Is It Naptime Yet

Jon and I were enjoying a nice quiet night at home. We had popped the Netflix movie in, Bridge to Terabithia, and we were watching the story unfold.

Then the phone rings.

It’s 9:54 pm.

Who’s calling us at 9:54? I wonder if it’s your parents?

It’s not a number I recognized and I fully expected to hear, “Sorry I have the wrong number.” after I picked up the phone.
Instead I heard “Hello, Sis. Blake this is Bro. Moe*. We have chapel cleaning duty tomorrow and I’m going through the names for it. Can you be there at 9?”

“Uh, I’m not able to make that.”

“You have something going on around  9 am tomorrow?”

“Yes, I do. I won’t be able to make it.”

“Alright I’ll put your name down for the next time.”

I wish I could convey my confusion and the exact conversation. I felt like I should know that I was assigned to clean the chapel, or even that I had volunteered, but I had no idea that it was our turn this month and no idea I was up to clean the chapel this Saturday.

In our old ward it went by auxiliaries and people volunteered. Of course it usually ended up being the presidency members from each auxiliary, and not many families or other members volunteered. They also liked to clean at ungodly hours of 7:30 am. 😉
But you knew ahead of time that you had volunteered to clean the chapel.

Now I have no qualms with being assigned to clean the chapel, in fact it might be a better way to get members to come and clean the chapel.  I  also find 9 am to be a much more agreeable time, especially if I wanted to bring my children to help. What I have qualms with is not knowing I’m assigned to clean the chapel until the night before, and especially not knowing until 9:54 pm the night before.

I felt like he was trying to sneak up on me. ‘You’re assigned and nobody has morning engagements on Saturdays, so you must be available and can’t say no.’

I do have a morning engagement, it’s at 10 o’clock, but I like to take my shower after I clean the chapel and I wouldn’t have time to do that before my blood donor appointment. I also want to save my energy and not exert myself right before I give blood because I already have a difficult time donating.  Now I could cancel, but I really don’t want to.  Especially when you call me at 9:54 the night before. It just brings out my annoyed side, not my give service side.

Would you be as annoyed by this too?

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of a brethren I haven’t met yet.

Tuesday turned out to be a very eventful day. I went to see my eye doctor to have my contacts checked out. (I’ve mentioned the problem in a post about not being able to pick up contacts.)

I had dropped the girls off at my mom’s house so she could watch them for me. I then came back to borrow a sewing machine, and I guess pick up my children. My free $100 sewing machine is starting to act up. I would love to get a new one, but that will wait until we save for it. In which I’d rather go to SLC for a friend’s wedding that’s in November, compared to saving for a new sewing machine, though neither is happening soon. I’ll just have to keep borrowing my moms. 😉

I’m mostly borrowing it because I’m making a period dress for Beth’s daughter and I want to have the best possible machine in hopes that it will instantly improve my sewing skills 100% and help me sew perfectly straight seams. Really I just need more seam options than straight or zig–zag. There’s like fourteen button holes, my machine does not do button holes, and they want me to hand sew the skirt that is like 5 yards of fabric long. Ha! Like that’ll happen. So instead I’ll just use the invisible seam setting on my mom’s machine and save lots of time.

My machine also has problems when facing thicker seams and hers does not. Mine has a mind of it’s own because it’s so low tech and I get too lazy to take out the stitches because I know it will just do the exact same thing. I’m hoping hers will actually obey me, but I’m also afraid that it might be smarter than me and take over as I sew.  I can just see the fabric flying through the air as the sewing machine sews everything in sight. I’ll have to keep the girls far, far away.

My dinky sewing machine

My mothers nice sewing machine, probably worth more than Jon’s car. ( It also embroiders.)

Hopefully it doesn’t spoil me too much because we can’t afford her sewing machine.