JK birthday

[MBS]

Oh, guys, something has to be done about JK's birthday. He deserves something from us: he turns 65 this December, and he's getting another round of undeserved snark and crap.
In the interests of time, and the absence of a final plan (at least not one that I know about), I'm going to suggest the following plan:

1. For anyone who wants to send written good wishes, here's a suggestion: send something to me, preferably something greeting card size, or no larger than 8X11 at the largest, and I'll round up a bunch of local folks to paste all our contributions onto a poster, and deliver this to his Boston office.
If you're interested in doing this, send me a pm, and I'll give you an address.
BUT THINGS NEED TO ARRIVE BY DEC. 3, to give us time to assemble things, and delivered to Boston.

2. A present has also been discussed. I'm happy to contribute $$, but I'm leaving it up to someone else (Tay tay?) to choose the item and work out a scheme for collecting $$ from people.


If people have a different plan, feel free to speak up.
BUT WE'VE GOT TO GET GOING NOW.

[europegirl4jfk]

1. I'll send a birthday card

I bought a French birthday card yesterday, signed it and sent it to Julie in the UK who will send it to TayTay (or you if you prefer) after signing it as well. I would be happy to contribute money for a present and could send it with PayPal or cash with the birthday card. Just let me know.

[MH1]

2. Thanks for offering to coordinate this

I logged on this morning just to see what the plan is and here's your post! :)

I'll be in touch by pm once I figure out what I'm going to send for the poster.

I'm happy to contribute $$ to a gift.

[globalvillage]

3. I'm in for both.

I think he needs cookies.

Here's a birthday party in a box with cookies. Something like that?

http://ww22.1800flowers.com/product.do?baseCode=22291&channel=10006&cm_cid=td10247

[Inuca]

4. I had a look

and at first I thought the candles were crayolas and wondered if he really needs those :-).

Anyway, I lean towards gift with good wished followed by list of names. I am terrible at choosing gifts even for people I know personally, but cookies sound good I think. But some REALLY GOOD ones from some local store, what do the locals think or know? Quality over quantity, and definitely chocolate chip. Ready to send my PayPal contributon whenever I get the green light.

[Democrafty]

9. I love your thoughts -

Local is important, and JK is still chair of the small biz committee for a few more weeks. I hope we can all agree that, no matter the gift, we should be supporting a small, local (to JK) business.

[MonteLukast]

5. I'll send a card.

I know just where to find one.

[cadmium]

6. I'll go along with the

consensus plan. Send individual card, $$ for a gift. Count me in.

[Luftmensch067]

7. MBS, you ROCK!!!!

Thank you so much for starting this off again! I will get you a card and help paste!!! I'm also in for $$ for the gift - I'm off to look at GV's cookie idea.

[karynnj]

8. Count me in

This is great that you are doing this.

[sandnsea]

10. Folks can also scan and email

Or photoshop and email. Just another suggestion. I'm guessing you wouldn't mind sharing your email, or setting one up at gmail for the purpose.

[MBS]

11. All of this will work, but

I don't have a color printer at home (there is one at work, but I'll have to print stuff kind of on the sly .. ), so please allow me 2 days extra time to print out any color photos (I'd take photo files to a print shop or photo store to get them done on decent paper). All in all, I'd encourage hard copy, as having lots of different textures , and real handwriting, should make the whole poster more personal. . .

I'm happy to give you guys an address, and email, but I can't post the info on the forum.

Each of you can me a pm, or (if you know my email address already) an email, and I'll send you the info on email address, postal address, etc. (We can also discuss transmission possibilities via email or telephone)

[JI7]

12. yes, can you post the cost of the gift so we know how much we should

contribute towards it.

[LittleClarkie]

13. I'm in. I'll come up with something

Maybe my sig pic is the answer, since it's been with me for four years

[Vektor]

14. Westport Rivers Winery?

He really liked the stuff we got him from there in 2006 - maybe I could order him something from there and have that delivered to Terri? They have some nice wines and other items, and it's a local winery an hour outside of Boston, in my hometown.

http://www.westportrivers.com/ourwine-index.htm

[Luftmensch067]

15. Nice idea! n/t

[YvonneCa]

16. Yes, I'll send a card and $$ for...

...a gift. Thank you for getting us organized. :7 I'll PM you tomorrow with my email.

