Monday, on 1 hour less sleep!

It's not so bad, but I'm tired! I know I shouldn't complain.

That said, it was a full weekend - packing, moving, unpacking...and more unpacking...and starting boxes and bags of things to give away. (I'm looking for good ideas of where the items should go. Ideally, they pick up. Most important, it has to be a great cause with little overhead so that nearly all of the benefit goes to the people in need!)

Speaking of donations, I just committed to planning a fund raising activity this summer for a great cause. It's called Scrapping 4 Inclusion, which is a specific, scrapbooking-focused fund raising group for the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which "serves to bridge the gap that exists between young people with special needs and the world around them. We support communities with inclusive programs and together create awareness of the possibilities that inclusion can bring." Great organization, wonderful people (at least the leader for Scrapping 4 Inclusion is wonderful! Check out her blog here.), etc. And it's well past time to do something bigger than write a small check to my favorite charities. I'm going to put in time - the most precious resource!

It's going to be great fun! One of my best friends, Mary, is going to help me plan the event, which will be a nighttime crop on July 3 (mark your calendars if you are in the Seattle area!). She'll be visiting from California, and she's graciously agreed to help raise money, run the event, and do a lot of calling, emailing, and mailing until she's here.

It's sort of overwhelming, especially because the first thirty places I looked into for space during the event were outrageously expensive and had very limiting rules for what "non-profit" means. (We will need to charge a crop fee to cover the expenses and will require each participant to raise a minimum donation to the foundation.) I made a call this morning that resurrected my hopes, though, so I'm back on-track! I don't think I've found the perfect solution yet, but I at least feel like I will be able to have a relatively small event that won't cost over $50/person!

I have this sneaking suspicion that this blog will become the tales of charitable event planning for the next few months. In the meantime, if anyone is actually reading this and has ideas, let me know!