I am now home from the awards banquet. The small talk was plentiful as we had an hour for dinner before they even started giving out awards. Luckily, the mayor is a major extrovert; he spoke, and told jokes the whole time so no one else had to do much talking. The council members were extremely extroverted as well so they handled all the small talk. I only really held a conversation with one of the council member’s wives who was very quiet and was not trying to scream across the table or keep shaking my hand. I shook 47 people’s hands. They must all need votes… I then had to wash my hands many times to get people germs off.

The only bad extroverted issue was when I first sat down at the table and a woman whom I have never met comes up to me and says, “I have seen you before! I know your parents and your last name is Johnson, right?” I replied saying, “Yes it is.” Then she says, “Your first name escapes me.” Instead of asking my name, she practically fondles my breast for my nametag. She takes more time than I would have liked and finds it (like it was somehow difficult to find in the first place) and says my name. She could have just asked! The whole time I am mortified that someone I do not know has just touched me that I am not even able to muster any words. I sat in shock for a while that this woman practically fondled me in front of a room full of people. Apparently, it was quite a spectacle because several people were staring while this happened. I learned a lesson because of this. One should always wear their nametag FAR above the breast rather than on top of it.

On the brighter, less touchy feely side, my garden club won two awards for its service to the city. My grandmother also won an award for her continued service to the city and she was honored again by being mentioned as the city’s only Lifetime Member. They actually created the Lifetime Member status just for her which is a nice thing given her commitment to the city.

Popularity: 6% [?]

That experience was annoying to say the least. I had to go this morning to help with flower arranging for the awards banquet that is tonight. I arrive only to find that people who said they could not make it had actually decided to come. This normally is a fine thing to end up with more volunteers; however, none of them had experience in flower arranging. Certainly, I think having an interest in flower arranging is a very good thing but you do not wait to try your hand in it when you are only eight hours away from an awards banquet. Many different classes have been taught in flower arranging but they do not go to them. Then they used too much plant material and a ton of it goes to waste, which leaves nothing for a majority of the arrangements. Then the people that were supposed to be setting up for the party decided to take a long break so we ended up having to set up the tables, put down the centerpieces, and put out all of the arrangements. This is what you get when you have to depend on government workers to set up a banquet…

The best part was being harassed for being so quiet. Yes, I am quiet. No, I do not feel like making small talk with you. I came to arrange flowers, not chitchat. They all kept talking to me to get me to become a chatterbox. What would we talk about, string theory? Or maybe philosophy? Or perhaps we could talk about Jung or Sartre? Sure, sure. I will certainly be posting on the extroverted atrocities I spot this evening at the banquet, as it should be quite horrific to partake in.

Popularity: 6% [?]

I had garden club earlier today. Our club has the opportunity to go on a tour of 50 gardens in England. I hope that I am able to go but due to the situation with my grandmother, I question whether it will be possible.

My grandmother is finally moving into the hospice this week. That is good news in one way and bad news because she is going there to die. It is hard to come to terms with someone being ok one day and then going through the process of dying the very next day. I thought I was not going to get very upset about it and I thought I could be rational about it. However, I cannot. I am finally breaking down and coming to terms with it all. I guess I always took it for granted that my grandmothers would always be here. They have both been a big part of my life. Both of my grandparents followed my parents around wherever we decided to live. They did it because they wanted to be important people in my life and in my parent’s lives. It is just upsetting and difficult to come to terms with the fact that she is going to die soon. I know everyone and everything has to die at some point (except some plants) but that does not make it easier. It is bizarre to have a conversation with someone who knows they are dying. Everything seems to revolve around her starting every sentence with, “When I die…” Everyone in my life that has died has always gone suddenly. When that happens, you are not forced to deal with the process of dying. You only have to deal with the loss of the person and your own grief. She has lived a very long life and seems to have little regret in her life. I think she is just ready to die. I just wish for her sake that it did not have to be such a painful death. She watched my grandfather die of cancer many years ago and he died such a horrible and painful death. She has always said that cancer robbed him of the dignity he deserved at the end of his life. I can only hope that it will not do that to her.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I had garden club earlier today. Our club has the opportunity to go on a tour of 50 gardens in England. I hope that I am able to go but due to the situation with my grandmother, I question whether it will be possible.

