Introduction
Thank you to Mother Teresa and Peter Pan for their words of encouragement running through my head up to Saturday afternoon, just before our street party.
Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa -
All it takes is faith and trust. - Peter Pan -
Chapter One
It was a rather hot and blustery Saturday afternoon just before 4.30pm street party start time. I had a few neighbours between 4pm and 4.20pm apologise that they were not able to attend and I was out the front looking for a spot of shade for the handful that would hopefully turn up. I had previously been advised that quite a few of them were unable to attend and some were only able to stop over for 1/2 hour.
Oh gosh, what do I do? Do I call it off? When do we hold it then? Will I lose my resolve to have it if it's put off? Will people not be happy with my decision? Why do I have to make this decision? We are busy over the next few weeks, I could not see when there was going to be another time to have it other than now.
Hubbie informed me that to have an auction you need to have a decent number of people in attendance. Yes, thank you, I realise this. He could see I was stressed and uncertain, he could see that my heart and soul were sold on doing this auction, he could hear my heart smashing inside my chest cavity, he knew that if I didn't have it that day, it wasn't going to happen at all. He knew that I so desperately wanted to go through with this, he is my realistic boy, he was right, I could hear he was right, it had been a hot day, and now there was this blustery wind which did cool things down alot, however, was very annoyingly rough. I could see he was right (no one had so much as even stuck their head out the door yet), BUT, my gut, my gut disagreed with everything. My gut even disagreed with my head, my gut, Mother Teresa and Peter Pan, were all there, and pushed me to push on.
Then. . . . it happened, one person turned up, then another, we collectively decided on a shaded spot. I sent them back home to bring chairs, we had a few chairs, but needed more please. They did, they come back with chairs and drinks, they come back with chairs and drinks and money.
A table was set up, auction items placed for viewing.
Then we didn't have our MC, we didn't have the person that is good with talking to groups of people to keep track of auction bids and do the 'going once, going twice, SOLD to the gentleman in the blue shirt!' *yikes* who can be that person? Would anyone like to be that person? Blank looks, right at me. *panic* breathe. . . . Mother Teresa is in my head. "It's up to YOU Joyce, it's up to YOU." she said. I had the book with all the items listed ready to write down the winning bidders name and their winning bid, I was ready for all the secretarial stuff, you know the stuff I can do, the stuff I am good at doing, the organising, the setting up, the getting items together, the invites, topping up glasses, serving, seating, feeding, and then the cleaning up and putting away. It's all the secretaries work, it's what I know.
Nothing, . . . . people had to leave soon, they had to go soon, they were being picked up and really did have to leave, we had to start, the children wanted to start too, they were all waiting.
I did it. . . . I stood behind the little blue table with all the items on it, and flustered and croaked my way through the auction. I remembered everyones names, I am so shocked that I remembered their names despite my nerves. I say croaked my way through, because for most of last week (and looks like into this week) I have been fighting a ear/throat thing. But there is no way I was going to let that stop me. Ha! Be gone you pesky family of frogs in my throat, the show must go on!
Some people arrived, some people had to leave, we auctioned on.
Then there was a bit of a lull, I looked around and I saw my neighbours, I saw my friends, I saw our kids laughing and bidding, I saw my hubbie jostling with another neighbour bidding over a bottle of wine, I saw the faces of all these extraordinary people that I am so honoured to be living next to, over the road from, down/up the street from - I took a breath . . . . and I laughed, I relaxed, I become involved, they were having so much fun, I joined the party.
I wanted to get hubbies little gavel post thumping tool and use it to count 'going once etc', I was wishing I had made a little headband for myself, and little bidding paddles with numbers on them for my neighbours. I took a mental snapshot of that moment of all of us to keep forever to remind me of each and every single person there that afternoon and just how lucky I am.
It was a success, it was such fun, the bottom line is, and I know you are busting to hear this part, we raised $425.50. That is four hundred and twenty five dollars and fifty cents raised at our auction from 9 households.
Thank you to the most awesome neighbours and friends a girl could have. Thank you for your generosity, thank you for putting up with me, thank you for your friendship and your passion to help others, thank you for your laughs.
Thank you gut, thank you Mother Teresa, thank you Peter Pan.
We then held a meeting of collective intelligence to decide where we wanted our funds to go. We have decided on a primary school in one of the QLD towns that were affected by the January floods. I apologise that I am not going to put the name of the school on my blog until I have spoken to the school, I do hope you understand this and are not offended by this decision.
This is the completion of Chapter 1.
Thank you for stopping by my place today, thank you for your encouragement, thank you for your friendship, and if you made it to this end of my post, wow, give yourself a pat on the back. Thank you.
Always remember - All it takes is faith and trust. - Peter Pan -
