Thursday, December 13, 2007

Yeah, I Know You Guys.

I had an interesting experience last night. My feelings got hurt and I left a party early. And on the way home I was trying to decide whether or not it would make a good blog entry. In the interest of being emotionally honest - yes, bad things and stupid things happen to me and I probably make more of them than I should. On the other hand, I really don't want to welcome Whiny McWhinypants to the blog.

So anyway, I was hurt and embarrassed, and I started projecting comments. You know- individually - from what I know about you. And this morning I laughed, because I don't know ANY of my regularish commenters in real life. But I really think I have some of your personalities pegged.
So here you go.

The background:
I arrived late to the dinner - you know- running kids around and whatnot. I was about 30 minutes late. Scoped out the room, didn't immediately see any of my friends with seats right by them, so I just went for a table that was about half full. I don't know if you're like me. I have about 5 women that I would consider my Really Good Friends in the ward. Everyone else I like, and I don't really mind getting to know some other people better. I'm not too shy about sitting wherever.

So I sat down, said hi to everyone, and after about 5 minutes, a woman at our table started entertaining us with a story about the dessert buffet they were serving - and how hard the brownies were, but what are you going to do- you have to serve them, right? And I'm sure she had no idea how late I had stayed up the night before to bake those 2 pans of triple layer brownies. Or even that it was me. But the story was entertaining. Something about sharp knives being bounced off them, and everyone in the kitchen laughing.

So I immediately went to the kitchen, where I found 3 of my Really Good Friends serving. It was tense in there. I know- it's usually tense in the kitchen during a dinner, but when I asked about the brownies, and not only could I not get a straight answer, but nobody would even look me in the eye. Yeah.
I picked up a brownie and squeezed it between my thumb and forefinger. It seemed right to me. Someone finally said , " Oh, they're fine." In an oh-they-are-really-not-fine-but-please-get-out-of-the-kitchen sort of way.

And so I did. And because I didn't know what else to do, I left and went and sat in the car for 45 minutes waiting for Lizzie to be done with her practice. And when she got into the car, she said, "Mom, did you have a good time? I was thinking this might be the only thing all year that you get to go to and just enjoy. Because you aren't even in charge!"
And she was so excited for me to have had a good time - that what could I do? I lied.

I'm sure I'm making more out of it than it was. But I'm tired. I have spent the last 36 hours doing either church or family things - and I am feeling extremely underappreciated and frankly, a little used up. And I haven't really started my Christmas shopping. And both my college kids are moving home tomorrow. And my parents are visiting for the weekend. And even though these are things to look forward to, they are also stressing me out. And I have now crossed into Whiny McWhinypants territory. That's SISTER McWhinypants to you!

So here are my predictions for some the most prolific blog commenters from the past couple of weeks:

Kristin: You should have gone Christmas shopping. It would be good for the country.

East of Eden: I never go to enrichment night. I might see the lady I visit teach and she wouldn't stop talking to me.

Heather: Why is the Relief Society assigning the YW president to bake 2 pans of brownies for their event, during the busiest time of the year? Don't they know that YW president is the most time consuming calling a woman can hold in the church? I would have told her that unless she wanted some canned applesauce, she was out of luck.

Yvonne: Oh, I'm so sorry. Sounds like you're already too busy! Would you like to get away for awhile? Why don't you come with us on our next cruise to Madagscar.

Kimberly: You can come bake those mint brownies for me. I'll even drive down my driveway to come and pick you up from the airport.

Melissa: People just don't get it, do they? I would fully appreciate your work, if not the brownies. In fact, I appreciate you so much, I'm going to send you one of these super cute bags I make with really cute fabric.

NancyFace: I would have just told that woman that they were my brownies, and maybe we should talk about something else. Also I don't eat brownies unless I can have eggnog with them. ;)

Lauren: Don't be hatin'.

Sue: You lied to Lizzie? I never ever lie. Ever.

Vern: Were they Christmas brownies? Because if they were CHRISTMAS brownies, they deserved to be burned like a yule log. Now regular brownies - those I'll eat.

Caroline: Hey, the brownies wouldn't have even made it to the church. If they were hard enough, my kids would have used them to build a fort.

I could keep going... but I really am going to have to vacuum or something today. And possibly even grocery shop.

But I would like to say that you are ALL completely right. And I appreciate all your support!

32 comments:

Earl and Vickie said...

We were assigned dessert for 40 people for our ward Christmas party tomorrow night, Vickie is working til at least 3:30. She's almost finished inventorying 15,000 items in the school library.... And I have a dental appointment tomorrow that might be a root canal at 2:00. Maybe I'll go buy store cookies...... We aren't thrilled about this.

