The friends I have made

In Junior League have continued to impress me. There are women who sew and quilt like Samantha. Teachers that give way more of their time to kids than they are paid for like Tara and Christie. Christie also camps and loves wine! Then there are those that just give so much of themselves to the cause of the Junior League -  like Trinka and Andrea.

But not only are these all great people, but so are their families! At the first general meeting we were paired up with a Plane Pal. My plane pal is Sanam. Well, at out fundraiser I was fortunate enough to meet her mother (I'd met her before but hadn't gotten to really spend time with her talking). What a wonderful soul she is so warm and friendly. We talked about cooking and she told me how wonderful the saffron is from Iran. I believed her, but she went so far as to send some to me to try! How cool is that?

I can not wait to try it! I hope that Sanam and her mom can come to my house soon for dinner. I would love to get to know them more.

Movement

Movement, whether it's from nature, God or ourselves can propel us into new and exciting places.  Or it can send you to sad and dark locales.  The last few weeks I haven't blogged much.  I've been spending time with my family, many of whom I haven't seen in a very long time.  You see, God decided to move my father home.  We had a memorial service for him last Saturday and then on Monday we buried his remains at the Veterans cemetery.  I am really thankful for all my dear close friends that made trips to be with me during the memorial.  I parked myself right in the middle of the pew amidst my bestest buds. It was a very emotional moving day to say the least.

I then flew home late Tuesday night to spend 2 evenings with my own family and doing laundry and catching up on chores, and I put in a rather long day Wednesday at work.  Those two evenings went by so fast and I have to say, I really miss my husband.

On Thursday morning, I packed up and flew to Dallas for the Junior League.  My league has generously, sent me to Organizational Development Institute (ODI) for three days.  I caught up on all my pre-reading while on the plane here and I have to say I am most excited about attending these work shops.  The amount of information and knowledge I have gained by being a part of this organization is outstanding.  Today, is the first day and I can't wait to see more!

I am very thankful for the friends and family, colleagues, Junior League members that have sent me such kind notes and cards the last few weeks.  Their support and understanding through this has been very much appreciated.  I hope that one day I can be as supportive to them should they ever need it.

Last night's JL meeting...

So last night was the night. The night we gave the two wonderful ladies that help our event a thank you presentation. The league gave them awards and our committee chair gave them a thank you package. In that package were the aprons I made. "no pressure here". Anyway, here they are in the their aprons. They look pretty cute!


Several things happened at the meeting last night. The Helen Newcomb award was presented and the sustainer that was presented gave one of the most sincere speeches I've ever heard.

Then the new board of directors for next year was inducted :) yeah for our new president. The new members were made active members (yeah me!) with flowers and the JL pin.



The outgoing president then presented 4 president service awards. Our committee chair for the Kids in the Kitchen event was presented with the first award. We all sat together so during our congratulations to her, the president was starting the intro on the second award and our chair looked at me and said listen. Then I listened. I heard the word "crafty" then I heard "she's a great cook" and she helped "prep food for 500" and takes "charge" when needed...GO FIGURE. Then I heard my name. ....insert ::THUD:: here.

I was very honored and humbled to get this in a group of women that really exceed what I do. I just like to work and help.

It was a long week...

So last week started off running. I had a lot to do on Monday to get ready for Tuesday and Wednesday. At work I had a Managing Strategic Accounts workshop I organized and attended on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then on Thursday, we had a CRM trainer come in to give us a refresher course on using Siebel software. For Saturday, I had 8 women from the Kids in the Kitchen committee at my house prepping for the 6th annual Kids in the Kitchen event here in Long beach - for 6 hours. The event was Sunday and we started set up at 7am! The event seemed to be a big success. It's hard for me to measure as I hadn't attend one in the past. We did have a lot of kids come through and the local Councilman Dee Andrews attended. The focus of the event was to help teach kids about eating healthy and staying active. There were four healthy snacks for them to try and lots of fun and active games like cabbage bowling and the Long Beach Junior Beach Runner's had a fabulous obstacle course. There was so much that for the kids to do and see at one place.



The down side to all of this was that I had a bad case of bronchitis. On Wednesday, I actually left the training to go to the doctor and get a prescription cough medicine and boy am I glad I did. I'm certain that was what go me through the week. I'm still coughing but not nearly as severe. The doctor said it would last for up to 6 weeks. That's just maddening.