405 minutes

School fund raisers.  Those three little words can drive me crazy on so many different levels.  First, I find it frustrating that they even have to exist.  In my perfect world, they wouldn't be necessary.  However, in my perfect world, teachers and professional atheletes/entertainers would swap salaries.  It would be a sacrifice, but one that I'd be willing to make.

I should count my blessings because Amanda has only had to participate in two fund raisers so far this year.  The first found us trying to sell a box of 48 candy bars for a dollar each.  This is my least favorite of the two.  I have a hard time sending Amanda out to sell an over priced item to friends and family knowing that only half of that money at best will go to her school.  However we participated, and this year I only ended up having to buy 11 candy bars.

This most recent fund raiser was a Read-a-Thon. I like this format much better because all of the money raised goes to the school, and Amanda is engaged in a worthwhile activity to raise the money.  She obtained pledges and then read like crazy; 405 minutes in 2 weeks!  Thanks to generous pledges from my family and ward members, she was able to raise $83.  This turned out to be enough to earn 2nd place in her class for which she won 4 passes to go ice skating at the Ice Sheet.  She was ecstatic!

Well tonight, we redeemed 2 of the passes.  I was a bit trepidatious because the only other time I have been ice skating was a Young Women activity when I was 12.  I remember spending much more time on my butt than on the skate.  I was expecting this experience to be much the same.  However, I'm happy to say that we had a GREAT time!  Amanda only fell 4 times, and I actually only fell once!  Sorry we don't have any pictures to document the occasion.  I didn't think my phone would fare too well sandwiched between the ice and my fanny.  Maybe we'll get some pictures next time.