Earl and Vickie said...

We do the best we can. If it isn't good enough, well, it's the best we can. People are harried enough, we don't need to be doing things that make it worse for those around us. It's too bad people talk sometimes without thinking.

Caroline C. Bingham said...

Umm, WRONG. I would have said, my building just burnt down and you still want to have a ward party? Are you crazy?

PS Generally isn't gossip reserved for AFTER the function? Seriously. She's lucky that they were YOUR brownies and not someone else's that say, hasn't been to RS in a long time BECUASE of all that drama and mean spiritedness...

Go burn some dog poop on her doorstep with a note that says "Bounce this!"

Heather said...

I totally read this post to Jeremy because I'm so thoroughly entertained. The fact that you can write a post about this says volumes about your character... way to be the bigger lady (and I don't mean that literally). hee hee

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

You are so, so right.

I would totally tackle my driveway for you. And mint brownies? One of my all time favs! They're just lacking in cutting skills. It's all in the wrist, dahlings!

Yvonne said...

Oh, I'm so sorry. Sounds like you're already too busy! Would you like to get away for awhile? Why don't you come with us on our next cruise to Madagscar.

Ha, ha, ha. Actually--I have been having a really pathetic last couple of days and could easily be Mrs. Whiny whinypants, but I'm trying REALLY REALLY HARD to control myself. You have no idea how much I struggle with feeling bad about myself. I can't never put any of that on my blog because some of my problems have to do with family. (Thanks for letting me vent on your blog!!!)

I am sorry that you had that experience.

Janell said...

Nothing goes better with allegedly tough brownies than a big scoop of peppermint ice-cream and some hot fudge sauce. In fact, those soft, mushy brownies just disintegrates under the pressure of melting ice-cream, and no one likes soggy brownies. (Sadly, it sounds like your Enrichment was lacking on these two very important ingredients.)

The Wiz said...

ahem. I hate "cake-like" brownies. Brownies are supposed to be hard!! They're WAY better that way. These people are not only mean, they're non brownie conniesseurs.

And, seriously, talking like that is very very mean spirited, and not at all appropriate in any situation, much less a ward function.

Go shopping. It'll be good for the economy. Come make me some brownies. And what's with a YW Pres doing that, anyway? Let's go cruising the Caribbean (better than Madagascar.)

Jennie said...

It sounds like you need a little retail therapy!
Sorry your feelings got hurt!

goddessdivine said...

Not only is shopping good for the country, it's good for your soul.

So sorry for your bad experience. I'd say forget about going to the next two, or three, or four enrichments. You have better things to do.

And I'm glad you posted about this. This lets us know the whole you, even the emotional side, because really, I thought it was just me that had these moments ;-)

We love you!!

Sheyenne said...

Those ladies just aren't classy enough to appreciate good biscotti.
Seriously though, I'm sorry your night was ruined. People (including myself), can be thoughtless at times. And honestly, I'll bet lots of people enjoyed your brownies. My favorite part of a pan of brownies is the crunch part around the edges, and I always say "save the corners for me!" I can't be the only one who likes them like that.

jjstringham said...

Well I'm hurt. I can't believe I didn't make it into the top commenters. But I guess that's my fault. I guess I don't comment enough. So this is for you. . .

jjstringham said...

I. . . .

jjstringham said...

want. . . .

jjstringham said...

BROWNIES!!!!

Randi said...

You guys are amazing. You should all move into my ward and we can have mint brownie biscotti as a celebration.
With peppermint ice cream and hot fudge sauce!

Melissa said...

Friend - I would LOVE to send you one of those super cute bags! And yeah, I'm serious!!! Let me do this for you... please? Email me with some favorite colors and an address and I will ease the pain of your brownie bane ;)
Oh, and you had my comment NAILED ;)

Vern said...

Okay, everyone sing with me now:
"As Sisters In Zion
we'll gossip together
the brownies from Randi
I'd sure love to eat

Especially with ice cream
of peppermint flavor
we'll comfort the weary
with fattening treats..."

This could totally be the 4th verse, don't you think?

Janell said...

LOL. I love vern's comment, and not just because of the added peppermint comment ;) I'm totally going to induct that into my "alternative lyrics" archive.

Mrs Andy said...

So I'm confused a bit...nothing out of the ordanary, but you posted what you thought I would say? Or were you predicting what I would say....???

No, I never go to enrichment because, it does not enrich me. It also means my very hard working husband would be home alone, and that is not fair to him.

