They Can't Make Me....Can They???

This post is an homage to the elite group of past PTA Presidents who follow this blog (you know who you are) and to anyone else I have naively allowed to rope me into doing something I wasn't really sure I wanted to do.

Yesterday the kids had a dance/basket auction at their school. Thanks to someone who will remain nameless (Andrea Egan), I have a little experience with auctions and baskets. When the call went out for help, who better to lend a helping hand than yours truly. I figured I could lend a helping hand, it would get me out of the house, and I might even meet a mom or two.

Three and a half hours after I arrived at school to help, I finally headed for home. I could have stayed longer, but I was chased away when the PTA President apparantly decided that I didn't quite create the "masterpiece" she had envisioned. Don't get me wrong, she was polite enough about it, but not discreet enough for an oversensitive sleuth like me (at least Andrea would have just told me she though it looked like crap). I had adhered the shrink wrap onto one of the baskets, had heated it with a blow dryer, and placed the final product on a cart in the hallway. She saw the basket sitting there, proceeded to follow behind me, plug her blow dryer into the reseptacle in the hallway, and re-heated the shrink wrap until it met her specifications. It really wasn't as obvious or dramatic as it may sound, but you get the picture. I wasn't terribly offended either (that would have been silly), but I did take it as my cue to hit the road. I decided that if the shrink wrap aspect of the baskets was that important to her, then she could do that part on her own.

(My husband's boss is also his best friend and has been since kindergarten. Troy's kids go to the same school as Logan and Kaiden and I do hang out with his wife, Cathy, on ocassion.)

Cathy, all four kids and I returned to school later in the evening (the guys are still out of town)to attend the dance/auction. They did a silent auction format and people could bid on the baskets. At the last minute, they had also decided to put together some "grab and go" type baskets. You could just pay the asking price and walk out the door with it and you wouldn't have to hang out all night placing bids. Cathy and I were both inclined to donate to the school, but didn't want to stick around all night, so the "grab and gos" were a good option for us. I picked my basket, pulled out my checkbook and realized...I only had checks with our California address on them. "Mrs. President" and another board member were collecting the money and I jokingly asked if they would take an out of state check. They said they would, but if it bounced or if they had to come looking for me I would have to be PTA President next year. THAT WAS FUNNY!!!!! They happily accepted my check, which I will ensure doesn't bounce (that's all the humiliation I would need to send me over the edge) and continued to raz me about being PTA President next year.

I know they were only half joking, I also know that I've been looking for at least one friend to go have Starbucks with and PTA in CA provided me with lots of those friends, but let's be real, PTA PRESIDENT!!!!! I'd rather live the rest of my time here in Alaska in complete isolation than take that job on, especially when I don't know anybody I could persuade (read: guilt, blackmail, and trick) to assist me.

They can't really make me do it........can they???????? (read: NOT A CHANCE IN HELL)