Making a committment to committees

I have Helium Hand syndrome, I tend to volunteer far too much for things when I really ought not to.  I have been trying very hard to scale back my volunteering since I had child number 3, but I still managed to get myself on a local committee last year.  The AGM is looming, so I have made a decision to step down from the committee and hand the responsibilities to another poor soul worthy person, but I still feel a bit guilty, like I haven't done enough.

If I apply my Wise Brain to this problem, I can point out all the things I have done, all the events I have helped with, the fundraising I have done, the administration and the leg-work.  I know rationally that I have helped a lot more that some people and a lot less than others, and that is nothing to be ashamed of, but I also know that if I step down, the workload is likely to fall back onto someone who is already overloaded.

Herein lies the problems of committees.  The people who care enough to join a committee and make an effort are always the same people in any community, so you end up with half a dozen people trying to fundraise and work for a hundred committees while the rest of the community sit back and go "ooh I don't know how you have time!"

I am also getting to a stage of my life when there I just cannot be bothered with cliques, snippy comments and bitchy behaviour. I've worked hard through therapy to be able to speak my mind in a calm and reasonable way without feeling guilty or worrying about offending people, and I'll be damned if I am going to get caught up in catfights between grown adults who ought to know better.  If anyone reading this blog thinks I am writing about them, then more fool them.  If I have a problem with someone, I try to sort it out with them directly.  This post is a general rant about crappy behaviour in adults I know both online and in real life.

This is where social media can be a real problem too.  Internet message boards, Facebook, Twitter and their ilk are all too easy to post in without giving yourself time to calm down, think things through and behave like a rational adult.  Even if you immediately regret and delete your words, someone out there will have read them and got the hump about it.

I read in one of my internet cubby holes that before you post something when you're feeling angry or upset you should Think, Wait, Answer, Tenderly.
  Sooo, if you're angry about something, before you post online for the world to see, just take a moment and T.W.A.T. it.

Feeling like I should be “doing something”

I get times when I feel a great need to be doing something constructive and artistic, but I haven’t found something that works around the children just yet.

Gardening is great, but the results are slow and I’m more of an instant-gratification type.  Knitting and crocheting the same, even though I am getting a lot quicker at both.

Scrap-booking, painting, sculpture or writing are great, but difficult with pre-schoolers around, and impossible with a speed-crawling baby intent on pressing the shiny blue button on the PC.

I am also easily bored, and need to give myself small, specific goals in order to actually get into a habit of doing something regularly.  With the knitting & crochet I have a list of mad ideas to try, in amongst making practical items for sale in the shop, and I tend to sit down at the end of the day to do that.

With this blog, I am making myself post once a week, and trying to write about 500 words for each post.  If I find I have a lot to say, I am writing out a couple of posts, and saving one for the following week, so I can either get ahead of myself or have a week off.  It also helps me to think of topics if I write notes when I am inspired by something, so I can then put it together later on.  I am carrying a little notebook around in my handbag for this purpose, but as I get most of my inspiration when driving, I think I need to get hold of a Dictaphone or something.

I have also been thinking about New Year resolutions.  I decided a couple of years ago to set 3 realistic goals at the beginning of the year and make a decent effort to achieve them.

The first year I started I planned to: listen to and play more music; learn a new language; learn to run.  I managed the music and the running, and researched what language I might want to learn.

This year I kept the language plan, and aimed to exercise regularly (running was out as pregnant by this time), I also aimed to cook more new recipes and build up a collection of tried and trusted meals.  This ended up very well in me creating a fundraising recipe book for a local voluntary organisation.

I still have not managed the new language, but I will be buying myself an Earworms CD with some Christmas money, so I will add it to my goals for 2011.  I think I can combine my next plan to start running regularly (when Kaitereo is in kindy and Hakopa is asleep) with learning Mandarin by listening when I’m on the treadmill.

So, that’s 2 goals sorted – learn Mandarin and start running regularly – now I have to figure out what else I can realistically achieve in 12 months.  Knitted Taj Mahal anyone?

Back to the grindstone

Well my wonderful Mum has headed back to the UK for another 5 months, so it's back to work for me! I feel very well rested after her visit though, and I've got my motivation back for getting on with projects and things. Baby2 is now head down and making preparations to enter the world (36 weeks along now), and I'm hoping for a reasonable early arrival (38 weeks would be lovely, thanks!).