What I was really going to say to you was that I do understand about feeing under appreciated, because I have felt that way alot lately, from my family especially. I was also going to say that those ladies who you sat by were very rude to comment about the refreshments that way. They might have figured out that as Mormons we always bring our own food and that the bringer of the food might have been near by. Not very "sisterly in zion" of them.

But, I would have loved your brownies, I actually like them when they are really hard.

Miggy said...

I would have said something like, "I'm so sorry. My 99 year old great-grandmother, who has dementia and Alzheimer's, helped me bake them and forgot to set the timer. I'll let her know how unsatisfactory they were. So sorry to ruin your evening."

Super Happy Girl said...

Just last weekend some friends and I were talking about this: Never ever say anything bad out loud because you don't know if you are going to hurt someone's feelings, just like it happened to you :(

Sheesh, I mean really! Someone made hard rock brownies and that person was, without a doubt, sitting in that very room.

I'm singing along with Vern,
c'mon everybody!

Tonya said...

Dear Sister McWhineypants ma'am,

Unfortunately out bodies don't know the difference between good stress and bad. It just knows that we are stressed. You have A LOT going on right now and It's not surprising that it's left you wiped out.

That sister should have kept her comments to herself. Some people just don't use their brains sometimes.

Anonymous said...

Oh sad! A similar thing like that happened to me. I made cookies a few minutes before Young Women's so I could have something to put on Christmas plates we made for people in the ward. Everyone kept commenting on how soggy the cookies were and how they continued to mush together..yeah, they found out they were mine and we laughed it off a bit. But,I didn't care too much because mainly Curly made those soo.. :)

mindyluwho said...

I woud have done exactly what you did, only when I got in the car I would have cried because I'm a crybaby.

The word we're looking for here is "chewy". Brownies are supposed to be chewy!

Nancy Face said...

BRILLIANT I SAY! I love how you wrote our comments for us! I laughed when I read mine, then I LITERALLY laughed my head off when I read Lauren's! ;)

A couple years ago we had an informal ward dinner: barbecue sandwiches, pasta salad, etc. Lauren was still in high school, and the sign up sheet for pasta salad went around the young women's room. She loves to cook, so she signed up and took a recipe. After reading the recipe (which sounded disgusting), she decided to use our own yummy recipe. Well, it turns out that everyone's pasta salad was being put together in a ginormous bowl on the serving table, and Lauren's looked very different. The Activities Chairman looked at it without a smile and hid it in the kitchen and never put it out to be served. Apparently everything had to be all matchy matchy. My daughter was SOOO offended! I left that stinkin' dinner as soon as I could...people can mess with me, but not with my kids' feelings!

I don't like soft, squooshy brownies! Every time I bake some, I cut off the entire outer perimeter that's all nice and crunchy and eat it before my family can get to it! If I'm feeling extra generous I may share it, tee hee! :D

As Sisters In Zion! Oh yeah, I'm singin' with Vern, too!

Busy Bee Lauren said...

You are so riiiiiiight!

They talkin' smack about Randi...

I'm hatin'

ALSO...If Yvonne is going to Madagascar, I am comin'! I want to see the (cough)Ted(cough) ...lemurs. Riiiight.

N.F. said...

Not exactly the same thing...but last night at school, I had to use the Ladies Room. BIG TIME.

The restrooms don't have any ventilation-and let's just leave it at that. You can see where I'm going with this.

One of my classmates and I were going to go walk to our cars...but she had to use the restroom, next.

Can you see where I'm going with this? I didn't mention anything to her-because I did NOT think she'd say what she DID say to me as she came out...

"Man! That restroom STUNK!"





It was all about me. I almost wanted to say something...but I just sucked it up (no pun intended) and just went along with her..."Yeah, it was awful when I went in there, too."




Completely off topic comment...but there you go!




;)

Anonymous said...

randi,
what would i have said to you?

your sister mcwhineypants was so endearing doll.

i think you are so awesome. and i hate to cook and bake!

sorry you had a bad experience. big hug, kathleen

Brooke said...

I'm really glad to know that I am not the only one to occasionally sit out in the church parking lot for significant amounts of time!(yes, during an event)
I love Brownies on the dry side! In fact my kids always snag the corners for me- the hardest part.

Anonymous said...

rand,
i would so eat one of your brownies anyday girl! big hug, kathleen

Anonymous said...

Well I just have to say I am impressed that you can have some perspective and laugh about it. Certainly they were in the wrong and shouldn't talk about it AT ALL let alone that night at the table. The fact that you are willing to forgive and move on is amazing. The church is true and the people are not perfect! You prove again that you are capeable of so much love and compassion even when the target is you! It makes me proud to be your sis! :)