Stress…
I haven’t been blogging a lot cuz I’ve been soooooo stupid busy. But now I’m so stressed out of my mind I’ve got to do something before I have a nervous breakdown. I’ve been crazy busy since the middle of June when I began planning the Stampede breakfast out here in Okotoks.
The first thing that started getting me busy planning in May was the father daughter camp. I don’t think people realize how much work and planning I put into activities. June 21 our ward did a father daughter camp. It was awesome! I was happy with the turn out. Only 2 families didn’t show up out of all the people that turned out. We had about 65 people there. Ryan did breakfast (eggs, pancakes, sausages and oj), the dad’s and daughters hiked the Blue Rock hike, they had lunch, had a water fight, played in the Sheep River that ran by Sandy McNab and decorated a pillow case, they had lunch (sloppy joes, chips, veggie tray, then did a obstacle course, sang camp fire songs around the fire and roasted marshmallows. It was a fantastic time! The amazing thing was that it didn’t rain on us once. It was a cool day and the temp. hovered around 23C, it spit a little rain on us but it didn’t dump like it did in Calgary or in Okotoks. I had to go into Turner Valley and back home to Okotoks cuz I kept forgetting stuff. I would drive 5 min. away from the camp site and it was raining. It seemed to rain all around but not at our camp. I was so thankful! I had been praying my heart out that we wouldn’t get rain and I’m always amazed when I have my prayers answered.
Once we got back I jumped in full throttle on the July 14 Stampede Breakfast. It took a lot of coordinating with the other 2 wards to put this breakfast on. This was a big deal because we were inviting the community and I had to make sure all the t’s were crossed and the i’s dotted. I dealt with all kinds of craziness. I would work on this all day long. I was constantly on the phone trying to find this or that or get a hold of someone. The Bishop wanted me to log in my hours of community service for this event. He asked me how long it took to organize, pick stuff up, etc… He estimated around 30 hours… I laughed… I thought it was more like 100 hours. I wish I would have known I had to log in these hours and I would have kept track of it. I would be interested to know how long I spent agonizing and planning this. I started planning in April when I was told I had to do it.
To everyone that attended the event, it was a success and went well. Only a few people noticed the bumps we encountered. Well, the day before and the day of the breakfast there was catastrophe after catastrophe. The SRW was not able to find horses for the event. I tried for 2 weeks to find wagon rides or horse rides, but unfortunately was not able to get someone so late in the process. The first helium tank didn’t have enough helium, the second helium tank ran out as well. I finally got one that worked when the breakfast was 1/2 way over. The HR Ward lost their grill. They had NO IDEA where it was. The hunt was on. I was FREAKING OUT over this one. They have the best grill and Ryan loves this grill. We had rented one and had a couple more, however, the HR grill was the best. Finally they found it in a park. Thank goodness no one stole it. They brought it out to us at 6:00am. I was so grateful. The SRW totally dropped the ball. They were suppose to have people to help out and all the things I told them to do… they didn’t do it or it was being done 5 minutes before the breakfast started. I swear I was so pissed off. I was ready to slap the chick that I was in charge of their ward. It took everything I had not to yell at her. She knew I was pissed off. I was trying hard to be nice, but usually when I’m mad people know. I was talking through my teeth at her with a forced smile… ARG! This calling will be good for her because she needs to learn how to delegate, follow through, be organized, be on time and be a little aggressive. *sigh* I almost had a heart attack dealing with her. I never ever want to do another joint activity with her. I flat out refuse. I’ll deal with the old leader, but not with her. My sanity just can’t handle it. So all the things we had, like the bouncy castle, mini golf and some of the events were not tended by people. I tried to get people to help at the last minute, but it was only manned 1/2 the time. We ran out of eggs and juice so we had to go buy more. Thankfully Safeway is next door, so I sent the Bishop over.
The CRW came through. They were awesome. I couldn’t have done it without them. So for this stampede breakfast we had pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, orange juice and water. We had a live band(which didn’t start playing until 10:00am, they were suppose to start at 9:00), we had a rope the horse, cow pie toss, mini golf, fishing pond, bouncy castle, a cowboy posing picture stand, free mini donuts, face painting, a magician, and helium balloons. It was very well planned and despite the hiccups we encountered, it was a great success. We served 920 people. There were 1000 people there I estimate. People didn’t take plates for their kids and some people saw the line up and got mini donuts instead. The place was hopping. I think that for our little town that was great! People came from all over, some even came from Calgary. Country 105 was handing out stuff at our event as well. I was so amazed by the publicity we got.
So once that was over, then the next weekend we had a Country Fair. I called up the old activities leader of SRW and told her that I refused to deal with the new chick that dropped the ball at the Stampede breakfast and that she had to come aboard and plan this. She agreed and she took the lead. She planned everything, so there was little for me to have to do. The Country Fair was so much fun! We did it at a ranch that a member owned in the SRW. Going to this ranch was like going to God’s ranch. It was AMAZING! It’s crazy what money can buy and this guy spared no expense at making this place incredible.My kids had a blast. I just let them run free. When we got there they asked, “do we have to stay by you or can we go anywhere we want?” I said, “Go anywhere you want!” They did. I wish we had an acreage. They went on the horses, played the games, had cotton candy, popcorn and played with friends they made. It was truly wonderful. The turn out wasn’t as highly attended as I had hoped. Next year we will do this event in September.
After this ended I had 2 days to pack for Victoria. I did a lot of running around. I had to get last minute stuff and I was up till 1am every night. I was so excited to go. It was stressful leaving and I was so glad once I got on the plane…. which I barely made. I arrive 30 min. before the plane took off and raced through the airport to get to the plane. Chaos just seems to follow me everywhere I go….