The weekend.....

Do you ever wonder why we are so eager for the weekend, when you are just as busy if not more so on the weekend. Last night I went to see the movie Prairie Home Companion. I liked it. Kate and I thought parts of it were very funny. I must admit to being contemplative afterwards, as it is all about endings, I spent some time pondering past endings. But that is not a topic to be written about here or now.

This morning I was up bright and early (after sleeping through my alarm) to attend a Time Out for Women Conference. This is something put on by Seri Dew and Deseret Book. I understand the dislike many have for such events. I must admit to having the same sort of feelings about them myself. Especially last night when I realized I would be getting only 3 hours of sleep, or this morning as I was rushing about getting ready in 5 minutes, or even as I was dealing with some of the women at the conference( though, I refuse to believe that Mormon women are animals, as one women suggested today). But then something happened, I remembered why I volunteer for these things. I love the opportunity to be surrounded by amazing people. And the women of the LDS church are pretty darn amazing. There is something about the spirit that they carry. It was not hard to smile at chat to the ladies that were waiting in line to enter the conference center. It was even fun to answer questions and hand out free gifts. I complained repeatedly before attending this event. I believe, I even made fun of it but as I was there and even after when I was helping pack up, I could not complain. As a matter of fact, I would be glad to attend another one, it was a fun time.

Sidebar: I feel obligated to state that I am always amazed at the amount of pregnant women or women with babies under 3 months that attend these events. No wonder the world thinks we are baby making machines, at least 65% of the women gathered today fell in one of those 2 categories.

There were a couple of times when I was really in my element today. Though I must say my favorite moment was a discussion of restaurants at the end. There was a group of about 6 ladies that approached me. They were East coasters that had moved to Utah. Now that the conference was over they wanted to go to a restaurant. One knew their way around but no longer knew what restaurants were here. I of course directed them to Tyson’s (cuz that is where I know) and then came the task of finding a place that would meet the approval of all 6. It only took about 10 minutes, but was a puzzle I could sink my teeth into. The pregnant one couldn’t handle Chinese, 2 didn’t like Italian, 3 really wanted ethnic, all worried about price and were determined that they didn’t want to have to drive to far, one was apathetic about cuisine but was picky on service, and 2 described themselves as “food snobs”. After a discussion of various restaurants and service etc, I sent them on their way to The Lebanese Taverna, not my first choice, but not bad either. It was fun. There were many moments like that. Yet again why I sign up for these things, after 11 hours, I am finally home and completely exhausted. But I met some amazing people, had a lot of fun, and am at peace with myself. What other event can leave you saying that?

Now if I could just find a job where I was an executive assistant to an event planner, I would have one of the coolest jobs ever.