[whometense]

17. Count me in too -

for a card - and whatever else is decided on.

[MarjorieG]

18. MBS, I've lost all e-addresses on older email, will leave mine on DU.

[StoryTeller]

19. Count me in!

I've been lurking, but I'm still here. Would love to send him a card or contribute to a gift. Will PM you, MBS.

[TayTay]

20. If there is anything I can do to help,

let me know.

I will make sure whatever is sent gets delivered, personally.

And thanks! You good people are incredible. I think this would be a most appropriate thing to do and most appreciated.

[MBS]

23. yes, please, would love advice on gift and help with the $$ collection

logistics. Will email you separately.

[Island Blue]

21. Count me in too.

I'll send a card and can make a donation.

[ProSense]

22. Count me in too.

Thanks for doing this.

[TayTay]

24. also, pm me an address if

you are interested in Holiday Cards.

[TayTay]

25. Ah, and send that PM quickly.

time is of the essence here.

Thanks!

[TayTay]

26. Sorry, too vague.

I am compiling a list for people to get Holiday cards.

Just asking for addresses, you never know who might just send you a card this holiday season!

[beachmom]

27. Okay, I am in. But what do I do? Fill out a normal birthday card

and mail it to whom? Or fill out white paper that will be pasted somewhere? Thanks everyone.

[MBS]

28. I'll pm you an address

We'll mount whatever you send. . originally the idea was to put it on a poster (sort of a paper quilt), but, as of now, I'm thinking it might be nice to mount everything into a scrapbook-type item. . .depends on what comes to us. I'll pm you now.

[Democrafty]

29. That sounds so nice!

Please PM me an address so I can contribute :)

[Vektor]

31. MBS - please send me the address as well...

And I'll send you a card. Also, check your PM.

[protect our future]

30. I finished making a card today

and am ready to send it. I can contribute $$ too.

Thank you for doing this!

[MBS]

32. progress report. ..

I've heard from 18 people (plus myself!), who plan to send cards and/or contribute to the gift.
More are welcome! We'd like to get offerings by Dec 3, to give us time to assemble everything and get it to Boston office before his birthday, and/or before JK leaves for Christmas holidays, whichever comes first

card project:
We've moved to the idea of mounting cards/letters/photos/whatever into a scrapbook rather than onto a poster .
Luftmensch found a fabulous card with a 3-D copper bicycle (made in Kenya, proceeds go to good cause), which we will put onto the cover, along with the title:
LEAVE IT ALL ON THE ROAD (for reference, see http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/3/1358/70255) (The idea is to emphasize the essence of JK, and the prospect of these being the best, most feisty, most effective years ever)

gift will be a gift basket
Contents so far: Vektor has donated a bottle of local wine (thank you!)
To that we plan to add (so far) chocolate chip cookies, vintage campaign buttons, and a book. More may be added. The emphasis is on creativity and personal touch rather than price.

[Inuca]

33. I would like to send you some $

towards the gift, but have no idea how much. I'll PM you right now.

[JI7]

34. great, how much money should we send ?

would it be ok if i send cash ?

[MBS]

35. we haven't worked out details yet

we won't know amount per person until we finish buying the stuff and we know exactly how many contributors there are. We'll let people know the amount when we figure it out.

Cash ( check or money order if it's mailed) would be fine. I can give you an address to send contribution if you pm me. Several people have mentioned paying by PayPal, which we'll also try to arrange. . .but we haven't worked out logistics yet.

We're not planning to spend a huge amount of money (among other reasons, I'm broke!), so suggested amount won't be a lot. .

[JI7]

36. ok, so if we send out the money afterwards it would be ok ?

i was thinking we needed to send it in before you buy the gifts.

but if you haven't worked out the details for the money for the gifts by Monday then i will just send the card alone and send the money later on.

