First Impressions

Last week most of the ward boundaries in my stake got realligned. Apparently, as Daybreak has grown, wards have divided every few years, and everybody in my ward is used to being shifted around. But this was the first time it's happened since I've been here. My ward was shifted into three already-existing wards. My little block was transferred into a different ward. I was kind of excited, because I already knew the single guy situation in my old ward (non-existent), so this would give me a chance to explore the single guy situation in a new ward*. Plus, the new ward has town homes, which increases the likelihood of single people. Also, I know some of the people in this ward from seeing them at the gym every morning, and they're pretty cool, so I was excited to get to know them better. I figure I have friends in my old ward, and now I can make more friends in my new ward. All in all, a good situation. So I really wanted to make a good impression.
I made a point of picking out a cute outfit that I haven't worn in a while- a skirt, tank top, and cardigan; I curled my hair, I did my makeup, and I felt pretty good about my appearance. And then I went to church and sat in the very middle of the chapel, trying to mingle with the ward.
Now, as some of you know, over the last several months, I've lost some weight and my clothes are fitting a little more loosely than they ever have before. And the skirt I chose has an elastic waist band. Keep these things in mind.
As we got into sacrament meeting, the counsellor in the bishopric said he was going to read in all the new members of the ward. I didn't realize they would do that, since we hadn't really moved in, but I was glad I had taken the time to look presentable. When he called my name, I stood up, looked around and smiled, then sat down. After he got through reading everybody's names, he asked us all to stand up one more time as a group. So I did. Then I sat down again. That's when I realized just how loose my skirt really had become on me. It had fallen to my mid-thighs. I guess it had kind of stuck to the padding on the bench when I stood up, and with the elastic waistband, it just didn't stand up with me. I had just flashed everybody sitting behind me. Twice. And I was in the middle of the chapel. In a ward that filled the chapel and went into the gym. I can handle embarassment, but that was a little too much. I just wanted to shrivel up and disappear.
Luckily, I only took a few minutes to recover before I could laugh at myself, and by the time I got to gospel doctrine and the teacher asked all the newbies to stand and introduce themselves, I had regained enough to composure to apologize to the half of the ward who I had flashed. Everybody had a good laugh, and now I've made my first impression. It wasn't the good impression I was going for, but it was certainly an impression.
*Sidenote- one of the first people I met in Sunday School is also a single lady and she informed me we have no single guys in the ward. Sigh....