Wow, y'all. What a difference a few days can make.
After my last post John knew exactly what I needed - because I spent several
hours telling him. The next morning he visited a few local charities, and
almost immediately found us a big construction project at a homeless
resource center we love called
The Sharing Center. They were panicking over a tight deadline when John walked in and offered
our help, so this was clearly meant to be. On Wednesday I got to paint so
much my hands are still cramped from the roller pole, and it was
fantastic. I was so happy I kept tearing up at odd times, like when I
saw how awful the tiny bathroom is that we're about to remodel. YUSSS.
I know this light will turn to dark and back to light again, but for
now, for today, I'm gonna dance around in my painter's jeans and be
grateful.
Now, let's talk about another amazing charity:
Give Kids The World, the
free resort for children with life-threatening illnesses. You've heard me
talk about them quite a bit here. Last year during the shut-down they had an
event called Night of a Million Lights. (Here's
my post with all the photos, go see!) This was such a success they've brought Million Lights back
again this year, though with many changes. So naturally we had to go!
The changes are because the Village is open and operational again (yay!), so
of course we aren't allowed to tour the neighborhoods where folks are
staying. GKTW has done their best to compensate for the smaller venue by
amping up what they do have: new and bigger displays, dancing synchronized
lights shows, new merch and food options, and a delightful Santa
meet-and-greet.
I'm getting ahead of myself, though.
Let's back up and talk about... our hats.
So last year it was just us and our friend Karen, and we decided last minute to wear festive, silly hats:
This was such an unexpected hit - people approached us all night to
compliment our hats - that this year we decided to go bigger. I
recruited 4 more friends, and some of us had a craft night to work on our
headgear:
John finished his first, and was very proud:
This is before he added the glitter stars and lights.
Both of our
hats are made from Dollar Tree santa hats & supplies, so cost about $5
each. John stuffed his with Polyfil to get it to stand straight up, while I
rolled a posterboard into a cone for mine. Then I wrapped it in green
tinsel, glued on some mini ornaments, and added lights:
It is VERY tall, but the brim was snug enough that it was secure, and
actually quite comfy.
Also peep my new favorite t-shirt:
TREE REX. This pun
works for me on many levels, ha.
Karen brought an
enormous foam snowflake (I think from Michaels?), which she attached
to a fascinator base made from EVA foam.
