And The Hours Keep Adding Up. . .

Let's see - I'm at 51 hours prior to this post. I haven't posted PTO stuff in a while so let's see how this adds up. . . Since setting up for the book fair I have had to work with some Hansen's Fundraiser stuff. I thought it was a one-woman job but as it turns out I could've used a helper or two. Thankfully, the rep put all the catalogs, order forms, and envelopes in individual bags ready for kids to go out selling. I, however, had to divvy them up, meaning I had to have 22 packages for this teacher, 17 for that teacher, and so on. You know - those individual bags are slipery! As I was counting out packages they were slipping and sliding every way and really caused my quick and easy job to become rather frustrating. I spent about 40 minutes getting those separtated by teacher. I placed them in the teachers lounge with their names on the bags I put them in - for the teachers to grab so I didn't interrupt class time to deliver them or crowd the office. Then, I rounded up that hour printing stuff in the office for the book fair. I printed wristbands for the kids to color as a reminder of our online book fair. I printed book fair wish lists - and cut them out. I also printed classroom wish list slips for the teachers. I got going early one morning to pick up bagels and muffins for the teachers from Big Apple Bagels. I had bananas, too. I didn't think to ask the cafeteria for water, juice, or coffee - next time. This was placed at the book fair for the teachers to come through and fill out their classroom wish lists. I have to be honest, though. Last year there were teachers who complained that their names had been left off the classroom wish list display board. So, I was very careful not to forget anyone when making the new board (that took me about 1 1/2 hours). And, only two or three 'special's teacher's filled any out. ??? Not going to harp on it. All that took about 45 minutes - getting the food, setting it up. Then, back to Hansen's - orders turned in and I had to separate the top order form from all the money. The only thing that made this job tedious was the fact that so many people didn't fill out the top portion of their order forms and their envelopes. So, not only did I have to write in the kids' name I had to verify the amount inside the envelope equaled the amount of all the sales. I did not have to do this for every single one but - another job that should've been easy for a single person - was actually a job for three at least. It took me about an hour and a half to accomplish this. I tallied the totals twice and had a very different outcome the 2nd time. But, even so - we probably profited about $4-5 thousand dollars (and our treasurer only budgeted us making $700.) See my big grin. . :). Now - on to the book fair itself. So, using signupgenius.com was fabulous! I had all but three slots filled in a week and a half. I didn't worry about those three slots thinking some people were waiting to see if someone else would fill them. Well, come Saturday before our first LWALO (Lunch With A Loved One) I decided to send out a 'hail Mary' email request - no one could fill the slots! And, I was supposed to have lunch with Joshua on that Monday (one of the open slots). I wound up having a very quick 15 minute lunch before running back to the library to work. LWALO is crazy busy. There is almost no walking room! And, the lines were sooooo long! I jumped in and the 1st customer I had - - - I had an issue ringing up two books -10 minutes later and they were on their way. I, on the other hand, was so busy (as was my other worker) I couldn't wipe the beads of sweat dripping down my face like I'd been standing under a sprinkler! My clothes felt drenched! But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy ringing people up. I was prepared to have the book fair closed that afternoon during the 4-6 hours for conferences b/c I had only one worker. She brough her son, though, and all was good. No problems from my 6-8 shift workers. LWALO on Tuesday was run by two old timers so once I knew they showed up for their shift - I was able to sit at home and relax! The evening crew did well and I came in at 7pm for Joshua's conference (He's doing great by-the-way!) and made my way to the library for packing up at 8pm. Our principal helped, too. I really like her - she's new to us this year and I think she's going to be around for a while. Anyway, I had another helper arrive at 8pm and with our 6-8 crew - we had the whole thing packed up and put away in one hour! Jenna arrived at 8 to run the reports. And - I - totally forgot the whole reason we ended the penny wars the day before the bok fair closed was so the librarians could order books! So, we have to do it the hard way - but they get to spend $699! All in all, I think we did fairly well, even if we didn't make as much as we have in the past. So, how many hours am I up to???? I think about 58 (and I know I'm being generous!)