Lesson 37: T Minus 20 and Counting

Tik, tik, tik, tik, tik, tik, tik, tik, TOK.  Yep.  That's it, Readers.  Time is almost up.  20 days left in my 30's and then I'll meet 40!  March 3rd.  Mark it on your calendars because you have a job to do.  You have to help me with a little Eloisesque experiment.  I am asking you to send me a birthday card.

I want a birthday card in my mailbox.  You know, that thing at the end of your driveway with the red flag that you stick up.  I live in Erie, PA, so I can best describe it as that boxlike thing on a post that the snow plow hits once a winter.  It is the thing we used to pay bills before on-line banking and send birthday wishes to friends before facebook wall posts. I want cards, in envelopes, with stamps on them.  Consider the task helping out the post office.  I hear they have been struggling lately.

I want to confuse my mail carrier.  I want Mr. Mailman to think, "Wow.  Someone really important must live in that house."  I kind of want the flood of cards to be like the one when the owls were delivering the Hogwarts invitations to Harry Potter.  I want to roll around in a sea of them.

Don't think that this is all to support my vanity or to help me cope with turning 40.  Not a bit.  You are actually helping me take part in a little social networking experiment of my own.  I am going to see how I receive the most cards--through requests via telecommunications such as e-mail, facebook, and blogger or tell-a-kid, as in my students.  They will receive this assignment beginning next week.  I will collect all cards and use them as part of my "big numbers" lesson.  Kids love big numbers, so I try to put one in my Quest classes every year.  Keep in mind I will be using the cards for school, so no boobs, butts, or bad words.  School kind of frowns upon that you know.

Of course as with any assignment, there will be some sort of assessment.  I will be having a little contest and do some judging to make it extra fun.  There will be prizes for my favorite cards.  I will have "kid categories" and "adult categories".  There will be store-bought and hand-made divisions.  There will be a prize for the card received from the furthest distance away.  Slovenians unite!  You have a chance for the win.  There will be bonus points awarded to anyone finding or making me a card that has any connection to LOST, such as a dharma symbol, an island, or a picture of my hottie hero, Dr. Jack Shephard. 

If you are reading this blog, you owe it to me to honor my request.  Even if you live in Slovenia.  I have given you hours upon hours of reading enjoyment free of charge.  I have taught you things, made you laugh, and hopefully inspired you.  So do this for me.  Please.

Here are your directions for your assignment.  Please read them carefully.
1.  Shop for or make the perfect birthday card for Eloise
2.  If it has a connection to LOST, bonus points will be awarded.
3.  Sign it
4.  Make a notation that you were informed of this assignment on Blogger
5.  Put it in an envelope with a stamp
6.  If you live in the north, take a brisk, cold walk out to that thing at the end of your driveway called a mailbox, place the card inside, and put up the flag.  If you live in the south, you don't even need a jacket now, so no complaining.  If you live in Slovenia, I don't know what your weather is like so do your best.
7.  Check back on the blog in a few weeks to see if your card was considered a "winner."
8.  My address:  Eloise Hawking--The Lamp Post---5768 Firman Road   Erie, PA   16510

Spread the word, Readers.  Let's make my 40th birthday extra large!
Eloise