It's Done

I finally did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I quit The Junior League.

I have been thinking about quitting for a really long time. I have never had the guts to do it until yesterday. It is time.

I feel what I stated in my resignation letter is true. My personal life focus does not mesh with the demands and duties of The Junior League. I have been thinking for months about just how little I could do this year just to get by. I enjoy very little of the things the JL does. I hate Bargain Sale, I have no interest in children, and I have very few friends in the League. I usually stand by the wall by myself during the meetings just waiting for it to end so I can leave. I am just not in the same place in life that my fellow League member are. Most of the women I came into the League with are now getting ready to have or have already had their second children. They go to play groups together. I have no mutual interests with young mothers.

I am excited about this change. It means I am free to go to Tri Club meetings and yoga, or to do anything else I want on a Wednesday night. I can also enjoy the two things I like about the League-Holiday Market and Home Roam-without being a member.

I am glad I finally made the right decision. In this instance, quitting is good.

Bargain Sale 2009

The Junior League holds a fall fundraiser called Bargain Sale every year. This weekend marks the 70th annual sale. My husband calls it "Crap Sale," but he is not a big fan of The League anyway. I have to say, though, it is kind of a big crap sale.

Each member is required to bring a certain dollar amount of things to be sold at this sale. So, it is really a big old garage sale with stuff donated by about 140 women. Sure, there are a few nice things here and there (we are required to bring $20.00 worth of Treasures - high value items like jewelry, silver, china, and designer goods), but it is mostly stuff you would find at any garage sale. I find it to be very stressful. It is hard to get stuff together in each category and to get enough stuff to fulfill your dollar amount. This year I was lucky that we cleaned out many books from the office which really put a dent in my quota requirement. Each year, though, it gets harder and hared to find Treasures. I donated a jade ring this year as well as a pair of pearl earrings I got free from a local jewelry store.

I am not one to scour garage sales or bargain bins, so I don't even shop at this event. Other people do really seem to like it. I don't know. It seems like a bit of a stretch to call it community service, but what do I know. I'm just glad it is over for 2009.

So Much to Say

Sorry I have been gone for so long! There is no real excuse - life just got busy on me. Well, there are many things to update now.

1. Still undecided about book club - I did not go to the first meeting of the year. It was the same night as a beer tasting at The Flying Saucer, so I went with Bill to that event. We drank yummy pumpkin ales (Cottonwood Pumpkin) and Oktoberfests (Old Dominion rocks). To me, it was much better than a book club meeting. I was all set to quit the book club for these monthly beer tastings when they announced that the tastings would move to Thursdays starting in October. I have no excuses now. I still want to quit, but the conflict was so easy. Now, I am uncertain again.

2. Junior League is going full swing. I am actually liking what I am doing this year. It has been fun so far, and I have had a chance to get to know the women in my committee better. I am having issues with my Extra Hands assignment, but we will see how it goes in the next few weeks.

3. I am still running. We went to a happy hour last Thursday for the Galloway group. It was fun to see people in regular clothes, and I enjoyed talking to our friends Lesley and George. On Saturday, I had the longest run of my life - 23 miles. I felt great for the first 14 or so miles, but then the hills and the sun really started to affect my energy. There were 3 of us still running at 18 miles. I told the other women that I was ready to lie down on the trail and be still for about an hour. I was glad to know everyone felt that way, too. Somehow the camaraderie made it easier to keep running. I will say that I was very excited to see the lake which signaled the end of my run. Had you told me to go another 3.2 miles to finish marathon distance, I am not sure I could have done it. I will have to do it in less than 2 weeks. It will be an adventure. Finally today, my legs are feeling back to normal.

4. Hockey season opened in Carolina on Friday night. I was able to go to the first game with my friends Heather and her friend Tammy. Tammy was able to get us a 3 ticket package that included the opening game. The arena has a cool new Jumbotron in the center with many screens. We have several new players as well. Still, the crowd, the Jumbotron, and the new meat were not enough to get the win. The Canes lost to the Flyers 2-0. As of today, they have yet to win a game and have an 0-2 start. I hope it changes tonight against Tampa Bay.

