organized events aren't all bad

as a general rule, i tend to shy away from organized events.  don't get me wrong, i love organization of all kinds.  but large organized events usually make me so anxious that i'd rather do my homework (gasp!) than attend them.  fairs (although i've only been to one state fair in my life), carnivals, festivals, etc...they all make me nervous.

here are some of the things i worry about:  where do i park?  what if i can't actually get mitchy into the ridiculously small spaces they say a car can fit in?  what if the parking is parallel?  where do i get tickets if they're needed?  what if it rains?  where are the bathrooms?  will there be toilet paper?  will there be soap?   

trust me, the list goes on.

despite these things, i do attend the renaissance faire annually (if you haven't been to one, you should. it's quite the life changing event and i highly recommend the tortuga twins), but i think that doesn't get to me because i started going in 6th grade before i knew all of the things that could go wrong.  and usually i go with my dad so i know nothing bad can happen.

the library's "how to recycle a book" display

anyways, today i helped with earth action day as a representative for the library.  and it was so stinking fun. we crafted paper beaded necklaces (be jealous), bookmarks, and postcards.  all of these things were made from discarded magazines so we were being all earth friendly and stuff.  hooray for mother earth!

typically this kind of event would keep me up the night before, but this wasn't the case today.  maybe it was because i had planned everything out and packed the day before, or maybe it was because a friend was coming with me (shout out to katie!), or maybe it was because it was affiliated with the library and nothing really bad happens there.  whatever the reason, everything went just as it should.

there were people to help us unload the car and they hadn't mysteriously misplaced our vendor ticket and given away our table.  some of the lovely volunteers helped us easily pop up our tent and in no time we were situated (and there was even a parking lot with normal sized spaces for mitchy!).  we were checked on continuously throughout the set-up period just to make sure we were still without questions (which we always were) and everyone just seemed to be in good spirits despite the 50-something degree cloudy weather.  we were able to craft with lots of kids (and some adults too!), chat with lots of community members, and generally just have a blast.

if i didn't list worrying as one of my hobbies, i might decide to stop worrying about everything that could go wrong at organized events and start enjoying them.  maybe next time, but today definitely proved that organized events aren't all bad.