Countdown to the Big Night

Greetings friends! Well, I have been really slacking with my blogging lately. I've been busy with getting ready for the Anniversary event and last week I had a cold and got delayed on everything- but that is still not a good reason not to blog. So what's new? Well, we are only 4 days away until our milestone 10th Anniversary Celebration. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be celebrating 10 years and I'm not sure that I even fully appreciate what it means. I vividly remember the first time that we had an Anniversary Celebration- it was a party at our home office and it was our 3rd anniversary. We raised only about $750 in profit, but it was a lovely night. Recently, we've raised 9-11K in profit- quite a difference! I've been thinking about the people who've been to our events since the very beginning and how much their support meant. If I could have known then what the future would bring- I don't think I would have believed it. Even with the struggles and frustrations, the never-ending pursuit of more money in order to keep everything going and the other difficulties- it has still been a dream. I am grateful that I can appreciate just how wonderful these years have been.

Anyways, enough of the dream and back to the tasks that need to get done for Friday. I am almost done with the massive amount of bid sheets for the silent auction. However, each time I think I'm getting close to the end, I realize that there are a bunch more that need to be done. We're doing two silent auctions at Wine Fest on Saturday, so I need to get all of those bid sheets done as well. I have to do the sports memorabilia bid sheets, then we will be done with auction sheets. I want to get them done by tomorrow morning, so I don't need to think about bid sheets anymore. I get rather obsessed with getting things done in advance. One never knows when things pop up at the last minute, so I like to have things done in case there is an emergency or something else that gets in the way. A few years ago, my mom fell and broke her foot two days before our Anniversary Celebration. Thankfully, I was all done with the bid sheets and major preparation, so I could help mom and not fall behind on event preparation.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Boston to pick up a beer donation from Sam Adams. I'm waiting for two more auction items that are supposed to be arriving. One of the items is a really big one- I've been following up with the donor, but haven't had any response, so I'm not sure what is happening. I'm keeping my fingers and toes and elbows crossed that the item actually does arrive. I also have to pick up an item on Friday morning in Framingham- I can't pick it up any earlier. That is OK though- I don't have to be at the hotel to set-up until 2pm.

I also need to keep following up with people to get a good attendance. We can have all the best auction items in the world, but if we don't have a decent amount of guests who will bid, then it will all be for nothing. I have nightmares about having an event with 10 people showing up in the massive ballroom- yikes!

On that note- I'm off to eat a grapefruit and finish my bid sheets. Until tomorrow friends....