Nine Excuses and One Really Big Meeting

Exactly one week ago, I was supposed post the Mindyified transcript of Elder Greg's very last mission phone call. But... I didn't get around to it that day. Or the next. Or the next. But I wasn't just slacking for slacking's sake. I promise. The last few days (weeks? months?) have been a bit busy.

My newest niblet visited my cowtown for the first time, so I had to welcome him (Credits: Photo by Mindy, Onesie by Jenny, Baby by Becky... We make a great team!)

Greg would totally understand my need to spend time with Bubba and his sisters.

Then there was the ten minute 6th grade orientation video that took me about 52 hours to film and edit. And the three hundred creative writing projects that needed to be graded.

I am also substituting for the sunbeams teacher for a couple of weeks, so there were primary lessons to review and pre-traumatic-stress deep breathing exercises to practice.

The junior high's talent show was this week (Great Work Val, Kim, and Marta!), so I had to help my yearbook kids prep for their act.

And speaking of yearbook, there was a very wet, very cold track meet that I needed to attend in my official capacity as yearbook book Jedi master.

And then there was Thursday night's science fair, which deserves a post of its own. Stay tuned for a blog-worthy bevy of inventions that sprang forth from the very creative minds of our 7th and 8th graders.

I did have about an hour or so Thursday between the talent show and a Relief Society meeting when I was going to try to get some Greg info posted, but Blogger picked that same window of time to perform what better have been some very VERY important maintenance.

As annoying as Blogger's shutdown was, it did give me a few much needed minutes to finish filling the last of 325 service seed packets with service idea slips.

Those seed packets are not only my 9th excuse for delaying my Elder Greg post, they are also the transition into the second half of this post. You see, those service seed packets were made especially for our 2nd Stake Relief Society Meeting.

Remember last year's meeting, our presidency's first, for which we turned the cultural hall into a Celestial room with optional basketball capabilities? If not, feel free to read about it HERE.

Well, this year we decided to go with a more understated approach. No towering topiaries or miles of twinkle lights this year, no-sir-ee.

This year we kept it simple...

Well, not quite THAT simple, but simpler than last year.

Instead of ten miles of twinkle lights, we used a just little over 300 satin sashes, and instead of a six-foot-tall flower arrangement in the middle of the room, we went with beautiful potted plants on each of the 37 tables.

Much simpler. Far simpler. Mucho simpler.

Except for the 8x10 foot temporary stage that had to be built in the middle of the gym, but that was for function rather than form, so it doesn't count.

The one thing that might not have been all that simple was the dinner. Turkey wraps with herbed cream cheese and a cranberry orange sauce served with a salad of spring greens, strawberries, oranges, feta cheese, candied nuts, and a raspberry vinaigrette with individual cheesecakes for dessert doesn't count as simple. Especially not when you are preparing plates for 300. But thanks to our wonderful committee members, even the not-simple-dinner went smoothly.

We owe a lot to our wonderful committee ladies... and all of our friends and family members to stuck around to help deconstruct our "simple" meeting set-up. They are all angels... chair-stacking, sash-folding, dish-washing, floor-mopping angels.

And don't even get me started on how fabulous our nursery leaders were. Three brethren from the singles branch Elders Quorum ran the nursery for us. In return for their selfless service, I now owe them some seriously wonderful refreshments for an activity of their choice. I was going to give them my first born child, but they crossed out that clause in their contracts after hanging out in the nursery for two and a half hours. I really can't imagine what might have brought on that little change of heart...

The night went pretty smoothly for us (except for Sister Hobson's skirt adventure that is not only worthy of its own post, but also deserves it's own episode of MacGuyver) thanks to all of our in-stake helpers and our out-of-town performers. Their program had us laughing and crying all night.

So now, with two successful stake meetings under our belts, we are already feeling the pressure to make next year's event even more memorable. But don't worry about us too much. I already have a plan.

For our first meeting, President and Sister Jones spoke and bore their testimonies. This year we had three sisters sing, dance, and bear their testimonies. Next year, I think we should combine the two ideas and have President Jones sing and dance. The sisters in the stake would LOVE it and, if we agree to pay President in dinner mints, I think he might just go for it.

So now that our meeting is over and my 300 creative writing projects are (over half) graded, I will see what I can do about getting Greg's phone call posted. And the science fair projects. And Jolene's skirt adventure.

I guess it's a good thing summer vacation is right around the corner. So many posts, so little time.