Project 365, Day 185
Happy 4th of July, everyone! I'm watching the fireworks show at the Dell Diamond from my loft window as I type this :o) Third day in a row! They had fireworks Thursday and Friday after both baseball games so the dogs have been on edge. They seem to be doing ok now which is good.
Anyway, my day wasn't so great, but in the end I'm just glad I made it home in one piece and that I got to shower. I woke up bright and early at 5:45am after going to bed past midnight making those bath bombs and wrapping everything up. I made it to my in-laws by 7:30am, dropped the dogs off, and then headed over to Fort Hood.
We got special parking passes, but a lot of the roads were barricaded. We were supposed to meet a SGT who was going to help us set up our table, but after consulting with 3 different MPs at road blocks, we drove around aimlessly for 30 mins because no one knew what was going on! But eventually, we found where we had to be. I was told we were going to be in a building, but I guess when the Army says "building", they really mean tent.
Oh man. I hate being outside when it's hot and I especially hate sweating. But, we had a breeze which was nice, but also a pain in the rump because our stuff was ALWAYS flying off the tables. And as the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter and hotter--until it broke over 100*f.
1 of 3 tables we had set up--me with my bath bombs!
Tell me why for an event that started at 1pm, we had to be there at 8am and set up by 10am? I sat there for 3 hours reading and doing nothing after we were set up...it was ridiculous! I tried to buy a bottle of water from a vendor, but they weren't opening until 1pm and it wasn't even noon yet...UGH!
The lady "in charge" at that tent was a nazi. She was yelling as us to move our cars and then when she walked by our table, she told Steve's mom she wasn't allowed to sell the lollipops because they were a food item. Steve's mom had cleared it beforehand since it was pre-packaged and it was ok as long as it wasn't being adhered to anything with glue. Steve's mom offered the nazi lady to call our FRSA about this, but she just kept on walking. Eesh. I guess she also yelled at the SGT who was helping us earlier, too.
We spoke with another FRG who had a table set up and we found out we were fed all sorts of faulty info. For one, they told us we had to pay $50 for a table, when FRGs dont have to pay. Generally, when you have a fundraiser, you dont have a price on your items and take donations only--well, here you WERE supposed to price things. We were just so misinformed about everything and plus that whole fiasco with finding the place--we were getting fed up. I told Steve's mom that this was the last time I was doing a booth. Steve's mom was so mad herself that she decided to rebel and go home to get the dog cookies I had made to sell...lol. That didn't work out so well because the carob dipped cookies all MELTED in the heat! But we did sell a few.
Anyway, we had 3 tables set up--one was for my bath bombs and the other 2 were arts & crafts made by members of our FRG, Steve's mom and Steve's aunt pretty much. We had banners with lollipops which were a big hit because a lot of kids want the candy. We decided to stick with donations only so a lot of people were very generous giving us $5 for a lollipop.
I found that a lot of guys were into the bath bombs--moreso than the ladies! Usually when couples walk by, the guy would be like, "oh honey look, bath bombs" and the girl often replies, "I already have some, we dont need any". One guy was so happy because apparently apple and lavender were his fav scents so he bought those bombs...lol. Lavender was definitely the big winner by far.
We stayed for 10 hours...yes, 10 hours in 100+*f heat! If that isnt dedication, I dont know what is. And in the end, do you know how much we raised? $71. That's it. People just werent buying anything a lot of things and that was the general consensus around the entire tent. I told her we'd stick to bake sales. We raised $100 during a lunch hour that was indoors with A/C.
Thankfully, the SGT who helped set up our table was very supportive and told us if we wanted to leave early (which we did...we stayed until 6pm) to call him and he'd come by and help us out. He even drove us to our cars which were at a lot a ways away so that was great. I was hot, cranky and just glad to be done with this day. I did not care to stay for the Dierks Bentley concert happening that night.
We picked up some Church's chicken for dinner and headed back to the in-laws for a quick dinner before I headed home with the dogs in tow. The first thing I did when I got home was take a shower. My skin just felt so stinky and I was so sweaty that it just felt good to wash all of that away.
Steve's mom with our red, white & blue tables
So, that was how I spent my 4th of July. From now on, you can bet I'll be sticking to BBQs and A/C thank you very much!
