Gofundme, elves at my doorstep, and a change of plans...

We ship on Monday! A friend is building the huge wooden crate (8x5 feet by 45 inches) free of charge.  Are we sure it won't fit in the van? Below is the smallest 1/2 section of five. My magical thinking failed this time and we are flying and shipping the project instead of driving it up. Our back up plan of renting  a truck is foiled as well. John started radiation yesterday and can't be away from the daily treatment for more than a few days.

As humbling as it was to ask for help in getting 10,000 bottles cut and painted, more so is raising money to offset  shipping and travel. If you or someone you know would like to help with that I have set up a 'gofundme' account to collect donations. Please share:http://www.gofundme.com/bridging-communities

Kim and I had a great time at Busch Gardens training 49 Hillsborough County art teachers for the collaborative tree that will light up Christmastown in the park's Pantopia area. Pantopia has a recycled theme ,with found object sculptures, and themed assemblage doors that hint to characters living behind them. Busch Gardens generously gave the schools lots of glitter glaze to mix with one hue so that students will recognize their school's contributions to the whole. Before the workshop began I chatted with a designer who asked, "So you will be able to work with whatever you get back from the teachers?" and I nodded and mimed leaning over a precipice, a place I seem to land myself on a regular basis. The Busch Gardens team made the event not only logistically flawless, it was fun: elves, door prizes, and most importantly, cookies.

Yesterday, a neighbor knocked on my door to alert me that "some random lady just left trash bags by your front door." I burst out laughing, then opened my trunk and showed him the panel I was about to transport as 'show and tell' to the workshop and informed him that bags of trash on my doorstep are a regular occurrence. Little did he know that I have elves of my own.