Tuesday 13 January 2009

Too Busy to Blog

Sad but true. I haven't bothered to bore the blogging world with my volunteer work nightmare but I think that it is time.

Many of you know that I am a member of the Junior League of Plano. I completed my Provisional year in the Dallas League back in 2003 right before we left for St. Louis. I spent our time in St. Louis as a transfer into the JLSTL and earned three active years with very little work. That League is run very differently than either of the other two I've been in. After a year of being "lost among other paperwork" the Plano League finally had all my info and I officially transfered in there last year. I really like the Plano League the best of the three I have served in. I have lots of friends that are members and have met some cool people too. I like the projects that they offer and basically find it as a nice adult outlet for me.

That being said, the JLP may become my breaking point over these next three months. I'll try to make this story as short as possible but I believe background info is always key so I'll do my best here.

About a week before Christmas the Chair for my committee (Trinkets to Treasures or T2T) called me in desperation. She was relocating to Indiana and had to find a new Chair for this project. This was her second time to ask me this after I had already told her no once. I could hear the desperation in her voice and I felt sorry her with all that she had going on in her life. So I reluctantly told her that I could step in and take over for her. There was a small period of grace over the holidays while I occasionally reminded myself that I had agreed to this. I casually looked over her things and notes for this project and thought, well this will fun and a good way for me to increase my involvement in the JLP. The holidays ended and so did my little community service fantasy. Basically since January 5th, my e-mail inbox has been flooded with e-mails from all over the JLP asking me questions that I don't know the answer to, asking me for numbers and budgets that I have no idea where to find, complaining to me about poor communication, asking me for keys to storage facilities, warehouses, and to get U-haul rentals. E-mails telling me that rooms have been wrongly booked and meetings have been double scheduled.

It hasn't taken me very long to realize that I. did. NOT. sign. up. for. this. Maybe at some point in my life when my children are in school five days a week but right now my life consists of caring for my little ones and that is exactly how I want it. I am happy to commit some of my time to the community and want to do so but this I fear is going to require far too much of my time.

Alas this brings me to the title of this post. For the past two weeks, every time I have sat down at the computer I have found myself up to my ears in Junior League. By the time I finish with that, someone is awake from their nap, or it is way past my bedtime. I will try to get back on the blogging bandwagon once I get a handle on this but in the meantime, please be patient with my lack of posting.

8 comments:

BethHubbard said...

No fun! No wonder you never answer my phone calls. :) P.S. How'd you get that darling font on your page?!?!?

Julie said...

Oh, I am so sorry, and oddly enough I am totally feeling your pain right now. John and I are on a committee that puts together the church directory and WE are the chairs. READ: JULIE is mostly the chair. I come home to 8 or more voice mails a day (older people like the phone better) from people who missed sign-ups, need to change their appt, etc. etc. My parents have been here twice in the last week to care for my kids while I am at the church. I have farmed them out with friends, and left the home alone for an hour one evening I could not cover. It really doesn't get much better when they are in school, so just practice my motto for 2009 - NO, I CANNOT DO THAT. IT DOES NOT WORK FOR MY FAMILY RIGHT NOW! Love to you and you family!

Meredith said...

I feel your pain as a "yes" girl myself! I hope it gets better for you sooner rather than later!

Newman Family Blog said...

So, I guess this answers the question - should I transfer from the Dallas league to the Plano league...

pkhubbard said...

Reread Julie's answer--especially the part about it does not work for my family!!

Dena said...

Ugh, sister, I feel your pain. I signed up to chair the hospitality committee for a group of 20 families that meets at our church Sunday nights. With a shortage of volunteers I ended up making a ton of food by myself the first weekend. After that stress (and a whole day of baking and not spending time with Adelyn) I ended up delegating the next 10 weeks to other people (rather than waiting for volunteers). Now I can just sit back and let it "run itself." But if it is not too late, I like Julie's answer! Hugs to you.

Russamoto said...

Oh, I am so sorry about that. I will totally come to Trinkets to Treasures and then send a ltter to the president saying it was the best one ever on your behalf! maybe you could add one of those countdowns to your blog until its over.

Amy R. said...

Hi! yes, I am posting for the first time (I think). I was blog surfing from Deb's page. I was a member of the Junior League of Rockford when we lived there and I really enjoyed it. But I had heard that the St. Louis one was different so I never became a transfer. I was busy enough with playdates and naps and all that stuff. But life seems so much busier here than Rockford. Probably because we didn't have kids then! I hope that you are all doing well! Lucy & Christopher are such cuties!