[MBS]

37. sure, the money can come later. n/t

[YvonneCa]

38. Thanks, MBS, for this...

...update. I will be putting my personal card in the mail tomorrow. Question: I found a couple of silly cards when shopping that I thought were funny but may/may not be anything you want to include in a scrap book. (One is a card with Al Gore asking, "You're putting HOW many candles on your cake this year?" and answering inside, "What did the polar ice caps ever do to you?") I'm just going to send them to you and you can decide if they are appropriate or not. Is that okay?

As to the $$$, I'll send a check as soon as you give us an amount.

[MBS]

39. cards sound great! Sure, send them on. n/t

[karynnj]

41. That card sounds awesome

and the basket sounds great.

[Blaukraut]

40. I'm in. Let me know the details about money, etc. n/t

[MBS]

42. I just send you a pm n/t

[MBS]

43. update on our project. .

1. We've received 16 letters and cards so far. (Wonderful stuff! Thanks, everyone!)(Oh, yeah, and the copper bicycle is very cool)
2. If anyone is still planning to send something, please pm me immediately ,so I'll know to expect it, and so I can give you info on email and postal addresses. If you are just now sending something today , it will have to be by express mail or email (text or attachment), since we need to receive the cards/letters etc by 5 pm on Thursday Dec 4 . (For email, the deadline is 6 pm)
3. reason for deadline: three of us are meeting to put all this together tomorrow at 6 pm.. and we'll need to get it to JK office , hopefully by Friday, so that he'll be sure to receive it before he leaves on his trip.
4. For those whom I haven't yet managed to email separately about $$ contributions for gift basket: for those who want to contribute $, we've finally decided on a suggested contribution of $5 for anyone who wants to contribute. By the way, this is TOTALLY OPTIONAL ; I've only mentioned this because so many people offered to do this. . absolutely no worries if you can't do this, or don't feel inclined to contribute this way. But if you think you're going to send something, please pm me, so I can keep track of what might be coming in (among other reasons, we want to reimburse people if we collect too much money),and so I can give you an address if necessary. PayPal is , at this point, not a viable option, since I don't have a PayPal account; but if you want to contribute by PayPal, I can try to work something out somehow.
Again, NO WORRIES if you don't want to send $. The letters and cards are by far the most meaningful and important part of our gift. . the rest is really just fluff. (Nice fluff, or at least chocolate fluff :), but secondary nonetheless).

[TayTay]

46. This is exactly perfect.

Friday works wonderfully.

[MBS]

47. I just pm'ed you n/t

[PresidentObama]

44. I'm in, let me know how I can help n/t

[MBS]

45. I'm sending you a pm

[Luftmensch067]

48. Thank you, MBS!

Last night, Noisy Democrat and I went to MBS' office to help her GLUE and assemble cards and the gift basket. You wouldn't believe the amazing planning she'd done and the creativity she'd shown! The basket is beautiful and the scrapbook turned out to be gorgeous when assembled according to MBS' vison.

We all marveled at the beautiful, funny, moving, heartfelt and artistic cards and sentiments you all sent and we carefully attached them with glue or scrapbook tape to heavy cardstock pages and then slipped them into protective plastic sleeves with notes attached about slipping them out to read each card. I don't know if MBS may want to describe the book and the gift basket more thoroughly, so I won't go into too much detail, but I will tell you that Noisy Democrat made a special trip to Kilvert and Forbes for chocolate chip cookies to include!

I loved everything you all sent (the cards were so well-chosen and appropriate that it looked like they must have been commissioned with the greeting card companies exactly for JK and the homemade ones were works of art!) and I'm sure JK will love them all, too. But this comment is meant especially to thank MBS because she really got the whole thing going and then she thought every step through and truly cared about everyone who wanted to be included and kept making special last-minute checks of the mail to make sure no one was left out, even this morning early before we left to deliver the basket.

