Thanksgiving, Double Digits and Julie Andrews

Thanksgiving kicked my butt this year. 

These are pictures from last year (I didn't have time to take many this year) to give you an idea of what the Thanksgiving Outreach at our church looks like.

This is our gym, we call it The Commons, ready for our guests

 The first seating. 
When they're done we clean and re-set the tables and do it again. And then again.

In years past I've lead the Buser and Server teams, overseeing the Commons. Or the Condiment team, putting the rolls, black olives and pickles on all the tables then bringing out the pumpkin pie after dinner. But now that I'm the Custodial Supervisor at church, I lead the Custodial team this year.

I went into it thinking, "So we empty trash for a few hours. How hard can this be?" Oh my word, I had no idea just how MUCH trash we'd need to empty. And if we didn't get to it soon enough how heavy it would be to lift out of the can. And how much heavier it would get as we carried it out of the building and out to the parking lot. And how it would be even heavier as we tried to toss it up and into the dumpster! (I eventually got smart and went downstairs to grab our big rolling trash bin so we could fill it and didn't have to carry them out of the building.)

And the trash in the Commons would fill up within seconds. Not exaggerating!! Plus there were trash cans in the Reception area at the other end of the building. And in the childcare area downstairs. Plus cleaning and restocking the bathrooms. I'd clean one sink, move to another and someone would come in and immediately use the sink I just cleaned. I can't tell you how many times I'd be in the middle of cleaning and 15 people would walk in.

I had a few volunteers help in the morning but for the most part it was just me and Beth. She would go into our Women's Cry Room whenever there would be a break and it didn't take her long to fall asleep! It was a very long and exhausting day!

  

 

And when we got home... no wonder my feet hurt!

Last month I ended up buying Julie Andrews new book and I'm loving it! It's funny and surprising... I'm only about a third of the way through it but I highly recommend it!

Today we celebrated Allie's 10th birthday! Sharaya always does a phenomenal job on decorating and themes... she's really gifted in this area! It was a Winter Wonderland theme and there were so many fun elements to it. All the kids got to make gingerbread houses, there were snowflakes and snow and nutcrackers, it was amazing!

And look at this cake! Her friend Jen from Tasty Spoons Bakery made it and all of her cakes are stunning!

Happy Birthday Allie!