In the Trenches of Adoption Fundraising
In the words of Curtis Hannah, I think I'm having a come-apart. While I love this cute, oh-so-southern sounding phrase, I don't think I like actually experiencing one. October is now upon us. Which means colder weather and winter is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. (I hate this for reasons already mentioned in previous postings.) But now it's time to get creative in our fundraising.

Now I know what you're thinking. "Y'all have made $9600 from yard sales! How much more could you possibly need?" No, I'm not secretly putting some of it back into my "breast implant surgery that will never happen fund". We actually still need about $17, 000. Adoption, more specifically international adoption, is NOT for the faint of heart. I would say the poor but let's face it, just because you don't have an extra thirty grand lying around does not make you poor. We as Americans are actually very wealthy compared with around 95% of the rest of the world. I just can't afford to fund my adoption without losing a little bit of my mind.

But I digress. Back to my come-apart.  No more yard sales due to the colder weather. I have mixed emotions about this. We still have a ton of donations sitting in my mom and dad's empty house that I don't know what to do with. And it was making us some good dough. But a small, OK a large part of me, rejoices that I don't have to spend another weekend haggling with white trash over a $0.25 Easter place mat.  Or listening intently as someone who is probably in better health than I laments over how they don't get enough on their disability check so they can't pay me 2 bucks for the box full of Carters baby clothes that are all practically brand new.

Now I am admittedly NOT the biggest fan of yard sale shopping. I would, in fact, rather slit my wrists with a  rusty butter knife than to go yardsaling. But I have never understood the haggling of these people. If you can't afford it, don't ask someone to take it for half price. And don't ask to take a quarter off of something. It's a QUARTER!!! Especially when you are lighting a cigarette off of another cigarette. You didn't have trouble affording those! And I was tired of having to be at the mercy of my family. They were all very great at helping us sort, price, set up, and box up everything. I never could have done it without the help of my parents, sisters, sister-in-law, aunts, and mother-in-law. Even some of my church friends helped. It was a huge production that worked like a well-oiled machine. But I felt guilty for monopolizing their free time with our sales. Below is just a small fraction of what all we had to get rid of. My parents' house looked like something off of Hoarders, and it became a part-time job all summer long.

So, back to my come-apart. Where was I? Oh yeah. The fundraising. I am sometimes very crafty when I want to be. For years, I have been making homemade sugar scrub to give as gifts. My mom went on a Senior Friends trip a few weeks ago. She said everywhere they went, there was salt scrub in the bathrooms of restaurants. All the old ladies went wild over it. They wanted to buy it but it was like, 40 bucks. She told them that I made it and then got the epiphany that we could sell it for Layla. So for a week we have been exploring our options and trying to find the best venue to hock our product. A little tweaking to my former recipe and Viola! We now have enough materials to sell 500 units of this stuff. But, I have nowhere to sell it except by word of mouth. I feel as if I know enough people that perhaps they could take it to their places of work and churches and sell it. But again, I find myself at the mercy of others. Pretty soon people are going to start running when my phone number flashes across the screen!

As soon as I can figure out how to get the abominable Microsoft Office to print labels, they will be ready to move. We have Amber Vanilla, Chamomile, and Peppermint scents. They are $8.00 each and of course, all proceeds go for Layla. This child will never know how many nights I have lost sleep trying to figure out how to afford her! By the way, if anyone can think of a way I can sell this stuff or knows of a business that would let me place some, please email me at jandjdawes@gmail.com. I am also looking into making breast cancer awareness Christmas ornaments and UK bottle cap necklaces and key chains.