Hooray for MBS!!!! :hi: :grouphug: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :applause: :patriot:

[Island Blue]

49. Thanks to you all for doing this!

I hope my card got there in time. I'm afraid I may have waited a bit too late. :-(

Thanks again for doing this - MBS, Luftmensch and Noisy Dem!

[karynnj]

50. Thank you, MBS, Noisy Democrat and all the Boston people who made this work

It sounds fantastic! This year, because it is a transition, it is cool that he will know that he still has can't get rid of us. :)

[MBS]

51. you bet : ) He'll NEVER get rid of us : ) n/t

[karynnj]

52. Yep,

Luftmensh's description of what you put together sounds incredible.

[LittleClarkie]

54. Nope. Kerrycrats for life

I swear, almost no one I know understands my feelings. A Hillary supporter at my last Dem meeting called him an afterthought. I wanted to spit.

[LittleClarkie]

53. Yes, thank you all for doing this. May I ask, how will we know if he got it though

will the staff pass it on, do you think?

[TayTay]

57. Yes.

It was carefully received and pictures of the good folks who brought were taken in the Senate office.

And thank you! This was incredibly thoughful and nice of you to do.

[MBS]

58. I think Little Clarkie means that we're

all anxious to know if/when the senator actually gets a chance to look at the contents of the basket, hopefully before he leaves, and whether he'll see the handmade, no-preservatives chocolates in time to eat them before the expiration date of Dec. 13. This is a hope/interest/anxiety that I also happen to share!

I can confirm that an Official Person on the staff accepted our gift, that a second Official Person has our contact information, and that we did indeed have two pictures (the basket and the three of us) taken in the lobby of the Senate office (and, NO,those particular photos will NOT be uploaded here, under any circumstances)! But Luftmensch and/or I will try to post some photos of the basket itself at some point , hopefully this weekend.

As to what happens/happened next: I sure hope that we'll find out!

So far (several cards are still on their way), we've received emails and cards and letters from at least 11 states (some contributions didn't mention location, so there may be more) and 2 countries (thank you, Europegirl4JK!). Since I'll be mailing Taytay the second batch of stragglers on Dec 10 or 11 (we've got a plan to make sure the late arrivals will ultimately be added to the notebook, though the Senator will not see them until he returns), if anyone wants to send emailed greetings to be added to the late batch (or hard-copy things, but I'd suggest express mail at this point). . pm me (or, if you have the info already, send them on as instructed).

[LittleClarkie]

60. I just have this image of staffers eating cookies, is all

I don't know what usually happens to gifts to Senators. Do they actually make it to said Senator, is what I was wondering. Senator Kerry knows us, kinda sorta, but that doesn't mean the staff knows who we are and that we've had contact with Sen. Kerry before.

[MBS]

61. one of the staffers admitted to rapacity in the snacks department

(when I told one of them about the expiration date of the chocolate, he said that JK would be motivated to grab the chocolate quickly, because he knows the staff gets greedy .. ) , but I have high hopes that JK will get there first. Among other reasons, I think that TayTay reinforced the point that we weren't just random folks.

[TayTay]

62. True.

And did you not have 2 letters to the editor published in the Boston Globe?

That is just, well, ahm, very memorable.

[MarjorieG]

55. Thank you, thank you, for including my last minute note. Really wanted to be part of this.

Any digital photo of it to upload?

[MBS]

56. I took a photo of yours and the other last-minute ones. .

but I haven't yet figured out how to upload photos. (I haven't had time to check out photobucket yet. . )
If worse comes to worst, I can mail you a disk

Luftmensch took photos of all the earlier ones .

I"m kind of tired tonight, will try to work on this later, and offer more details later .

[MBS]

59. Luftmensch worked very hard on this, too

LM stayed with me late in the office to finish this -- could not have finished otherwise!
NoisyDem brought crucial items (Kilvert and Forbes cookies -- JK's original cookie company!-- plus tools to help affix the bicycles to the cover and a couple of special creations which I've leave NoisyDem to describe if ND so desires to explain them on the forum)