5. I saw what was quite possibly the best concert of my life - U2 at Carter Finley (NC State) Stadium with Muse as the opening act. I have never seen a production like the U2 stage. It looks like a claw with four talons over a round stage with an additional outer ring. There were bridges that allow the guys to move over the crowd to the outer ring. There was a huge screen over the stage that showed the concert and expanded for an extra light show. The music was amazing (I am a new fan of Muse). U2 played all of there hits with one notable exception - Pride (In the Name of Love). It was really the one song I wanted to hear the most, and I was disappointed. I did get to hear Beautiful Day, The City of Blinding Lights, Magnificent, Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found what I am Looking For, With or Without You, and many, many more. If U2 comes near you, I would highly recommend you see the show.

6. My company has hooked me up with an executive coach to help me with my interpersonal issues. I met with her last week for an initial introduction. It should be interesting to see where we go from here.

Well, I think I covered all the news pretty well. I will try to be better about keeping up my blog. I should have more to post soon.

Community Giving

I decided at the beginning of this year that I wanted to focus on community giving. Well, I have been trying to do just that, but it has been tougher than expected.

I organized a team to walk in the local Race for the Cure. I really thought we would have a good turn out. When I first made mention of the idea, people said they would be happy to join the team. I thought for sure people could take a few minutes out of their weekends to walk 3.1 mi for a worthy cause. Well, I was disappointed.


We had 8 people sign up for the team. Out of those 8 people, four actually showed for the event. With more than 40 people at the office, I ready hoped the turn out would be greater. I know that the economy is tight, and perhaps that is why people could not sign up. I know it is also summer, so that could have been a factor with people vacationing. It is just discouraging when you set up these things and four is the best turn out you get. My colleague, Beth, was a brave soul who walked with hubby and I in the heat. Another colleague ran the competitive race earlier in the morning (as did hubby), but we never saw him in the mass of people who were there. I did not run the 5K, but did a 5 mile run on my own before walking.

I was thinking of having a Habitat for Humanity work day in the fall. I am now going to rethink that idea. I would not want to be the only one to show up.


I am not giving up yet - I will be working on the Extra Hands committee again this year for the Junior League. Our committee puts together one day events for a variety of charities that need help. We get a better turn out - membership requires that ladies do at least on of these events a year!

What a Day!!

I have had busy days before today, but this one was pretty packed.

I got up at about 6:40 on this fine Saturday morning. Bill was already gone as he was participating in a triathlon across town. I was up to run a 5K for the Brain Center at a local hospital. I ran this race last year as well. A friend of mine at work is good friends with a brain tumor survivor, so I was able to join her team for the second year in a row. It is such a pleasure to be able to support someone that means so much to a friend. It was a good race, but it was hilly. I wasn't expecting all of the hills, and I hadn't been on a run for over a week. It was also much hotter than I thought it would be (we are supposed to reach 90 degrees, and it is only April!) Still, I finished close to a PR and had a good time. But, there was little time to rest as I needed to continue the day.

This afternoon was our Junior League's Home Roam home tour. We were able to tour 5 different homes in the area to check out their decor. Each home also had food in it donated by a local restaurant. The first home I went to is about the be listed on the market, so their was a fact sheet in the kitchen. The house will go for an asking price of $2.75 Million. It was unbelievable!! There was a pool in the backyard, a home theater, a pool hall, and the teenager's room had it's own study, full bathroom, and walk in closet. It was absolutely gorgeous. That house alone was worth the price of the tour. Still, I made my way through them all in about 2 hours.

I had a little down time at home with my hubby and pups before I was off to volunteer at the APS of Durham's annual gala event. I was the group leader for this event. We were charged with registering the guests and setting up their credit cards for the silent and live auctions. We were slammed busy for an hour and a half, then had a little bit of downtime. It is such a pleasure to work with a great organization like the APS. I really love working with people who care about animals. They were all so wonderful, and I have to give extra credit to the Junior League ladies who were there. Several of them also worked the Home Roam, so they had long days, too. All were professional and just great to work with. We helped out for about 3 1/2 hours when it was finally time to call it a night.

