birthday

Thanks to all my die-hard fans for making it out to my B-day party last Sunday (March 19). (Thanks especially to my roommate for making a delicious ghirardelli cake!)... I didn't feel like it was "my day" until everyone was there standing around me, wishing me well and warming my heart... I guess I was sort of in denial that I'd turned a year older. ugh. 27.

plus, I'd just gotten back from building another great playground in Tucson, AZ, the day before. so I was a little exhausted from that, too.

birthday

last weekend, i built a playground for The Salvation Army of Pahrump, NV, on my 26th birthday. my supervisor (and Second out for the Build) bought me a cake and a lit-up "Birthday Princess" pin that she made me wear all day. the kids there sang me "Happy Birthday" at the end of the day and totally made my day... that night, i flew back home to SF (mostly b/c i didn't want to celebrate in Vegas) and went out with a few friends for a drink. it was a lot of fun, and it was really great to feel the love... Whitney and a friend, Noah and a friend, and Tony (my brother) and Mardie (his finance)... that night, i felt particularly special.

sunday night, i had several people (14) over to my house for a mini-potluck party/gathering. i love bringing people that i love together, and even more so, i love it when people i love meet each other for the first time. (one person thought that people were "weirded out" b/c he was a complete stranger to them... i told him not to worry b/c we're all strangers to each other at some point.)... i just really enjoy bringing good people together. i only wish is that someday i could somehow bring everyone i love together! THAT would be the most incredible party ever!

my Pahrump playground build

From: Melanie Barnes (my supervisor)
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2005 2:45 PM

This post build report was written by the fabulous Hope Deifell:

Last Saturday, Hope led a great playground build with Melanie as her awesome Second and with Jonathon Mouer and Jason Meler out from Dave Bang for the installation. Prep Day 1 was relatively smooth, and on Prep Day 2 Hope debuted on "The Andy and Bernie Show" (a Pahrump TV talk show) with Charlie Desiderio, the Salvation Army marketing manager, at her side. Build Day was cold and overcast, but the 5-minute Jazzercise morning warm-up got everyone's blood flowing fast.

Her 12 Build Captains were awesome leaders for the 120 other volunteers on site. About thirty of those adult volunteers and an additional 27 volunteers (under 18) helped in areas other than the playground construction, including kids' games and carnival activities (i.e. face painting, Jolly Jumper, red rover and putt putt, among others). The big day ended with a big raffle for the kids, then an on-time ribbon cutting, and finally a birthday cake and celebration for Hope and another volunteer.

Play Enhancement Projects:
200-foot stone pathway with edging
3 planter benches

VIPs:
Major William Raihl, Clark County Coordinator, The Salvation Army
Charles Desiderio, Director of Development and Marketing, The Salvation Army
Thomas Kriese, Manager, The Omidyar Network

(Local) Media:
Channel 30 and 62, KPVT-LP and KHMP-LP
Channel 41, KPVM-TV

Highlights: all the youth on site, the incredible installers, the Christian rock music (not as much a highlight as a big difference from most other builds), and the light up "Birthday Princess" pin and a birthday cake that Melanie got for Hope.