A New Chapter

In approximately one hour, my term as president of the Junior Woman's Club of Fort Worth officially will draw to a close. If you had told me, one year ago, that I would mourn the passing of this milestone, I would have told you that you were bat-crap crazy. At the risk of sounding like Mr. Spock (or my Spock-like older child), logic dictates that a job requiring one to interact with three hundred and fifty females, pretty much 24/7, will be a thoroughly unpleasant experience, right up there with root canals and proctology exams. My tenure as PTA president, two years prior to my JWC year, was fraught with mean girl drama, so I expected much of the same in my new gig.

Surprise, surprise . . . . I had a HECK of a good time (and, if I may say so myself, accomplished a lot of good things in the process), and as I transition back into civilian life and commence with "2010: The Apology Tour" (the name I have assigned to my post-presidential year, as I have a LOT of making-up to do vis-a-vis my long-neglected spouse, children, parents, neighbors, and other non-JWC friends), I do so more than a bit wistfully. To help myself adjust, I am focusing on the fact that, starting tomorrow, I will get to spend time with my JWC friends wearing my friend hat - just my friend hat, no other hats involved. I am also buoyed by the assurances of my executive board (the most amazing group of women that I ever could have imagined having in my corner!) that we will collectively make the effort to continue our monthly "committee meetings" - only there won't be any business to discuss, expect our personal business, and the only votes to be taken will relate to plans for get-togethers to follow. We have even named our little group - we are the "YAH-YAHs," standing for "Young at Heart," my theme for the 2009-2010 club year. At our closing dinner on Thursday, they gifted me with three gorgeous photo albums, the first titled, "The YAH-YAHs - Founded 2009," the second, "The YAH-YAHs, Volume 2 - The Fifties" and the third, "The YAH-YAHs, Volume 3 - Becoming Maxine." I take this as their solemn pledge that we'll still be hanging out when we are nearing retirement age - and I plan on holding them to that pledge, to be sure.

Another thing that is helping me to adjust: I can finally get around to tackling all of those projects that I have put on the back burner over the past 12 months. I can't say that our lives have been completely on hold - we managed to repaint and redecorate two rooms; we redid my closet (okay, that wasn't planned, but it happened); I designed and planted new flower beds, front and back; and I am mostly current with scrapbooking for the boys (thanks, Shutterfly!). Nevertheless, I now find myself sifting through a metric ton of mental notes, all filed under the heading, "Things to do when I get my life back." One of the items on my to-do list: get caught up on blogging. And what better way to mark the passing of my prez year than to jump on Blogger?

So, forewarned is fair-warned - the next few posts will be random and largely out-of-order, as I am playing catch-up!