Now, I am home and will probably turn in soon. Between the home tour and the gala, I did get some wonderful news. My order for the Honda Element was completed. The car has been assigned to be and I should be getting it soon. I am so excited that I will have a brand new vehicle. The Mustang was turned over to its new owner yesterday, so I am in a rental car for now. I will be glad to have my own car. I hope it arrives soon!!

Busy week!

I had a rather busy week this week. There were two rather interesting events that I would like to share.

On Tuesday, we had our book club meeting. The interesting thing about this meeting was that we had the author of our book present at the meeting. That was something that has never happened before. The author, Dr. Paul Austin, is a doctor in a local ER. He wrote a book called Something for the Pain about life inside the ER and its affects on life outside the ER. It was an easy read and a pretty good one. It was equally interesting to hear from the author himself. He even read a section of the book for us. It must be so difficult to be an ER doctor. You are the first person a patient sees, but your function is to diagnose and more them through to the next doctor or to home. So many cases have unknown endings. There is also the long hours of shift work. It truly takes a toll on the family when Dad sometimes works overnight and must sleep when you are awake and active. We were very luck to have this experience for our club.

The second big event was Kids in the Kitchen with the Junior League on Thursday night. Once each year, we do a program to educate local kids about making good, healthy choices in the kitchen. This year, we were able to do an evening program at a local elementary school. I was there to volunteer, and I am so glad I did. The kids and their parents arrived at the school at 6:00pm for a two hour program. The kids and parents were given box dinners from Jason's Deli an ate while they heard a presentation from a nutritionist. They then had an interactive session with a PE teacher who talked about the importance of exercise. There was also a drawing for healthy prizes such as basketballs and soccer balls. After the program, the groups rotate through three different rooms. The first room had a local chef from a 4 star restaurant preparing a healthy treat for the kids (a bread and veggie salad - trust me, it was delicious!) The second room was the Herb Garden. Each kids got to plant seeds and take with them a plant that would be either basil or tomatoes. The final room were healthy treat stations where kids made edible jewelry (stringing carrot chips and snap peas on wire), a healthy trail mix, and fruit soda (fruit juice plus a bit of seltzer water). Each child even got a goody bag as they left filled with a T-shirt, a healthy snack, cookbooks, and other goodies. It was a wonderful event and so much fun to help. I was pretty darn proud of our League and my committee for such a great event.

This week will be busy, too - racing tomorrow, hockey, and a committee meeting. Guess I will have another good post soon!!

New Year, Same You

I can't take credit for the title of this blog update. t same from my yoga teacher, Sage Rountree. She is right, though. Everyone says "New Year, New You," but it really the same old you in a brand new year. You are no different than you were at 11:59 pm on December 31, 2008. The question is what will you do with the new year that stands before you.

I, for one, have never been big on resolutions. I have never really made any. This year, I have thought of goals for myself. This year is going to be about making a bigger impact in my community. So far, I think I am off to a good start.

I have volunteered to be the Community Outreach coordinator at work. I started the year asking for my colleagues to suggest charities that they like to support. I have picked from those suggestions groups that will receive a monetary contribution from our company. I am also trying to do tie in projects once a quarter. Yesterday, we kicked off our very first project which is collecting food and toiletries for a local shelter. we will see how it goes. Regardless, I see more projects in the future such as a 5K race and maybe a building day For Habitat for Humanity.

I am also doing more with The Junior League. Today, I attended a kick off breakfast for The Great Human Race - a local race to raise funds for any community agencies willing to register. I am happy to say that I will be coordinating our efforts on behalf of League. I am very excited about the prospects of this project. I will definitely keep you posted.

So, this year, the New Year isn't about me. It is about giving to those who need help.

I am such a slacker

I have not been very good at updating my blog lately. It just seems that so much is going on these days with work and personal life. There just doesn't seem to be time for everything, and my blog has been suffering. I decided the heck with it - I will take a few moments to update it today.

It is hard to remember where I left off, so I am just going to start with this past weekend. It was another good one. We are so very lucky to have such great friends in our lives. We were able to relax and watch a movie Friday night at home with our pups to get ready for the weekend ahead. On Saturday, The Junior League held their annual Holiday Market. My good friend, Rebecca, and her friend Laura joined me again this year for the event. We each found something cute for a holiday present for a loved one. After the market, we all went to Chapel Hill (Laura's college stomping grounds) for a nice lunch and a walk around downtown Chapel Hill. After I left them, I went shopping on my own, something I haven't done in a very long time. That evening, we went to our wonderful neighbor's house for a evening of drinking and games. It was so much fun, and I really hope we get to do it again soon.

