which is just as well; one thing that drove me crazy, even from the sidelines, was the amount of work that went into these baskets (driving around, time spent hunting online, wrapping the things for presentation). The baskets only went for the purchase price at auction, if we were lucky! A strange tradition.

Anyway, when I was at Ikea, having spent all the money in the budget on a handful of great play kitchen items, I confessed to the employee who helped me carry the heavy piece that I felt a little guilty about how easy it was this time, copying an idea, and doing one-stop shopping. His response was surprisingly pithy: "Work smarter, not harder." The Tao of Ikea?

Monday, February 14, 2011

Rain Roulete


"You're so lucky!" These were the words of a friend regarding the fact that C's birthday was in the late spring, and we were able to confidently plan a park birthday party. This friend's girls' birthdays are in January and February.


The youngest's birthday is next weekend. A few weeks ago, when we got serious about planning the party, the weather was gorgeous. A perk of living in Southern California! I thought. We can have a park birthday in February! G got excited about it, invitations were ordered, and away we went. And then we hit the window where the weather sites will start to give you an extended forecast.

Depending on who you ask, there is around a 40% chance of rain on the day for now, give or take. We have a skeletal Plan B, but I am still hoping we don't have to go there. At least G reports that what he is looking to most is the chocolate cake, which will be there, rain or shine.