I had decided that this was the year that I was going to scale back on the volunteering at school. I was there so much last year and I really started to resent the time I spent there. So cutting back I felt was the way to go. Besides, our school now has 700 kids at it (probably designed for 500) so there are lots of other parents who can volunteer, right?

This year, to save on paper costs, the PTSA did not send home volunteer forms but just instructions on how to go online and print off the required forms (stating what you are interested in helping out with as well as the official volunteer background check that goes to the school district). Well, guess what? They had hardly anyone return the forms. So all of the things that are staffed by PTSA volunteers have virtually NO volunteers (I don't think classroom volunteers really are because parents always want to be in their kids classes helping out, especially in the younger grades).

Our fundraising walk-a-thon is on Friday - initially not enough volunteers but because it is after school hours, junior high and high school kids can work it to get their volunteer hours in. The Scholastic Books Book Fair next week had just ONE volunteer for 3 hours (they need at least 3 people to staff it for the 22 hours it is slated to be open through the week). The Vision and Hearing screening needs 21 people to help out from 8am-2:20pm and they have just 13 so far. The Health Room has 10 two-hour shifts each week and they are having trouble getting people to fill the slots. See a pattern? And the people who ARE volunteering are the same people so we are looking at a future burn outof these volunteers.

Yesterday, an email went out with "A Cry for Help" as the title, in which they are trying to get more people to help out with the book fair and Vision/Hearing screening because those are the most pressing volunteer positions right now. And I just deleted the email.

I feel so guilty! But I just cannot take on any more volunteering. But, I had already signed up to do the Hearing/Vision screening, and I help out in the health room. And I volunteer once a week in the computer lab for Carson's class. And I will be teaching Art Start in Carson's class as well as Declan's class. And I have volunteered for Reading Naturally program for Carson's class. And in Declan's class for inventorying the science kits for the year. So much for my 'taking time off from volunteering' year. Oh, I just remembered that I have signed up to help out with the 6th grade promotion but none of that work will need to be started before February, I think.

And at the next PTSA meeting, I am going to ask about sending the forms home hard copy to see if they get more responses. And also the schools need to figure out how to get things done without volunteers, I think. It seems to be a sign of the times.

Well, I got my ads back and my sitemeter but I have lost my blahg format and all of the comments for the past 7 years. Heavy sigh. Comments can now be made in the blogger comment section (had always had that turned off).

I feel really blue today and I am not sure why. I had some disturbing dreams last night and that might be part of it. And the new facebook format sucks so I feel that I have lost the ability to keep in touch with some friends because I just do not want to go there. I have disliked a lot of the changes they've made over the years but this one takes the cake. It feels a lot like about.com changed their format and I lost touch with a lot of friends from the stay-at-home parents forum. Sure, a lot of them were on other forums on delphiforums but there was not one place where everyone was an active member.

Ok, the younger kids get out of school in 1.5 hours. Time to stop sulking and get on with the day.

Darn! I tried to edit something on my blahg but blogger had changed the interface and now I have lost my original blahg template. No time right now to try to get it back, including customizations like my ads! Aargh!

School is back in session and while I thought I would have a lot of time to do stuff like working out, cleaning, running errands, etc but it seems that my time is being Words with Friends and Pinterest. At any given time I have about 10 WWF's games on the go (denines is my user name if you care to start a game!!).

And Pinterest - omg...hours have been frittered away as I drool over images of cool furniture, mouth-drooling food and crafts. Oh, the crafts! I have been liking and repinning tons of cool crafts and sewing projects. I have so many wonderful ideas for Christmas gifts, crafts, decorating thoughts for just about every holiday and am feeling ambitious enough to alter some clothing. Love it! I have plans to make this

Source: dana-made-it.com via Denine on Pinterest

and this

Source: obsessivelystitching.blogspot.com via Denine on Pinterest

and this

Source: connectthedotsons.blogspot.com via Denine on Pinterest

All cool and things that I can do!

But in reality, until I actually do any of them, Pinterest is just this:

Source: lemontreecreations.blogspot.com via Denine on Pinterest

Sad news this morning. I just found out that Nanny died suddenly this weekend. She had fallen and had torn a ligament in her knee last week so she was bedridden. Her daughter and her daughter's family came down for the long weekend to visit and help out but early Sunday morning Nanny died from a blood clot in her heart/lung area. It is very shocking and terribly sad. Nanny was just 10 years older than me.

I think back when I was at my craziest, I left my not quite 4 month old, my 3 year old and my 5 year old with a virtual stranger for half a day each week so I could get out of the house. The second time she was there I remember driving along the street thinking "I CANNOT STOP I CANNOT STOP" because I knew that I could stop driving my car if I hit a red light and thanking God that my kids were at home with that stranger.

Over the months (then years) I got to know Nanny quite well. She loved to talk and sometimes I would get mad at myself for spending 45 minutes of the time she was there just chatting with her when I should be out and about getting groceries or whatever. But I enjoyed chatting with her. She was interesting, was a good story teller. And most importantly of all, I knew that she both liked and loved my children. She shared a common interest of Harry Potter and Lego with the kids so they thought she was great. She would often bring over books that she knew would interest them, movies, toys and crafts. Once she brought four huge sheets of cardboard (the sheets that were used between the stacks of toilet paper at Co$tco) and crafted a play structure for the kids - a cardboard castle.

After it was time for her to move on to a new family (both her M-Th family and us, her Friday family were ready to move on) she struggled at for a while with finding a family that was the right fit. Then she started working with a family who were treated her very well and had the resources to do things for her like take her away on vacation with them. She was very happy working for that family. She was also less available for babysit for us in the evenings or on the weekends but I was happy for her.

The last time we saw each other was just before we went to San Diego. The kids and I ran into her at Co$tco one evening. She was originally from San Diego and suggested a few places for us to visit. After that, I did not see her again although we did exchange emails every few months.

And now she has suddenly passed away. I think it was a blessing that her family was visiting her when it happened. There will be a memorial service for her at her M-Th family's home next weekend. I will be glad to see her daughter and grandson again and tell them I am so sorry for their loss.