Sunday was a race day. Bill and I both ran in the Old Reliable 10K in Raleigh. It was the 25th running of this race. We had always wanted to do it. What made it even better was that several friends were running as well. After a 20 minute delayed start t move the timing mats, we were off. It was another hilly Raleigh run. Bill did very well finishing the 6.2 mile course in 54 minutes. He was very happy. I finished in an expected 1:19, but was disappointed that I was so close to last. Still, the disappointment didn't last that long as we all headed over to the Flying Saucer for post race drinks.

Monday was Monday. Tuesday was better as we were all at our fall team meeting. All of our employees from around the country are in town. Since we are all together, it is also time for our holiday party. Last night, we went to the Angus Barn for a wonderful dinner in The Pavilions. It was lovely and the food was wonderful. Our chef was none other than Chef Walter Royal. Some of you may know him from his appearance on Iron Chef America. To this day, he still holds the highest score from a competitor on that show. He made us a special dessert - his grandma's apple cobbler cooked in a dutch oven over an open fire. It was as good as it sounds. After dinner, we all danced the night away to the sounds of the DJ. Almost everyone got out on the dance floor to shake their booty at least once. It was just a fantastic night.

Well, that's my update. I hope (but can't promise!) that I will be able to update more soon.

Quote of the Day

I received an e-mail this morning with the following quote:

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it. Charles Buxton

Boy, this quote really hit home for me. I constantly feel like I have no time to do what I want to do. I feel like I have all my time already scheduled for me. Of course, it is of my own making. I have joined groups and clubs because I wanted to be in them, then I complain that they take up too much time.

An example - tonight I should really go home and either start pricing my items for Bargain Sale or start reading my book for book club. Both events are next week and I need to get these things done. What will I probably do? Sit and watch TV because I am tired and I don't want to do those other things. Then, I will get upset because I don't have time to get anything done. What I need to do is take about a half an hour to get my stuff together for Bargain Sale so I can see what else needs to get done over the weekend. Then I can relax for a bit before I sit down to read my book.

Things might get done if I make the time. Thanks, Charles!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

I have probably blogged about this topic before, but I think it bears repeating.

September 1 to January 1 is my absolute favorite time of the year. I have always loved the fall. To me, it seems that all the good stuff happens this time of the year. College football starts (Go Dawgs - #1 this year!), hockey begins in October (the Canes have got to have a better season this year), Bill's birthday is in September, my birthday is in October, the leaves change and fall, the temperatures get cooler, and all the best holidays happen - Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. What's not to love?

Of course, there is a downside. The Junior League also starts. Last night was our first general membership meeting of the year. I had to stand for about 1 1/2 hours to listen to the all the new information for the year. I really began to wonder why I was there and not with my friends at The Sauce. I really think I will like my placement this year - Extra Hands - and working on small volunteer projects that are typically done in one day. I like the idea of being part of the community and helping people in need. I just wish there was not so much bureaucracy and cash outlay involved. Oh well, I am stuck for at least one more year.

This fall is also special for the election of our new President. Must more on that another time...

How weird is that?

Turns out there is a computer in the B&B where we are staying in Portland, ME. I had to blog about the strangest thing that happened yesterday.

Bill and I love beer, as you may know. We decided while we are in Portland we would visit the Allagash brewery. As we are finishing up the tour, in walks a lady who looks really familiar to me. It turns out she is in The Junior League of Durham and OC with me. Here we are 1,100 miles from Durham, and I run into a fellow JLDOC member in a brewery. As a matter of fact, all 5 groups in the tour had a connection to NC - a UNC grad, a couple from Asheville, and a guy who went to school in Wilmington. My JLDOC friend is a friend on Facebook (Jill M). I remember seeing she would be in Maine and New Hampshire, but I certainly did not think I would see her here!

Talk about a weird, small world!!