cRaZinEsS

The marriage seminar was this weekend and although it went off without a hitch, I was running around like crazy trying to get everything done last week. I never could have pulled it off without some serious help from other ladies in the church who I enlisted and without the major praying I did all throughout last week! God was really faithful to provide the extra time and hands I needed. It was my first time planning an event in a long time, so I felt a bit rusty and learned a few things in the process. Even though I felt stressed at the beginning of last week when I couldn’t quite see how everything would come together, I still loved it. I love the organization and keeping up with all the lists and contacting volunteers to keep them in the loop. I was able to delegate a lot of the errand running – still had to run some myself, but I really HAD to delegate a lot of that. I realized that planning an event here without a car is much different than when I had an SUV to cart everything around in. It was going to be impossible for me to carry everything myself to the venue on Friday, so I had to enlist others to pick stuff up and bring it. I still had to lug a small suitcase and another bag with me on Friday and back again on Saturday.

We had about 50 people attend the seminar, which we thought was great! Plus, we fed all the volunteers – the ones who were there for me and a few others who helped with audio/visual. Friday night, the wine & cheese night went so well. Everything looked great and tasted good. I had amazing volunteer helpers who really chipped in and made my life so easy! They stayed throughout the seminar to make sure everyone was registered and served food and then stayed after to help clean up. It was awesome and we had so much fun, too! I wasn’t stressed at all on Friday because everything was in place and went so smoothly.

Saturday still went well, but I was a little more frazzled. I didn’t have as many volunteers and 2 of them were 30 minutes late. I did have an awesome group of bakers and we pulled together a great breakfast for the couples. But, I didn’t have the hands I needed that morning. Set-up was crazy as I was trying to get the food and everything in place and at least 2 people were needed to walk up a block to pick-up the Starbucks coffee and fixin’s. I ended up having to go to Starbucks myself – which I was counting on the late-comers to do. Then, the girls who came late basically just dropped off their food (which was much appreciated), but one said she was sick and couldn’t stay and the other said she had to run errands for something else. So that meant there was no one there to help register, which meant I was trying to man the food table and registration table all by myself! Then, I was left to clean-up by myself. I was slightly annoyed, but I know that’s what you have to expect with volunteers. It gives me an idea of who to count on next time around! JR seemed to think it went well, so I was glad for that because I wanted him to feel like he could count on me to help in the future. Also, one girl who attended the seminar and is helping him plan an event for February came up to me on Saturday and asked if I could help her out! We don’t know each other well, but hope to go for coffee and get to know each other and maybe tag-team this next event. I’m excited. I really enjoy planning things more when I have a lead-partner than taking the lead all on my own, so it would be fun to work with her.

So, this week should be a bit slower. I do have to go to the hockey game tonight – we’re taking our auditors to the suite as a “thank gosh it’s over for this year” celebration. And tomorrow night is CG, but that’s always part of my week. Wednesday/Thursday I will spend getting my apartment cleaned because my mom is coming on Friday!! Mom and I have some super fun stuff planned for the week she is here and I cannot wait!