Monday, March 03, 2008

weekend wrapup

I'll start the weekend on Thursday so I can mention that my parents (along with one niece, Alana, who is Grace's age) came into town from Alabama to watch Jordan perform her last elementary school chorus event. A friend of mine called it Jordan's Elementary Swan Song...It was a bittersweet moment watching her sing with a group which has been together seriously studying music since third grade. Jordan played several instruments throughout the program and then had the beginning solo in a song titled, "I am but a small voice".

I am but a small voice
I am but a small dream
The fragrance of a flower
in the unpolluted air

I am but a small voice
I am but a small dream
to smile upon the sun
be free to dance and sing
be free to sing my song to everyone

Her voice is so young and pure right now. I'm so proud of her ability to hit her mark during the strenuous requirements of the program and hold herself together during a solo. It was a sweet moment. My only complication that night was that my little bit had to make visits to the bathroom at all the wrong moments. Sigh...such is life with a family. I got to see most everything despite that and thankfully had heard her solo in completion earlier. My parents were thrilled to hear her sing since they love music so much.

On Friday night we went to the Atlanta Hawks basketball game with the YMCA. William played last season and got a free ticket because of that. They offered discounted family tickets so I got four. We ended up leaving Grace with my parents and taking one of William's neighborhood buddies, Jackson. Jordan moaned relentlessly that she did not need to go since she did not enjoy basketball...in fact, she acted like I had punished her by including her on this outing. It was so painful getting everyone out the door that I almost lost my parental cool. By the time we got down there and to our seats all three kids were oohing and aahing over the event. We had eaten at The Varsity prior to the event so we only at snacks there. It's a good thing since just a few snacks and drinks cost us $32! Good to feed the hungry masses before an event like that. I was happy Dave had suggested it. We had a good night seeing something together. It was a decent game against the NY Knicks and the Hawks won. We were way up in the nosebleed section, but we could see all the action. After the game the YMCA group was allowed on the court and got to throw freethrows for a long time. Security was a bit strict, but it was a neat opportunity.

Thankfully there were no sports obligations this weekend so Saturday was pretty much a free day. Saturday night Dave and I attended the Murdock Elementary School Foundation Gala. I had helped on the solicitation committee. Lest your mind wander on that "solicitation" phrase perhaps I should explain that I went out to community businesses and asked for donations of things to be auctioned off on Saturday night. The solicitation group harvested over $40,000 worth of merchandise and services. It was a silent auction held at a nice hotel near the perimeter area. I haven't heard the final totals, but I think things went fairly well. I could not believe that someone paid $400 for a parking space in front of the school...or $2500 for an Italian vacation. It was a cool night. Dave and I were so busy during the auction that we didn't eat much so we slipped off to PF Changs after the event to have a quiet midnight meal together. Dave was an awesome date and we actually enjoyed some time together. Rare nowadays.

Sunday was a good day together. We had an interesting sermon at church and some lively discussion in our small group that night. I said goodbye to my parents and Alana that afternoon and then goodbye to Dave after small group. He's headed out of town until Friday morning to the Seattle area. He made special arrangements to be back in town for the Father Daughter Dance next Friday night with Jordan.

3 comments:

Caroline said...

Ann, I am amazed at your auction success. Please send me information on how you did all this, and got solicitations. I am very interested. Our auction was also Saturday and needless to say it was not too successful. Please, please send me your secrets.

Ann said...

Well, we don't know the final total. That was just the amount of items we collected. We've been soliciting since September. I'll send you some of the assignment sheets and try to account for the way our school foundation is run. It is a separate organization from the PTA and does fundraising to help the school with technology and items that the state and county will not be able to provide. They buy things like "smart boards", new computers, finance a full time spanish teacher for grades K-5, and recently furnished a science lab. (The county funding built the shell of the room, but the foundation had to buy everything else to get the lab up and running.)

The Gala is just the biggest fundraiser of the year...there are tons of "painless" ones all through the year. Things like each Wed is pizza night at Dominos and the school gets a percentage and family portraits in October. I'll get you more info.

Ann said...

PS: The MESF is only four or five years old.