When I left off last week, I was about to go to a baby shower and Seth was about to go on a camp out. Both events went well. Here are a few photos from the baby shower:
Okay, so it's all about the food, right?! I did take a few photos of the guests, but since you don't know any of them, I didn't think you'd care if I left those ones out. I wish I had taken some pictures of the cute decorations made out of pages of children's books, but I was too busy with responsibilities to have much time for pictures. Each of the food items was connected to a children's book. Those are mini blueberry cheesecakes in the last photo; I'd never made them before but I'll have to make them again sometime because they were good! The hummus that Frank made was delicious and was a big hit with all the guests. It was a fun evening, but a late one for me, since we had clean up afterwards. (Plus, the shower went later than I expected--but you know everyone is having a good time when they don't want to leave, right?!) A few people stayed to help clean up, too, which was nice!
Well, that's all I got done in 15 minutes (I did get interrupted several times) and now I have a few more minutes (but not many) so we'll see how far I get this time.
While I was at the shower, Seth was at his camp out. Frank helped transport camping equipment up to the camp out too. I think Seth had a good time. It rained a little bit during the night, but not enough to make things miserable. He didn't feel really well in the morning which is odd because the same thing happened to him when he went on his school camp out in June. But anyway, he got home okay and mostly enjoyed it. He was one of the few boys who wore a scout shirt--the stake 11 year old scout leader complimented him on that! We spent quite a bit of time on Saturday cleaning up camping equipment and doing laundry, as well as returning a lot of things (from both the camp out and the baby shower) to the storage unit. I also did some online shopping for Jared's birthday, worked on transcribing my talk at Dad's funeral, cleaned the kitchen floor, and did some cleaning in the basement (which mostly involved throwing out trash and breaking down a bunch of boxes) so it was a busy day.
Sunday was a lot more restful (as it should be) although I still kept busy with indexing, reading scriptures, and choir practice before church. I was sustained as ward music chairman and to my surprise as a Primary worker as well (I wasn't expecting that until after I got released as a den leader) so I currently have 3 callings. Thankfully, the Primary president told me that they don't need me in Primary for a couple more weeks and she is hoping they will get new den leaders called before then so I won't be totally swamped. They want me to teach the Valiant 9 class, which means I will be getting the same boys I currently have as Bears in Cub Scouts, plus a girl or two. There will be another teacher too (of course) but the other teacher hasn't been called yet. After church there was a fireside to start off the next round of Self Reliance groups and so I went to that. I debated about it quite a bit, because I have already facilitated two groups and with my other callings and possibly getting a job soon I was worried about the time commitment. But my sense of responsibility prevailed--what if they really need me?--so I went. There were only about 15 people who wanted to be in a group but I was one of only 5 facilitators who showed up (there are probably 50 in the stake) so I still ended up with another group to facilitate. I do have a co-facilitator, which will be helpful. I admit, I came home from that feeling pretty overwhelmed and discouraged and wondering why some of the other 45 facilitators couldn't help this time so that I wouldn't have to. I feel better about it now, but this whole week has been pretty difficult for me.
Okay, so I had to leave again and now it's late, but I'm going to finish this post before I go to bed!
I'm not sure why this week's been so hard--probably for a lot of reasons. In general, there is just more to worry about right now, with Frank's job situation and finances and everything. Plus, I have two new callings and doing new things is always an adjustment. Then there is job hunting, which is time consuming and stressful under the best of circumstances, and I was trying to meet a deadline to get an application in this week. Add to that the fact that I didn't sleep well at all 3 nights this week. Frank was feeling sick and he also sliced his finger (while cutting some vegetables for dinner on Wednesday). The dog has been sick too. And finally, for some reason, I feel like I've been caught in a time warp so that every day zooms by so fast and I get to the end of the day with only half the things done that I needed to accomplish. I really haven't been wasting time--I've been working hard every day. It's discouraging to be so busy now; if I actually get a job, how am I going to manage that? That's some of the stuff I've been dealing with this week. By Thursday evening I was in a high state of anxiety over the job application that I needed to complete by today (it would expire and I'd have to start all over again if I didn't get it done) as well as all the other things I wasn't getting done so when Frank told me he'd arranged to have lunch the next day with a friend in the ward and his friend's wife wanted to come so I needed to come too, I kind of had a nervous breakdown. (Wednesday night was also one of my bad sleeping nights so by Thursday evening I was very tired too.) It all worked out--I did end up going to lunch and enjoyed it and I did get the application done--but that was kind of the low point of the week!
