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.

printers are tricky little beasts

in preparation for one of my upcoming library programs, i decided to take advantage of the student fees that were paid in order to allow me to print some random number of times throughout the semester.  i found my four flower templates and sent them to the printer 20 times.  that's right.  in the end i'll be making 80 flower paper plate hats.  how's that for crafty (also - it's a brilliant time waster).

flower hats -- hooray!  only 77 more to go.

once i actually went to retrieve my printing (luckily it's just upstairs - the apartment gods smiled upon me when they assigned me to my building), i quickly hit print without even looking to see that 80 pages were set to print. i didn't really have time to think about that - i was more concerned with getting my flower templates quickly before any neighbors came out and saw my hair knotted on the top of my head ballerina-style and my sweet orange and pink plaid pajama pants.  that's right folks, i wear my classy clothes for productive days.

when the printer ceased making the horrible noise that signifies your pages are being churned out, i grabbed my stack and headed down to my room.  upon returning to the comfort of my apartment (where i knew i wouldn't be judged for looking like a hot mess), i became aware of the disaster that was my print job.  all 80 pages were printed double-sided (so really i only had 40 pages).  while i'm all about double-sided printing for class readings, essays, etc., there's just really no way you can use flower patterns that are printed on both sides.  in essence, all 80 of my pages were wasted.  awesome.

while i was starting back at the beginning, i was still determined to use the printing that was already paid for.  i sent 20 more copies of my templates to the printer again although this time i did do the extra step to check and make sure nothing was marked for printing on both sides.  seriously, who decided that double-sided printing should be the default?  i hate that person.

feeling confident in my printing success, i again rushed upstairs to swipe my pages before i was seen.  unfortunately for me, a mom and her daughter had decided to hang out in the lobby (probably to point and laugh at my attire) and so i did what any polite neighbor would do - i gave them an obligatory nod and then preceded to become very interested in the carpet pattern.  not my best moment, but whatever - i'll just avoid them for the rest of the time i live here, no big deal.

i grabbed my 80 individually printed pages and dashed back to my apartment.  it was only then that i realized that 80 individually printed pages times two templates on each page actually makes 160.  that's right, 160 flower templates.  there are not enough hours in the rest of the semester for me to make 160 flower hats (not that i wouldn't give up the rest of my homework in favor of making these hats...because if that could be arranged, i would).

if anyone is in the market for 80 flower templates, let me know - i've got the hook up for you.  while the 80 extra flowers might have been my fault, i still blame the printer for messing me up.  seriously.  watch out for those things.  they're tricky little beasts.