My grandmother is finally moving into the hospice this week. That is good news in one way and bad news because she is going there to die. It is hard to come to terms with someone being ok one day and then going through the process of dying the very next day. I thought I was not going to get very upset about it and I thought I could be rational about it. However, I cannot. I am finally breaking down and coming to terms with it all. I guess I always took it for granted that my grandmothers would always be here. They have both been a big part of my life. Both of my grandparents followed my parents around wherever we decided to live. They did it because they wanted to be important people in my life and in my parent’s lives. It is just upsetting and difficult to come to terms with the fact that she is going to die soon. I know everyone and everything has to die at some point (except some plants) but that does not make it easier. It is bizarre to have a conversation with someone who knows they are dying. Everything seems to revolve around her starting every sentence with, “When I die…” Everyone in my life that has died has always gone suddenly. When that happens, you are not forced to deal with the process of dying. You only have to deal with the loss of the person and your own grief. She has lived a very long life and seems to have little regret in her life. I think she is just ready to die. I just wish for her sake that it did not have to be such a painful death. She watched my grandfather die of cancer many years ago and he died such a horrible and painful death. She has always said that cancer robbed him of the dignity he deserved at the end of his life. I can only hope that it will not do that to her.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I think doing all of this horticulture stuff is like a career in itself that does not pay. I only have a few free days this whole month where I am not going to some flower show or some flower society meeting. I also have all these volunteer projects that I am involved with in Atlanta. To top it off, I am around a bunch of old women ALL the time. I think I must be the youngest garden club member to date. The next youngest woman is in her mid sixties. Try being an atheist amongst a bunch of women who have never questioned the existence of God in their lives. They all go to ________ First Baptist Church. The kicker is the fact that everyone I come in contact with knows me through my grandmother. I also have this expectation to live up to because of the legacy that she created. She was the flower show queen. She is a master gardener, a Rosarian, she has won thousands of ribbons and trophies for the last 50 years. She was a world renowned judge of flower shows. She cannot grow an orchid to save her life though. I am starting to become known for my orchid growing. I think by branching out into Orchids I will separate myself from her legacy. I will be displaying my first orchid for the upcoming flower show this month. I will take pictures and post them.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I think doing all of this horticulture stuff is like a career in itself that does not pay. I only have a few free days this whole month where I am not going to some flower show or some flower society meeting. I also have all these volunteer projects that I am involved with in Atlanta. To top it off, I am around a bunch of old women ALL the time. I think I must be the youngest garden club member to date. The next youngest woman is in her mid sixties. Try being an atheist amongst a bunch of women who have never questioned the existence of God in their lives. They all go to ________ First Baptist Church. The kicker is the fact that everyone I come in contact with knows me through my grandmother. I also have this expectation to live up to because of the legacy that she created. She was the flower show queen. She is a master gardener, a Rosarian, she has won thousands of ribbons and trophies for the last 50 years. She was a world renowned judge of flower shows. She cannot grow an orchid to save her life though. I am starting to become known for my orchid growing. I think by branching out into Orchids I will separate myself from her legacy. I will be displaying my first orchid for the upcoming flower show this month. I will take pictures and post them.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I am utterly exhausted. I have been keeping busy going to flower show school, “regular” school, and the multiple societies and clubs I am involved with lately. Since I seem to have a little extra time this week, I believe I will revamp the website a bit and also answer some emails. If anyone has any suggestions about content or added features, I am willing to listen. I will make it a goal to get my writings edited and posted back up on the website. I will also update some of the older content and trash sections that are pretty useless. More later…

Popularity: 3% [?]

I am utterly exhausted. I have been keeping busy going to flower show school, “regular” school, and the multiple societies and clubs I am involved with lately. Since I seem to have a little extra time this week, I believe I will revamp the website a bit and also answer some emails. If anyone has any suggestions about content or added features, I am willing to listen. I will make it a goal to get my writings edited and posted back up on the website. I will also update some of the older content and trash sections that are pretty useless. More later…

Popularity: 5% [?]