Cold Calling

As you know, I work in the nursery at our church, babysitting the two-year-olds for two hours each Sunday while their parents attend church meetings.  What many of you do not know is that I am also on the Relief Society committee.  This committee plans the monthly activities for the women in our church.

Lets just say, this isn't my favorite job in the world.  I was whining to Nate about it a few weeks ago and he told me that as soon as I start loving it, I'll be released (no longer on the committee).  I've never wanted to start loving something so much.

So, while I've been waiting to develop a love for this, I've had to help advertise for the different activities.  Tomorrow night, for example is a PJ night.  (I personally don't want to wear my pajamas out in public, but apparently it is a cool idea.)  I was asked to call 20 women to remind them about the activity.

I agonized about making the phone calls for a day and a half.  I have a love-hate relationship with the phone.  I love to talk to family and friends on the phone.  I hate calling people I don't know, trying to sell them on the idea of wearing pajamas in front of all their neighbors.

Yesterday I simply "forgot" to call.  It was actually quite honest forgetfulness.  I simply didn't remember.  Of course, I didn't do anything to help myself remember, either, like add it to my checklist of to-do items for after work.

Tonight I almost forgot again.  But I have this amazing guilt complex that brought the task to the forefront of my mind right as I finally sat down to relax after doing the evening chores.  Sometimes I think I should name my guilt complex, it plays such a major role in my life.  Tonight it kept saying to me, "If you don't call, you'll feel extremely guilty for the rest of the time you're on this committee.  You'll volunteer for jobs you don't want to do so that you can 'make up' for not making these phone calls."

Oh brother.

So I started down the list.  Mind you, I only knew 4 of the 20 people I had to call.  That's the problem with being in nursery.  I know the kids but not the parents.  Poor Nate had to hear me lament between each phone call, "Why are they all answering their phones?!  Why can't I just leave a message?!"

Three of the four women I knew on the list received my phone calls graciously and were quite pleasant.  The fourth woman I know didn't seem to know me.  The rest of the women...well, they responded like I would respond to a telemarketer.  Okay, maybe slightly better because they didn't say, "I'm not interested" and hang up.  But close to it.  There were long pauses after I told them who I was since they didn't want to commit to any sort of conversation.  After I told them about the activity, they said, "Uh huh.  Okay."  And that was that.

I can't say I blame them.  If someone I didn't know was calling me and telling me to wear my pajamas to church, I'd probably answer them the same way.  After each phone call I contemplated waiting until my lunch break tomorrow to make the calls, hoping to get answering machines.  But that lovely guilt complex would start to talk to me - "You're really not going to want to make those calls tomorrow-" and so I kept pushing on.  I finally made the last call.  It was the best of all:

Me:  "Hi.  I'm calling to remind you about enrichment tomorrow.
Her:  (tone of finality) "Okay, I appreciate the call."
Me: (Pause...waiting for her to hang up...but she didn't).  Um, okay, well you're welcome.
Her:  (Pause...waiting for me to actually give her any useful information, such as time and place).  Bye.
Me:  Bye.

So much for giving her the information she needed.  I just got too used to the telemarketer treatment and I was seriously expecting her to hang up at any moment.  Needless to say, I felt very stupid after that phone call.  But I would like to thank my guilt complex.  I don't have to make any calls tomorrow!

You know when

You know you're in Utah County when you're asked how many kids you have and after you say "none" the next question is, "Oh, are you newly-weds?"

You know its been freezing cold when the temperatures that made you shiver six months ago now make you contemplate wearing capris.

You know your car is dirty when it makes you giddy to wash it.

You know you go to the local hamburger joint too often when the owner recognizes you and asks what happened to your husband's splinted ankle.

You know it is winter when the best pictures you've taken on your new camera are of fire hydrants because they're the only things outside that aren't brown.

You know you've had a great weekend when you post about it on your blog.  We hope you had a great weekend, too.

Edit, Undo

The other day at work I was flipping through a pile of papers.  There were different sections within the pile, each section paper-clipped together.  As I rifled through the papers, one of the paper clips popped off. The first thought to enter my mind?  "Edit, undo."

Wow.

I think I spend too much time in front of the computer.

I have this thought from time to time.  If I'm carrying too many groceries in at one time and drop them, "edit, undo."

If I'm making a meal and add to much salt, "edit, undo."

If I'm climbing up on the counter, fall, and rip a hole in my pants, "edit, undo."

This thought comes to my mind subconsciously.  It's not me being funny to myself.  It is my true reaction.  And it always seems to happen when I'm doing something rather careless.  Something I could have prevented if I just paid a little more attention or thought things through before I acted.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could really just click a button and rewind?  Go back BEFORE we made the mistakes and correct them with no one the wiser?  Yes, that would be nice.  I could get used to that.