The Great Fundraising Act is Monday July 25, 2011 TODAY

I'm a lazy copy-cat. Since janetha just posted exactly what I'd like my readers to know about The Great Fundraising Act tomorrow, I just copy/pasted her ENTIRE POST into my blog! That's because I have secret access to her whole blog in order to help with this gigantic project.  This means in theory that I could go into her old posts and change all sorts of things, like the food she eats. "dude, for dessert, I LOVE kale chips so much more than vanilla ice cream with peaches!" to weights she lifts... "i got some major doms from bicep curls with those 2-pound dumbells."  I could even insert incriminating photos of her, but I'm too nice for that. Usually.

Eden & Janetha...see how she noticeably struggles with 2-pound bicep curls?

But please read the post that I stole from janetha's blog if you are planning to take part in tomorrow's festivities, or if you are even curious about it.  Our #1 goal is to raise money for our friend Susan. who is fighting lymphoma at age 25.

• Staggered closing bid times are from about 6.30pm until 11pm Eastern Standard time. So even if you work tomorrow, you can bid on many items (unless you are in Australia or Japan...then you are either a night-owl or SOL).  
• Bidding is simply as easy as leaving a comment! A bid is simply a US dollar amount left in the comment box! EASY! There will be further instructions from janetha tomorrow.

janetha did an unbelievable job on this project- as did many of her friends and family. Please forgive any snafus that might occur as this fund-raising project went sky-rocketing...I'd say it is going viral. Who knows what could happen tomorrow!?

Speaking of copy-cats, you knew I couldn't hit 'publish' without one of these...

Copy-cat Ace & Ellie.

And finally, you might remember that Susan came to my aid when I put together the Charity Blogger calendar when my Dad was dying last year. My Dad also had lymphoma, but a much, much more serious form. As my Dad used to say "She's good people."

Susan...one hot calendar girl, and a good person too.

So, on that note, here's janetha bean...

hey there. it’s me! janetha g. i know i haven’t been blogging lately—but i have been working hard behind the scenes.

the big, giant, amazing auction is tomorrow. this thing has snowballed into something i never dreamed of.
it’s huge. like, huge.
i wanted to say a few things on this auction eve, in anticipation for the big day.

first and most important: in case of a site crash.
i am not a big blogger. i don’t have my own server. i begged my host to give me a dedicated server, just for a day, and they said no can do.

there are going to be a lot of people coming here tomorrow, clicking and commenting their hearts out. chances are, this blog could crash. i am hoping, wishing and praying it does not.. but there is still a good chance.
SO, i wanted to tell you all “plan B”. at first i toyed with the idea of hosting the items on a google doc and having bids emailed in, but with nearly 200 items, that got a little sticky. not happening.

if my blog does go down tomorrow, plan B is wait it out. that is all we can do. if you come here and the site is down, just know we have implemented plan B.

the auction will be extended and when my site comes back up, i will announce the new closing times for the items. the closing times will have to be staggered throughout the week so there isn’t another crash.
of course, we are hypothetically speaking, and there isn’t going to be a crash nor a need for plan B, right? right. we will cross that bridge when and if we come to it.

second. all the closing times are in the listings.

this is to try to prevent a flood of bidders at 11 PM EST. it is the only shot we have at preventing a crash. some of you were really upset that some items end a lot earlier than you’d like them to..but i promise, it was the only way to do it.

a big thank you to deb for figuring out closing times that stagger beautifully and for inserting them into the posts. deb and i were on the phone for over 3 hours last night figuring out the logistics of this thing! it is as organized as possible, but i am sure there will still be some crazy issues ;)

so, with that said, please TRIPLE CHECK the closing time of the items you are bidding on. it is up to you to get your bids in before the item closes. comments are time stamped and the comment that comes in last before the closing time will be the winner. we have staggered the times in a way that you can bid on several items and still be present for the closing of each one. of course, there is SOME overlap.. if there are two items you have your heart set on that close at the same time, perhaps you can recruit a friend to help bid for you.

third. canadian-friendly and world-friendly listings.

we have compiled two separate lists that include the auction items available to canadians and auction items available to worldwide bidders. i still have to cross check them so they aren’t quite ready.. but these lists will be available in the category breakdown in tomorrow’s post, so you can simply click to view the items available to you.

the majority of the items are available to USA residents. there are half a dozen items that are available to canada only or that are conditional of where you live, so just be sure to read each item description carefully before bidding.

fourth. the current bid list.

tomorrow is going to be crazy! i want to have a list on the front page that has a somewhat current bid amount for each item. i am going to be up at momma b’s house bright and early, monitoring the bids. she and i will work hard all day at keeping that list as current as possible.

PLEASE remember that the bid list is not real time and it is just there to give you a ballpark idea of what each item is going for at the moment. we will also update the list to reflect items that have closed—again, as fast as we can get to them.

it is your responsibility to submit a bid that is higher than the most current bid. i suggest that after you read a listing and decide you want to bid, refresh the page so you can see if any bids have come in while reading the description.

fifth. twitter chat!

at 1 PM – 2 PM EST, i will be participating in a twitter chat with the star of the show, susan, and katy, the woman behind #fitblog. it will be under the hashtag #TGFA. please tune in! we will be talking about the auction, the fundraiser and also about the big C—yes, susan’s cancer. stupid cancer…

sixth. monetary donations.

a lot of you have expressed that you want to help but can’t make it to the auction because you have no internet access tomorrow. you can still help! direct monetary donations can be made here. we have already raised over $1,200 as of tonight and the auction has not even begun. this is amazing.

okay—i am going to get out of here. i still need to draft the actual auction post.. so come back tomorrow for all the fun!

*also, in case of a site crash, can all you bloggers please be prepared to spread the word about plan B? please and thanks!"*

xo. janetha g.