The Party’s Over

2011 Spring Quarterly Fundraiser: The Wrap-Up

A few straggling balloons on the lawn, some shoes left behind, and cigarette butts stacked neatly in the buckets of sand around the place.

No one had too much to drink, or if they did y’all were the quietest drunks I ever didn’t hear. A few stragglers talked politics quietly in the corner while the band packed up its instruments and headed for their van.

Now all that remains is to finish my acknowledgements of your donations. To give you an idea how long you may have to wait for your note, the Baron just sent me the list from Day Three. Yeah, my “notes” do tend to go on a bit (blame it on the Irish blood I share with Obama). Back in the beginning of our fundraisers, I was determined to get each donation answered the same day it came in. That’s no longer possible so instead I focus on each donor instead. This arrangement is much better and the feedback has been good.

I don’t keep tabs on the amount totals; that — thank heavens — is the Baron’s job. Mine is simply to thank all of you, which I will do barring some catastrophe — say, the tornadoes in the Midwest heading here and removing my laptop as it takes the rest of the house away also. Those poor people!

Tomorrow is back to business as usual for Gates of Vienna. Tomorrow is also the day Netanyahu will speak to Congress. If you click that link, you’ll see one blogger’s interesting analysis regarding the timing of Obama’s speech the other day. Meanwhile, the President and his wife have arranged to be out of the country during Netanyahu’s visit with Congress. Hmmm…

Thanks to all of you who gave so generously to the cause. While the total amount has remained the same, on the whole individual donations are smaller. This reflects the larger economic picture, don’t you think? Fortunately for us and for Vlad, that works just fine!

By the way, when I took a break to do some gardening today I got to thinking about the thank you notes I’ve done and the ones still remaining. That led me to consider the last thank you note I received via snail mail. The note was detailed and quite touching. The writer, an old friend, had written an exemplary thank you for a very simple gift on her birthday. As I thought about my own response to her expression of gratitude, the idea of a book came to mind: “How to Write a Thank You Note” by Dymphna Gates is the working title. If I managed to get that together by next April or so, it would make a great gift for graduates, new brides, and people who like to observe the old customs.

Let me know what y’all think of the idea. Meanwhile, our donors can sit back and rest on their laurels… till next time!


Here are the locations of donors for the spring fundraiser up until now:

Stateside:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia

Near Abroad:

Canada

Far Abroad:

Australia, Belgium, British Virgin Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Faeroe Islands, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

My heavens, what world travelers we’ve become.