Monday, February 20, 2012

Working to put the “fun” in dysfunctional

So here’s a handy tip for any of you wanting to volunteer your time to some worthy organization: Keep your mouth shut. Seriously, if you speak your mind, offer suggestions, and lend a helping hand, the next thing you know, you’ll end up running things.

Yup, that’s what happened to me with our local Garden Club. Somehow, I ended up being elected President of the danged organization. For some unknown reason, Jed and Clare were not at all surprised.

“You’ve complained for months that this group needed some shaking up,” said Clare. “From what you’ve told me, everyone likes to sit around at those meetings and whine about everything that needs to be done, but no one raises their hand to make things happen. I know you Mattie, that’s not your style. Don’t have the slightest idea why you’re surprised they want you to lead things.”

“Honey, you’re the type of gal that when you see something that needs doing, you go do it,” said Jed. “Someone needs to be the leader of the pack, why not you?”

Why not me? Well how about the fact that this is probably one of the most dysfunctional groups I’ve ever encountered? Or the fact that some of the older members have their heels dug into the dirt and are totally against trying anything new? And can I just tell you about the politics and backstabbing that goes on with some of these folks?

But both Clare and Jed were right. I’m not the type of gal to sit idly by and say not a peep. So you can imagine some of the uproar I caused suggesting ways to get more members and bring some well needed media attention to our little group. That in turn led to some rather animated discussions, but, at the end of the day, the group decided to try some new (and dare I say fun) things out to see what could be accomplished.

And we saw success. Our membership started going up, and our club’s name started getting recognition through a media blitz that we put together.

So as one thing leads to another, the next thing I know is that the woman chairing the Nominating Committee gives me a call and tells me the group would like to see my name on the ballot, as president, for the next election. She even had the nerve to pull an “Oh pleeeze, Mattie?” on me. Sigh. I was done for.

So there you have it folks. Open your mouth, raise your hand, offer to help and before you know it, you’ll have the opportunity to be a leader and figure out ways to put the “fun” in dysfunctional.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Weight and See

So as you may recall from some earlier posts, I finally got Clare to start going with me to aerobics. Getting her there was something close to waging strategic warfare with a very cunning enemy, but I’m stubborn and insisted she give it a try.

Turns out, she really got into it and, lo and behold, has kept up with it after all these weeks. To keep us motivated between classes (and to help burn off a few extra pounds I just knew we would put on over the holidays), I bought her (us) a Wii system for Christmas, along with the balance board, Wii Fit and Wii Active discs. If you could have seen her face when she opened that box! It was clear she was hoping for something, well let’s just say, more like a huge box of chocolates.

We tried out the Wii Fit routine for the first time the day after Christmas (hey, I’m not that much of a Grinch that I would make her do it on Christmas Day, but I really tempted to try it on my own). One of the groups of exercises center around different yoga moves. While we both were pretty good at doing things like the “Sun Salutation” maneuver, we still have some work to do with others, especially the “Downward Facing Dog.” Man, I thought I was pretty limber, but that one is a killer. Clare was cursing up a storm because she couldn’t get her weight distributed evenly between her hands and feet. Sort of messes up the whole Zen-like mode, you know what I mean?

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on how we get on. In the meantime, breath in, breath out, and say “Ommmmm.”