I’m A Clubwoman

Christie gives birth to twin girls.

Who would have thought we’d see another disaster in this century worse than Katrina? True Haiti is not on the soil of the Good Old USA, but it’s so close their refugees sail over here on makeshift boats and frequently drown trying to reach our soil. There are thousands and thousands of Haitians living here in the states.

I want to issue an apology for having let so much time lapse since my last blog. My life as I know it has been turned inside out as I have walked away from a business relationship and started up a new enterprise. I figure this is what this blog place is all about: us women as we go through the great challenges of life, and mine is definitely been a challenge over the last three months. I don’t know if I have said anything about this before, but in addition to being mother of three and a GFWC member I also own and operate my own small town newspaper. I write a weekly column as part of the paper and I would like to share with you my first editorial in my newest endeavor. I hope you enjoy it.

I just made my reservations for the GFWC National Convention in Cleveland and look forward to meeting many of you there! This is my first GFWC convention and I’d appreciate any tips you “old-timers” might have.

The NUSA [Neighborhoods USA] conference is coming to Spokane May 20-23.  The “big event” of the conference is the Best Neighborhood of the Year award, which is, wonderfully, not all about trimmed bushes and flowers all in a row.  The Woman’s Club of Spokane clubhouse will be a destination of one 13 scheduled PrideTours which [...]

It is almost time for Earth Day, April 22. April showers and snow and hail have delayed me but there is so much to do weather or not I want to. My IRS personal taxes are done, whew, but I had to do an extension on our family business corporation taxes. It’s so hard to stay inside now that Spring finally beckons, but I must try to find a balance.

We have all seen that child…you know the one. He is screaming at the top of his lungs in the grocery store, shading his eyes from the florescent lights, and flapping his hands. I betch you think …why doesn’t that mother punish him? Why doesn’t she spank him or correct him? …What if I told you this child was autistic?

As a parent I never ceased to be amazed by the fact that the very ones we are supposed to be teaching are the ones that are in fact teaching us. For spring break this year, my two boys, ages 6 and 4, one set of grandparents, and my husband and I all made the two and half-hour trek to Glen Rose, Texas, which is home to Dinosaur World and the infamous dinosaur footprints at Dinosaur Valley State Park. These dinosaur footprints were instrumental in showing paleontologists how dinosaurs walked in prehistoric times. Previous to this discovery in the 1930s, scientists thought dinosaurs walked like alligators.

Hope you have some Springy weather where you are. Lots of things are going on here in NC and apparently I am getting overwhelmed. I don’t think I am bothered by everything on my calendar but my stomach has been nervous and full of butterflies for the past couple of weeks so obviously something is giving me a sign.

Family, business, and Woman’s Club must-do activities have all converged early in this month of March.

Today I have watched one of my children throw up and the other one cough all night. I taught 5th graders how to create research outlines and how not to kick each other under the desks. I made supper and organized my thoughts for our club’s board meeting tomorrow night. I paid bills and balanced checkbooks. I chose outfits for tomorrow and read storybooks to sleepy boys. Somewhere in there I found my husband, gave him a kiss and thanked him for helping me through my day. As I sit blogging to you, ignoring the perpetual To-dos, I am reminded to focus on what good I have accomplished today and hope that I will forgive myself for not accomplishing all that needs to be done. Like…my dogs are really hungry, having not yet been fed. Poor things, they were once the center of my universe.

I have a confession to make. I suffer from a problem that I am sure many women on this website can identify with. It is one of anxiety. Four years ago I left my husband of five years. There were many problems with the marriage, but the main reason was that our then 2 ½ year old son was diagnosed with autism. This news was like a glass shattering. It was devastating as parents and my ex-husband took the news a lot harder than I did. To him he had lost his son, and this was something he could not and to this day still has not recovered from.

Wow, it seems like 2009 has just begun and we are already well into the second month. This fast pace lifestyle that has been ushered in only means ones thing in my house: Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome or Chaos. I want to take a moment to examine a certain injustice that is taking place in households across the country. It involves one much hated word…housework.