Thursday, June 11, 2009

My skill set

Wifia held its weekly lunch yesterday. As always the best photos aren't on my blog. They're on the queen of pictures blog.

Anyways, I attempted to take the lead in celebrating Joia's birthday (which was actually a few weeks ago but due to people being out of town, wasn't acknowledged.)

Folks, you know how we all have special talents and gifts and skills? I already knew it, but somehow I thought I may have outgrown it or something. I decided to get gutsy and take the lead in celebrating Joia's birthday. But nothing has changed. Taking the lead on birthday celebrations is NOT one of my gifts.

First I baked some brownies. They came out okay.

Then I put some letters on the brownies that said "Happy Birthday Joia". They looked pretty uneven and haphazard, let's be honest. (See photo below.)



But then, to make things even worse, I tried sticking a Dalmatian candle in the brownies. I didn't know that if you stuck him in too early he'd melt into the brownie. But he did. He melted so much his head popped off. Seriously. Popped right off. Want proof? (See photo below).



But that wasn't the end of my lack of skills. I grabbed a card for Joia out of my card box, and it must have been a card I was going to send to my friend Shea for her birthday one year. (Obviously she didn't get it, thus intensifying my bad skills when it comes to celebrating events.) I know this because when I handed the card to Andrea to sign she asked me why it said Shea's name on the envelope. Oh are you serious?! Talk about tacky. Here Joia. Here's your brownies with funny letters and a melted dog with no head and a card with someone else's name on it. Shheesh.

Joia, of course, was a good sport, and we all had a good laugh about it. I have friends who are so good at "celebrating people" -- they get it all just right. They send cute dalmatian cards (Rachel!) for my birthday or remember to call or whatever. That's just not me. I gave it another try and solidified my belief that I just plain stink at stuff like this.

I thought that when I became a Mom I would become domestic and craftsy and creative -- welling up from deep inside me. YEAH RIGHT. I am still the same Wendi. I remain fairly good at cleaning my house but that's about it. And the house cleaning part is becoming harder since Isaac has turned into a human tornado. I swear that everything that boy walks by gets sucked up into the air and drops in a pile around him. As fast as I clean it up, the tornadoes come even faster. My other skill sets mostly surround sports, and I am not sure how those benefit anyone else.

Anyways, that's a whole 'nother topic altogether. I'm not trying to have a pity party for myself here. I know I have some other gifts and skill sets. But celebrating people is something I just don't do well. I'm good at being second-in-command, following directions for how to make an event special. But put me in charge and you see what you get -- a headless Dalmatian with a card for someone else.

Sigh . . . thanks for being such a good sport Joia! Happy belated birthday.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You sound just like a Huisman. Not good at making a big deal out of stuff and you're good at sports. :)

Linda
xo

Joy Z said...

Don't give up Wendi! You may never be the best at celebrating-people-skills, but you'll get better as you keep working. And no need to be unique and creative; steal ideas from others!

btw, I laughed really hard at the candle melting into the brownies!

Anonymous said...

Hey Wendi, your tee shirt captures it...Love and chocolate-you can't go wrong:)As usual, you made me smile-just being you! BTW, have a great visit with your Grandma!
mom k

AW said...

LOLOL! Wendi, I love you as you are...that's how God made you. If He meant for you (and ME!) to be creative at stuff like that He would have. But we have other talents, skills, and ministries. I'm still trying to figure mine out, but I'm convinced they're there. LOL!

XOXOXOXO,
A

AW said...

BTW, that human tornado issue? I think it's called having a toddler in the house. My previously always-neat-and-clean home? It's now a thing of the past as long as there is someone under three feet around. I've had to do a lot of "letting go" around here...

Anonymous said...

Wendi - Seems to me your gifts do lie in celebrating people, just not in the "physical" fashion. You celebrate people fabulously in your blog. One of your many gifts (I'm certain you have more but since I'm a stranger to you, I don't know them all) is sharing God's hand in your life with many people around the globe AND celebrating those people amongst your audience - a gift just as valuable as those which are not your gifts. So...don't sell yourself short in that department! Blessings~

Joia said...

Wendi, you are way to hard on yourself, everything was Wonderful! Especially the part where you left the leftover brownies and ice cream with Me! Woohoo! You're a great friend! =)

Rene said...

This is so funny! I laugh because I am the exact same way. Always forgetting to send a b-day card, not knowing how to celebrate an event, even not recognizing special events that come my way.

In the end, you're a great friend and that is what counts. Anyone who would make brownies for me would be a friend for life :)

Amy T. S. said...

DItto. Surprise!

yuan family said...

You are too funny Wendi. But isn't it the thought that counts?!? I have wondered if I would ever do that same thing with cards because I have a box of them too that I use when I need them!

Judy Woodford said...

Yeah, at the risk of repetition by the last writer, "It truly is the thought that counts..." It is the same with God you know. our heart motive is what He sees and so should we. And by the way, you are a great writer Wendi and you have a real gift at not only expressing things with words but thinking them through deeply and sharing from your heart... Very gifted!!

TAV said...

this is too funny, but wendi, don't ever sell yourself short! you are for sure one of the greatest friends life has blessed me with!!! love you (headless dalmations and all)!!

Becky said...

I think the fact that you feel you are not good at this kind of a thing and yet you tried anyways means far more than how it turned out. That being said, I agree with the other comments, you celebrate people through your blog all the time and you are one of the greatest friends I have ever been blessed with. Also, you left out writing in your skill set - you are an amazing writer.