T.G.I.F.F.A.F.

I'm not sure about each of you but this week has been exhausting here in HLA Land.

• On Monday we rolled out "Gift of 218" and raised over $500 which led to us taking on our first "Gift" which is set to be delivered this weekend!
• Tuesday we learned about the RAK box and started the new cycle of postcards rolling in to Claudia's mailbox. (look in the announcements section to learn who won the first $25 gift cards!)
• Wednesday we "Whacked" the blog/website with the help of Von Oech and Seth Godin.
• Thursday we had a Patchwork Fashion Show and developed a LONG list of patchworthy activities (stay tuned for April when we implement many of these ideas).

But today, ahhh today is Friday and here on highlowaha.com Fridays are synonymous with YOU taking the reigns of the blog. You see every Friday here at HLA we celebrate Free For All Friday which means that you do the work. Each Friday we ask the readers of HLA to post with creative dilemmas that the community can comment on. Sometimes we pose a dilemma in advance while other Fridays we just let the community go with the energy. In the past we have "free for all'ed" a 100 Days shirt for reader Shannon C's kindergarten aged son, what to do with a giant mirror that Cheryl had in her house, and ideas for Cassie P's 80s birthday bash for her Mom. You get the picture...this can go anywhere.

So today, I get to sit back, exhale and get ready for the weekend while you "Free For All" the work for me. Since this week is Orientation week we'll throw a few concepts out there for the "Free For Alling" to center around. We've got two tasks today:

#1: What information have we NOT presented this week that you think is important for newcomers to know? If you are a newcomer what information has confused you? (For instance yesterday Lindsay wanted to know what Taste of USA was because it was being discussed but we had never talked about WHAT it was.)

#2: Many of you have requested access to some blog posts from the previous year. While we won't be bringing all of the back to the blog we would like to bring the top 10 from 2008 and post them to the website for reference. So...what posts do you wish you still had access to? Give us your Top 10.

Announcements

• RAK Box Postcards: Congratulations to Cassie P. whose postcard arrived in Claudia's box yesterday. Cassie and her friend Samantha Pate both win $25 Target gift cards. Don't forget that you still have two ways to win. Yesterday Claudia received 7 postcards (Cassie's was the first one out of the mailbox) she'll give a $25 gift card to the 18th postcard she receives AND pull a random card out of the RAK box on the 6th so if you haven't yet done it, send your postcard to Claudia Beeny, 4012 Harvestwood Ct., Grapevine, TX 76051.
• Recipe Book: Thanks to Tera's generosity with her time we are pulling together the first highlowaha cookbook, but we need your help. Please send Tera all of your fabulous creative recipes for inclusion. The deadline to submit is March 18 so we have time to roll out for Mother's Day. Send them to Tera Johnson 2590 N. Moreland, Apt E22, Shaker Heights, OH, 44120 or email it to Tera at tmichalski05@jcu.edu.
• Gift of 218: We haven't wasted any time thanks to the overwhelming response from our readers not only do we have the funds to grant a gift but we also have the perfect family nominated. We sent the information out regarding the gift recipient via the facebook group yesterday so please respond to that message today so we can be sure that our first Gift of 218 is truly spectacular.

Signing off until Tomorrow!