Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Overwhelm


I have three callings. Yes, I live in a ward (not a branch) and yet I have 3 callings. Uncommon it would seem, or at least I thought it was (apparently it isn't all that uncommon) but it IS the state of my affair. I also am my mothers daughter. My mother could juggle a thousand callings if someone issued them, and she would get them all done even if it meant supper was TV dinners. I don't even do TV dinners. I figure I have grown kids who can now cook for ME....so I put my whole self into my callings too. I do pretty well most of the time too (again, another trait I get my from my mother) and I feel pretty good about it.

And then there are days.... /dun dun dun/

Here in Georgia, we have ice. In fact, the ice is 2 inches deep where I am, and even thicker the further north you go. For me to go into town, including to work, means driving north. Even walmart isn't able to function normally right now. So since I've been stranded (and loving EVERY MOMENT OF IT), I have had time to work on my other tasks.

Ward history is coming together better than it ever has before, and I feel good about that progress. BUT, I couldn't say that this morning. This morning, I had nothing submitted from any group in church, and I was feeling pressured. I sent emails to everybody (and I'm not joking, EVERYBODY) I could think of at church---I sent a note to go into the bulletin PLUS an Ensign article to adorn the front cover of the bulletin---I sent a request to the bishop to stand up in sacrament at the pulpit and teach the membership of the importance of heading the Lord's request to be a record-keeping people---and then I did my own part by writing up articles and digging out pictures of emergency preparedness events and cub scout activities and ward parties I had attended and photographed. I opened up Microsoft Publisher so I could organize it neatly,.... and then the ham radio emails started pouring in. I'm not joking,.. POURING IN!

This Saturday is the first multi-stake emergency communications networking exercise this part of the state has ever held, and my group of newbies are of great interest because we are the furthest west and communications this far out is difficult at best, especially with newbies still trying to figure out those little nerd toys we spent money on. I have now spoken on the phone and emailed more times today than I can count. My phone battery has died once and been recharged. I have sent text messages as well as facebook notes... and I think I managed to make something work for us. We're adapting and overcoming...that's good, right?

So back to ward history, and I'm looking through cub scout pictures to choose which of the MANY options I have, when it dawns on me that its CUB SCOUT DAY and even though I'm frozen in and can't go to scouts, I had promised Morgan he could work on scout stuff today and start "growing crystals". *sigh* I blew that one. Maybe tomorrow! Cross fingers!

Then in come the articles one by one and a few pictures too! I am overjoyed! That's the largest response I've ever gotten in 3 years of doing this! I am impressed! I have the promise of more to come too, which makes it even better because I can space it out!

Oh that's not all though! I spent time Monday and Tuesday indexing census records for family history records...a total 1050 records! Go me!

So its no wonder that if I started out Monday indexing, continued with indexing through Tuesday (till 11:30pm), and spent all day today working all three callings at once... that I would be slightly overwhelmed with a less-functional brain than is preferable,... right?