Project-wise I'm in the middle of knitting a pixie-hood for a friend's baby, and also slowly making half a dozen wool nappy covers for the newbie. I also have a gift for hubby's Grandma to finish off (it's a 3D picture of a witch as she collects witches), which I should have done tomorrow.
I'm about to hand over the Jousting Tournament organising, as I really don't have the time to devote to it that I did last year, and I don't want to leave it too late before passing it on. We've only had a couple of stalls confirmed, so it really needs someone to start canvassing more potential vendors, and I just don't have the hours in the day to spend doing it.
My scrapping is STILL on hold as I've not really had evenings free enough to work on it, but now Mum's gone, I won't have anyone to chat to when hubby is working, so I'll have no excuses then!

Usana is slowly ticking along, sold another stock item which I think I can safely start ordering in every 2-3 months, as the customer doesn't want to sign up for a monthly account, but will be taking the calcium fairly regularly. He's finding it's preventing his cramp which is a great side-effect I was not aware of, so Mum may well add that to her order too. I've put my autoship on hold for 3 months, as I won't be needing anything til then, and I don't have enough one-off orders to put on it.

Other project updates:

• Toy Library AGM - Ican't set a date until we've heard back from the Auditors apparently, so that lets me off the hook somewhat.
  
• SIL window sign - this is now done!
  

A bit of R&R

My lovely mother has been with us since 17th July, and I tell you, it's bliss. I've hardly had to do anything around the house, BabyM is constantly entertained and is saying loads more words, and the freezer is gradually filling with family-sized meals in preparation for the arrival of BabyLentil.

Project Update

• Scrapbooking - still got the journalling to finish on this, probably won't get round to it until after Mum's gone.
  
• Mainly Music program - ALL DONE! Animal theme and Father's Day themed programs are recorded and in the folder all ready for use, we've done the Animal songs for a couple of weeks now, and the kids are loving the new ones!
  
• Great Lakes Tournament Market - this is going very slowly, but we've had a couple of confirmed bookings.
  
• Knitting - Current finger puppets are yellow chicks, I'm knitting the body/head and then going to make wings from feathers and beaks from felt, and probably stick googly eyes on.
  
• Photography - nothing done on this yet
  
• Website - I'm going to build up my stock first, then get this finished and online once I have something to use it for!
  
• Bubs Bulletin - Still on hold til other projects done
  
• Toy Library AGM - I really must set the date for this. I need to give people a months notice, so I've got til mid August really.
  
• SIL window sign -Two coats done, I just need to take off the stencils and tidy up any rough edges.
  

Night on the tiles

OK, so BabyM has an ear infection poor love, but at least we can do something about it, so the antibiotics start today. She's staying at Nana's tonight, while hubby and I go out for dinner with his work crowd. We're off to a buffet restaurant, and I think I'm going to be the only pregnant one there. There are a couple of other pregnant women at hubby's work, but they seem convinced that they can't eat from a buffet, so they aren't going - silly beggers. I checked with my midwife, and I can have hot buffet food, I just have to avoid salads and seafood (which I will be doing anyway, seeing as it's winter!).

Project Update

SIL window sign - the first coat is on and drying. It looks pretty good considering I've never done anything like that before, so once it's dry I'll take off the stencil and neaten up the edges. Then that will be DONE! I love crossing things off the list.

Project List

OK, here's what I have on the go that needs to be finished:

• Scrapbooking - journaling to finish on the UK trip album and possibly a little more embellishment on some of the pages. I'm also planning a mini album for BabyM with a single picture of each member of her close family on each page, I think Christmas will be a good time to gather the pictures for this one.
• Mainly Music program - Animal theme for the next month or so, then a Father's Day theme for September. We'll be having an Animal Theme Day on 21st August, and I think that will be the last MM I attend until after NewBaby is born.
• Great Lakes Tournament Market - this is underway, just trying to get bookings for stalls now. I need to follow up some emails with phone calls really, and I keep putting it off
• Knitting - I've been making finger puppets and balls and I intend to use up all my wool scraps on these before I start any new knitting projects (yeah, right!)
• Photography - I have a few nice arty pictures I've taken which I plan to frame and sell, some of them are printed, some are still on the computer awaiting printing. I may upload them onto my online photo service, rather than printing them myself, as they'll come out looking a lot more professional. I also have a load of pictures from our honeymoon, along with two gorgeous kauri albums which need combining, but this is continually being put to one side in favour of exciting new projects! Finally, I have the professional photos we had taken of BabyM which really need framing and hanging.
  
• Website - I'm learning HTML in an attempt to set up my online catalogue/shop where I'll be selling all these bits I'm making
• Bubs Bulletin - Waiuku is in need of a directory for parents of pre-schoolers. A lot of people don't realise just how much there is for tots to do around here!
• Toy Library AGM - I need to set the date for this, write my report and my letter of resignation - ONE less thing to worry about next year!
• SIL window sign - I've volunteered to paint my sister-in-law's office window with her name, never done it before, so keep your fingers crossed!

Phew! I don't realise quite how much I get involved in sometimes!