Anyway, I tried to make the best of the situation by calling my friend Jan down the street, who I babysit for and asked it we could come over and bring dinner. She hadn't started dinner yet and was delighted. Her husband wasn't going to be home until later, and her friend was visiting from out of town. We brought over all the food, and had a great time talking and laughing for a few hours. We have been meaning to do dinner for a while, and realized that impromptu dinners are the only thing that works for two conflicting schedules, so it was perfect. And I got to play with the kids off the clock, making it a little more fun for some reason. KC was nice to put up with moments of girl talk (ANTM, Real Housewives of NYC-we were all embarrassed to admit we have watched it), but the conversation also went where he could contribute. A great time, and a perfect use for the meal I prepared. Check our EE soon for details.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Dinner Swtich
I while ago I signed up on both the Elder's and the Sister's meal calendars that make their way around the church every Sunday. We had the Elders over on Monday ,a delightful evening, and were planning to have the sisters on Wednesday. I wanted to get it all done in one week. So I grocery shopped with a specific meal in mind and got prepared to make a meal for the five of us (the sisters are a trio right now). I hadn't heard from them and they usually call the night before, so I called them a couple hours before their somewhat expected arrival, left a message and went ahead and cooked (I'd rather be safe than sorry). I even made a dessert with the knowledge that there would be several people to eat it. I finished the cooking leaving the finishing touches for when I found out what was going on. I was cleaning up the mess, and got a call saying that they were eating somewhere else tonight. How could this be? I was very methodical about the days I chose and was not mistaken that they were in fact supposed to eat with us. She told me that they lost the meal calendar from before and were very apologetic. I wasn't at church on Sunday feeling a little under the weather, so maybe the announced it there and I didn't know. But I'm doubting that and I think they just thought no one remembers until they call them the night before to ask what time to come. Not me. I live by my calendar and this was a big mark on it. Some of us like to be organized and remember our obligations in advance so it would've been nice to know that I had a night off, instead of planning and preparing a meal for a small crowd. I suppose the important thing is that they eat (because heaven forbid they feed themselves). To be honest I'm always a little reluctant to sign up anyway. The ward makes us all feel so obligated to fill up every empty space, like it's an assignment. All that being said, we do have very sweet missionaries in our ward, and I'm am happy they they are here serving the lord. The mix-up wasn't their fault so I'm not annoyed with them at all. I just don't get the whole dinner calendar thing. It's a little weird to me. I think they are eating quite well. Maybe I'll send around a dinner calendar for us to eat. I wonder how it would go over. Not quite the same I guess. I don't mean to sound bitter, if that's what it sounds like.
Anyway, I tried to make the best of the situation by calling my friend Jan down the street, who I babysit for and asked it we could come over and bring dinner. She hadn't started dinner yet and was delighted. Her husband wasn't going to be home until later, and her friend was visiting from out of town. We brought over all the food, and had a great time talking and laughing for a few hours. We have been meaning to do dinner for a while, and realized that impromptu dinners are the only thing that works for two conflicting schedules, so it was perfect. And I got to play with the kids off the clock, making it a little more fun for some reason. KC was nice to put up with moments of girl talk (ANTM, Real Housewives of NYC-we were all embarrassed to admit we have watched it), but the conversation also went where he could contribute. A great time, and a perfect use for the meal I prepared. Check our EE soon for details.
Anyway, I tried to make the best of the situation by calling my friend Jan down the street, who I babysit for and asked it we could come over and bring dinner. She hadn't started dinner yet and was delighted. Her husband wasn't going to be home until later, and her friend was visiting from out of town. We brought over all the food, and had a great time talking and laughing for a few hours. We have been meaning to do dinner for a while, and realized that impromptu dinners are the only thing that works for two conflicting schedules, so it was perfect. And I got to play with the kids off the clock, making it a little more fun for some reason. KC was nice to put up with moments of girl talk (ANTM, Real Housewives of NYC-we were all embarrassed to admit we have watched it), but the conversation also went where he could contribute. A great time, and a perfect use for the meal I prepared. Check our EE soon for details.
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6 comments:
Dude, I hear you about the missionary dinners. Do they really need EVERY dinner prepared for them?
Every time I have tried to have the missionaries for dinner, a disaster happens. So I quit signing up. Then one day they came into my home to "use the phone" and put themselves on my calendar despite my protestations that disaster would now befall us all. That day is when my house flooded and the roof in the living room caved in. So when they came over, they got a pizza and an "I told you so" and off they went. I have not signed up since.
I totally felt the same way when we lived in Virginia, and now in Missouri--they're always pushing how important it is to sign up to feed them--can't they feed themselves? But then I was told that they like the members to feed them so that they can keep the costs of missions down and they can have a smaller budget. That made me a little more understanding of the whole thing...but my sign ups are still pretty rare...
I'm with you on the calendar issue! Not long ago I got an email inviting YW leaders to hear a member of the general YW presidency speak. I marked my calendar, made sure Dustin could watch the baby, found the church, only to find that the speaker had been changed and no one had told me. The new speaker was good, but I certainly wouldn't have rearranged my schedule to go, especially since most of it was a lunch with a bunch of ladies I didn't know. I guess the important thing is being willing to sacrifice, even when it doesn't seem to accomplish the purpose you set out for. Glad it worked out.
Travis is always saying he wishes we lived out of state again so that we could feed the missionaries more often! I don't think he realizes how much work really is put into feeding them! (Although I must say he is always very appriciative.) Well, when we lived in Tennessee we invited the missionaries over once and they ended up coming 3 weeks in a row! On the 3rd Sunday they announced that they wouldn't be able to come next Sunday because they had someone else scheduled I told them it was ok because we were moving back to Utah on Wednesday! I hear ya!
We recently had the elders in our area call to cancel dinner because they were double booked only to have them call back at 4:30 and ask if they could come at 5 because their other appointment canceled. As much as I was annoyed at that, I had to oblige because I've been in their shoes. Dinner calendars aren't a perfect solution, but I believe it can be a blessing both to the members and the missionaries. Dinner appointments not only help build relationships with members(the REAL missionaries) but they make it possible to live on $125 a month.
Hey, let 'em fix their own sometimes, eh? We only ate at members maybe once a week, if that often, when I was out. It's just another one of those ideas that gets started and then becomes practically a church "program". Glad you were able to make lemonade out of that lemon.
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