It went around the room a time or two

Yesterday morning was the gift exchange

in Transportation for The Runner.

Here are the items I made for him.

Card first.

A canvas.

A snowball pom pom garland.

A rolled silk rose tree.

The other two trees on this table

are ones I made years ago.

(They only got the hot pink one!)

And while we're talking about

the Transportation department

and The Runner ...

Ta da.

Not sure if you remember me

bragging on him a while back.

He was voted Employee of the Year for 2016.

In addition to getting his own assigned

parking spot right by the building,

Sewell Cadillac/BMW dealership

gave him the use of this car for the weekend.

They also gave a gift card

for Bob's Steak and Chop House,

which we will use this weekend

to celebrate our anniversary.

And since they let him use one of their cars,

while he had it,

they did a full detail on my car.

I haven't seen it yet - will do that tomorrow.

But I hear they did a great job!

Thanks, Sewell. 

Mr. Bus Driver

The Runner, aka Mr. Bus Driver,

gifts a bird tag to each one of the students he transports

to and from school, as well as his monitor.

Each bird takes about an hour from start to finish.

Finding ways to make each one just a little bit different

can be challenging,

but I enjoy creating them.

But not as much as he enjoys giving them.

Some of these littles were on his bus last year
so now they have a collection.

One evening I spent two hours and 10 minutes
gift-wrapping the lot.
Fortunately, that was a couple of weeks ago.
I say fortunately because there was still time.
Time for me to UN-wrap each one
because I forgot to take pictures.
It's a good thing I don't use tape!

The day after he handed these out,

one little three-year old girl got on the bus.

Instead of her usual "Good morning"

she said (all in one big breath, of course)
"Thank you for the ornament.

It's on my Christmas tree and I love it."

Now you know her mommy and daddy

practiced this with her.

I'm sure that she thought if she said "Good morning"

she'd forget the rest.

Then she turned around to look at her mamma,
all proud like.
Then the mamma wrapped her arms around herself
as if to say "give him a hug"
and so she did.

This is what Christmas is all about!

Gift Exchange

Every year The Runner

participates in the gift exchange at work.

And every year I make a card

and the gift.

This year was no exception.

I absolutely LOVE making trees.

Every year I have made several.

Many are displayed in our home

and I call it "the forest."

This one is made with a nine-inch Styrofoam cone.

Adhered are 56 satin roses
that I rolled and hot glued all by myself.

I've made wreaths before.

But never one like this.

A total of 275 unbleached coffee filters

are attached to a 14-inch Styrofoam wreath.

Can you just say "hot glue gun burns?"

The Runner was hoping one particular man

would receive this.

And he did.

You see, Bernie has shared pictures of his home

all decked out for Christmas

and The Runner thought these

would be appreciated.
(They were!)

After he opened the box,
he patted the lid and said,
"My Christmas shopping is finished."

The next day, he told The Runner this:
"I got home before my wife.
Took the tree out of the box.
Took the wreath out of the box.
Took the card out of the box.
Scratched out your name
and replaced it with mine.
Set everything up on the table for the wife."
Funny man!

Who doesn't love a Christmas party?

Yesterday morning,

GCISD Transportation Department had their party.

 

They were to bring a pot luck dish as well as a wrapped gift.

I whipped up peppers/sausages pasta.

We think there was enough there to feed an army.

Not real sure about serving this at 9am though
but those that partook saw nothing wrong with it.

 

Here's the card I created for The Runner,

aka The Driver.

Everybody loves Santa, right?

Well, here is all framed up and ready to decorate any room of the house.

This sweet little frame has been transformed

into a little hanging.

Can be hung on the tree or not.

Thank you, Michael's, for introducing new letters!

These are made of wood and already painted (black.)

Perfect.

And they stand so much better than the paper mâché ones!

I hope Bill and his family likes this gift and enjoys it for years to come.

 

I wanted to keep the colors neutral, not knowing where it will be displayed.
White, cream, silver and brown - very woodsy, too.

I tissue-wrapped each gift and put them inside a large box.
As each letter was unwrapped, they were trying to figure out what it spelled.
One they were all unwrapped, somebody said "LEON" ...

Here's a close-up of each letter.

The bottom of the "O" seemed like a perfect place for this little bird to nest.

Oh my goodness.

I've had this rusty moose for years and years.

It's not that I didn't want to part with him.

It's just that I couldn't come up with a perfect way to include him.

Until this project.

And what's a moose without a glittered jingle bell around his neck?

Feathers, ferns, berries, a snowflake and a flower.

All resting in the corner of the "L" - works for me.

Merry Christmas to Bill.

And to all of The Runner's Transportation Department coworkers.

See ya next year.  I've already got some ideas for the gift!



The Runner had a full day - and a good one, too!!!

Remember this?

Well, today he was officially offered his very own route.

He'll be driving a special needs bus

and is super excited.

 

This week he's attending a 20-hour class.

(Night off tonight but back at it tomorrow night

and all day on Saturday.)

 

Next week he'll be taking the field trip training.

 

After that, he'll be driving a field trip bus

for Special Olympics.

 

AND ...

 

He was asked if he would be interested

in competing in the

Special Olympics Rodeo.

 

His answer:  Oh heck yeah!!!

 

And all this on the day after St. Patrick's Day.

(This picture was taken several years ago.

Couldn't resist!)

 

The wheels on the bus go round and round

And guess who's going to be driving that bus???

The Runner is, that's who!

I've been so excited to spread the word and brag on him

but wanted to wait until the glitter settled after all the Valentine cards and boxes

(you'll see those tomorrow.)

Just before Christmas he passed his CDL and was a "driver trainee."

February 4 he passed his test (with a perfect 100% score, I might add!!!)

and is now driving a school bus for Grapevine Colleyville ISD.

Prior to driving, he was a special needs monitor and he loved it!

The next step is just waiting for a route to open up

(he's hoping for a "special needs" route)
so that he can bid on it and have his very own bus with his very own students.

He's looking forward to that!

He asked me to make a card for his trainer
to show his appreciation for her guidance and expertise.

 

Join me in wishing The Runner a huge "way to go!"

Presents ...

Today was the GCISD's Transportation Department's Christmas party.  First up is one of the gifts that The Runner took for his exchange gift.  I love this 5"x5" canvas so much (I have made them the past few years) that I decided to create one for this exchange.  The best part is the monochromatic, earthy look - will work with any color scheme.

This little frame sure took on a completely different look; it started out a ghastly orange color.  After a coat of Gesso and a couple of coats of paint, this is how it turned out.  What better piece than this to hold The Man of the Season.

You'll be seeing more of these in a future post.  This Hershey milk chocolate candy bar is hidden just a little bit under some pretty paper, ribbon and snow scene.

Here's another shadowbox/hanging card/ornament.  I've used this same picture and sentiment on a card and loved it so much that I just had to use it again.

I couldn't resist the sentiment.  The sour expressions on these children is priceless and they just need to be reminded to "get their MERRY on" ...

Here are close-ups taken from different angles.  I don't want you to miss anything.

The gifts were individually wrapped and then put inside a larger box, with this card on the top.  I wish you could see how "brightly shining" those stars are in person!

This ornament was actually the first gift I created for this exchange and I was disappointed that it wouldn't fit inside the box.  I thought I was going to have to just hang it on our tree but then decided I could just utilize it as part of the gift wrapping.

Here's hoping these little baubles merry-up somebody's Christmas not only this year, but in years to come.

 

Ohhhhhhhh - and the very best part?  The exchanging of gifts was where everybody had a choice of an unopened gift or they could steal.  The Runner "stole" a $15 Hobby Lobby gift card.  For ME!