SHARE 2013

Y'all..last week wore me OUT! Does this mean I'm starting to show my age? {Don't answer that.}

Once a year, we do a week long fundraiser to raise our support for the coming year. We don't play commercials on our station, so this is how we function! This year, we had "Cyber Monday" to raise money on the web for a day - and then four days of online giving combined with phone calls.

I laid out all my clothes for the week {station gear} and wore the tightest shirts at the beginning of the week and the loosest shirts at the end of the week because they feed us SO MUCH throughout the week that I sort of look like Blimpy McBlimperson by Friday.

This was Tuesday - in the phone room, surrounded by volunteers helping to take phone calls. That's Scott Tsuleff behind me...he filled in for Lynne during the Mid-Morning hour that day because she was still out after her mother passed away. I'd never shared a show with him before - we really had a great time!

My new friend, Penny, who was one of the phone volunteers. Penny loves coffee, scrapbooking, and Jesus {not in that order} so she and I enjoyed getting to know each other. And if you're wondering about the look on my face...it's a hard core case of "I miss Ryan." {We weren't allowed to have our cell phones on us all week. Yeah. I know!}

The whole I-miss-Ryan-itis continued with a fury on Wednesday. So much so that I actually asked to borrow his hoodie before I left for work, and he doused it in his cologne. I carried that thing around like Linus with his security blanket...and I'm pretty sure there were eyerolls and snickers all around me. But frankly, I didn't care. I was an overgrown 12 year old who smelled like a man and did not care.

{Never fear...I took the hoodie off, but as you can see...it's right behind me.} This is my new friend Sherry...another phone volunteer. Between calls, we played this evil game called "Find It." It's a tube full of tiny beads...and toys are hidden in it. You shake it and try to find all the toys on the list. Key word: TRY. Result? IMPOSSIBLE. Hence our faces. We folded.

During SHARE, we have a camera between the phone room and the studio so we can communicate with the on-air folks if we need to. Apparently Jim Barron needed to. Intently.

Thursday, I didn't have to wear the hoodie, because...my husband came to work with me! He took two days off work and drove up with me {read: drove me} and was a volunteer for us! He is so good on those phones - he has such a heart for people and I loved hearing him talk to them!!

I was SO glad to have Lynne Ford back at work...we were like 2 junior high girls who hadn't talked in a month. We hunkered down over our Chick-Fil-A lunch and talked 2000 miles a minute....ahhhh how I missed her!! I also missed Jughead...her SIXTY-FOUR OUNCE mug she hauls around the station. As you can see...they're almost the same size.

When the Mid-Morning hour came on Thursday, she said Ryan could join us on-air for a few minutes, since, you know, after all, BLT is sort of his show as much as it ours, thanks to his proposal and subsequent visits!! I so loved having him at my side for the first few minutes of the show!

We had to be at work at 5:45 on Friday morning, and we didn't finish up Thursday evening until after 7 p.m., so we just stayed at Lynne's house. I woke up with the mother of all headaches on Friday morning, so Lynne made me a spinach/yogurt/strawberry/banana/honey/good-for-me smoothie - and she made extra for Ryan. After drinking that AND a non-fat latte from McDonald's AND downing 3 aspirin AND receiving a neck-rub from Ryan, I felt a bit better.

Quick photo opp between phone calls. I'm not quite recovered from the headache yet. And I'm not sure why I thought that hair was a good idea. I'm not sure what is happening at ALL with my hair right now to be perfectly honest with you.

GOOD MORNING!!!! WBCL!!! Mr. Perky himself at work.

One of our volunteers has this super cute dog named Silas and he returned this year to visit us. Sheds like crazy but oh my goodness - he's SO CUTE!!

Fake smile. Still feeling off my game.

The back rub train made up of Jill and Jeri. Jeri and I discovered we look almost exactly alike from the back. Our hair is {currently} the same length and color!

My good buddy Sheryl Glancy!!!!!

And that afternoon, Ryan and I made a Starbucks run for the office. Ten drinks and four mad customers behind us later, we returned to the station, where we resumed our phone duty until 8 p.m. It was such a long day - but God was so amazing in helping us raise over 80% of our goal in a week!!

And after all that, I think I inherited the crud being passed among the staff members. I feel ROTTEN!!! But I'm so glad I made it through the week before THAT showed up!