P.S. My laptop works again! It powered on and seemed to work fine--the only thing that's wrong is that the "M" key doesn't work so I have to copy/paste it whenever I need it :o) haha!
Anyway, my day wasn't so great, but in the end I'm just glad I made it home in one piece and that I got to shower. I woke up bright and early at 5:45am after going to bed past midnight making those bath bombs and wrapping everything up. I made it to my in-laws by 7:30am, dropped the dogs off, and then headed over to Fort Hood.
We got special parking passes, but a lot of the roads were barricaded. We were supposed to meet a SGT who was going to help us set up our table, but after consulting with 3 different MPs at road blocks, we drove around aimlessly for 30 mins because no one knew what was going on! But eventually, we found where we had to be. I was told we were going to be in a building, but I guess when the Army says "building", they really mean tent.
Oh man. I hate being outside when it's hot and I especially hate sweating. But, we had a breeze which was nice, but also a pain in the rump because our stuff was ALWAYS flying off the tables. And as the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter and hotter--until it broke over 100*f.
1 of 3 tables we had set up--me with my bath bombs!
Tell me why for an event that started at 1pm, we had to be there at 8am and set up by 10am? I sat there for 3 hours reading and doing nothing after we were set up...it was ridiculous! I tried to buy a bottle of water from a vendor, but they weren't opening until 1pm and it wasn't even noon yet...UGH!
The lady "in charge" at that tent was a nazi. She was yelling as us to move our cars and then when she walked by our table, she told Steve's mom she wasn't allowed to sell the lollipops because they were a food item. Steve's mom had cleared it beforehand since it was pre-packaged and it was ok as long as it wasn't being adhered to anything with glue. Steve's mom offered the nazi lady to call our FRSA about this, but she just kept on walking. Eesh. I guess she also yelled at the SGT who was helping us earlier, too.
We spoke with another FRG who had a table set up and we found out we were fed all sorts of faulty info. For one, they told us we had to pay $50 for a table, when FRGs dont have to pay. Generally, when you have a fundraiser, you dont have a price on your items and take donations only--well, here you WERE supposed to price things. We were just so misinformed about everything and plus that whole fiasco with finding the place--we were getting fed up. I told Steve's mom that this was the last time I was doing a booth. Steve's mom was so mad herself that she decided to rebel and go home to get the dog cookies I had made to sell...lol. That didn't work out so well because the carob dipped cookies all MELTED in the heat! But we did sell a few.
Anyway, we had 3 tables set up--one was for my bath bombs and the other 2 were arts & crafts made by members of our FRG, Steve's mom and Steve's aunt pretty much. We had banners with lollipops which were a big hit because a lot of kids want the candy. We decided to stick with donations only so a lot of people were very generous giving us $5 for a lollipop.
I found that a lot of guys were into the bath bombs--moreso than the ladies! Usually when couples walk by, the guy would be like, "oh honey look, bath bombs" and the girl often replies, "I already have some, we dont need any". One guy was so happy because apparently apple and lavender were his fav scents so he bought those bombs...lol. Lavender was definitely the big winner by far.
We stayed for 10 hours...yes, 10 hours in 100+*f heat! If that isnt dedication, I dont know what is. And in the end, do you know how much we raised? $71. That's it. People just werent buying anything a lot of things and that was the general consensus around the entire tent. I told her we'd stick to bake sales. We raised $100 during a lunch hour that was indoors with A/C.
Thankfully, the SGT who helped set up our table was very supportive and told us if we wanted to leave early (which we did...we stayed until 6pm) to call him and he'd come by and help us out. He even drove us to our cars which were at a lot a ways away so that was great. I was hot, cranky and just glad to be done with this day. I did not care to stay for the Dierks Bentley concert happening that night.
We picked up some Church's chicken for dinner and headed back to the in-laws for a quick dinner before I headed home with the dogs in tow. The first thing I did when I got home was take a shower. My skin just felt so stinky and I was so sweaty that it just felt good to wash all of that away.
Steve's mom with our red, white & blue tables
So, that was how I spent my 4th of July. From now on, you can bet I'll be sticking to BBQs and A/C thank you very much!
P.S. My laptop works again! It powered on and seemed to work fine--the only thing that's wrong is that the "M" key doesn't work so I have to copy/paste it whenever I need it :o) haha!