How To Have FUN

A Saturday church women's seminar is one thing. Getting young girls to attend willingly wasn't as difficult as you would think. They were invited to sing, and felt honored. Asia even signed-up to bring a salad to the luncheon. It was what happened before and after the women's seminar that was tricky, especially since young girls are always concerned about having "FUN".

Two 13 year olds were supposed to sleep over to rehearse their song with Rachel (making a total of three 13 year olds but not until one of them finished her Girl Scout meeting), and Asia still needed to shop for salad ingredients but she was gone with friends and incognito. While waiting for our Girl Scout, I felt slightly mean to ask Rachel and Casey to help me organize the Ward Choir folders. It was a huge job, and it took the 3 of us a solid 40 minutes to pull and sort Christmas music, reload with new music, sharpen pencils and replace some name tags. So far the sleep-over was feeling more like a work camp on a hunger strike.

The pizza we ordered was a bust. 45 minutes after placing the order, Pizza Hut phoned to finally let us know they had run out of dough and would not be filling our order. (On a Friday night!) Our Girl Scout was an hour over-due and we were waiting to eat with her; Domino's saved the day and Mel arrived just in time to get the last garlic bread stick. Once the girls tried to sing to their CD, they weren't in the mood. I couldn't blame them, it was 11 o'clock and not a lot of "FUN" had happened yet. They groaned when I told them we would have to be ready by 9 AM the next morning.

Waking them up at 8 was a miracle: they popped right up. Our 2 little guests promised to take quick showers, and they did! Rachel started a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon on the griddle. I set the table and watched the bacon while they all finished their hair. We loaded our salads and ourselves into the car with plenty of time for a sound-check, and one final rehearsal a-cappella under Asia's excellent tutelage.

After a very long, very adult-themed seminar and thankfully 2 very exceptional musical numbers (you beautiful girls were fantastic!) and country club style salad luncheon, we were finally done with wearing skirts and being at Church on a Saturday. I proposed breaking-out Asia's Christmas Badminton set as a "reward" for the girls' hard work. We asked Roxanne to join us.

Doesn't that sound FUN? My first call to come out and play was met with "Why?" and "Do we have to?" They seemed to prefer the "FUN" of being crammed together in a messy bedroom listening to music and playing with their hair. Once the choice of rackets presented themselves, things were looking up - until one team realized they were facing the sun. In averting FUN disaster, my costume closet proved essential. Finally, may I present the result ~

How To Have FUN:




1) Dressing for FUN is a must. Powder Pink beads dramatically accent a sporting event every time.















2) Appropriate eye wear is essential to maximum FUN, and clearly not species exclusive.



















3) Coordinating gangster headbands add a quirky element of FUN, and serve to intimidate your opponent in passive-aggressive show of "colors".








4) Skater hoodies and snowboots definitely complete your very FUN, game-face attitude.













5) Laughing is an excellent strategy when the competition is fierce. Actually hitting the "birdie" is only incidental...besides being deadly FUN.















6) A killer serving arm not only hones your craft, but is loads of FUN.














6-a) Apparently it can also be exhausting, but in a totally FUN way, of course.















7) Identifying the birdie is probably helpful to truly having FUN. This is not the birdie.
















8) This is the birdie, but it is not FUN.





















9) The remedy to un-FUN.











10) FUN is all about style, form and symmetry, gracefully exhibited here:















11) Note the ultimate paradox to Having FUN:






it seems no matter HOW MUCH FUN you are having, it can never be enough if you are not also attached to your cell phone prepared to receive every pressing and highly important call on a Saturday afternoon, outside, with birds tweeting and a gentle breeze wafting through the fresh, sun-dappled air.