Anyway, enough of all that complaining. I sound all gloom and doom but hey--some weeks are like that! I'm feeling a lot better now than I was then, at least. So--the rest of the week. I had the regular work to do every day and I have continued to do brain balance with Seth. I try to practice ukulele regularly (but it doesn't happen every day) and most days I exercise (but this week I missed two days because I didn't sleep well the night before so I didn't get up early enough to get it done). Seth and I have continued to read together most days, and we finished On the Banks of Plum Creek and started reading By the Shores of Silver Lake. Besides all that, I had some extra things going on.
On Monday Seth had a doctor appointment--just a check up for his medication--right after school. That was pretty routine but it took a while and Seth got very bored sitting cooped up in that little room for so long. I brought a book for him to read but he read the whole thing and by the time the doctor came in, he was bouncing off the walls. I haven't seen him that hyper for a long time. I guess the doctor could see that he really does need medication--ha! (Although I'm hoping someday he won't.)
Tuesday I prepared for den meeting and cleaned the stove (It's been needing to be cleaned for a long time!) On Wednesday I did not have religion class because the teacher was out of town but I still didn't get much done (time warp!) I did get some work on the job application done, including calling someone to ask some questions I had, but I didn't get as much done as I wanted to get done. That was also the day that Frank was getting sick and he sliced his finger, as well as the day that the dog got sick (which meant cleaning up an unexpected mess and taking more time to take him outside). That evening I had den meeting--we finished the science adventure by doing a sink or float experiment, a color morphing experiment, and a color layering experiment. That might be my last den meeting if they get new den leaders called--I guess well see. We don't have den meetings this coming Wednesday because of Halloween. Seth also had 11 year old scouts that evening--they made first aid kits and reviewed how to sharpen knives. I think Wednesday was also the day that I talked to Jared and we were finally able to get his FAFSA completed. One thing scratched off the list, at least!
On Thursday I wanted to have some temple / family history time, but that really didn't happen (another reason I was unhappy Thursday evening). I did manage to read one chapter in a book I have about temple symbols, but I was interrupted several times so it wasn't the quiet, rejuvenating time that I really needed. (Have I mentioned that I really miss being able to go to the temple? We keep trying to schedule a trip and things beyond our control keep interfering.) On Thursday I also did some preparation for our first self reliance group meeting, which was tonight.
Thursday was another bad sleeping night--I actually woke up at 3:00 am and never went back to sleep. By 4:45 I gave up and decided I might as well do something productive since I was awake, so I got up and got a lot of the budget done. (Have I mentioned that I really like having my little office space to work in? I do--it's awesome!!) I did exercise that morning too. Frank took Seth to school and I went to see my friend Wanda--she had asked me to please come trim her bangs for her, so I did that and visited for a little while although I couldn't stay long. Then I got some more work done on the budget and called the former ward music chair to ask her some questions before it was time to go to lunch. By the time we finished lunch, I was so tired I was ready to collapse so when we got home I took a nap. I slept for about an hour while Frank picked Seth up from school. After I got up, I focused on getting the job application done. This application was for being a substitute in the school system. It was very lengthy, and had to include a resume, a cover letter, and my college transcript. The resume I created a few months ago wouldn't work because it focused on my accounting and organizational skills. This resume had to focus on my teaching experience (and experience working with children). I didn't realize it before now, but I have actually had a church calling working with children or teenagers for 18 of the last 22 years! I didn't go back that far on the resume, of course, but I definitely had a lot of experience to put on there. Anyway, by working on it mostly non stop for the rest of the day, I did get everything done except for finishing the cover letter. I got the cover letter finished and the application submitted this morning--whew! I am glad to be done with that.
Today was crazy busy too. Frank was up very early because he had to be at the stake center to get the font filled up in time for a 9:00 am baptism. It takes up to 3 hours to fill, so that meant he was there at 5:45 am! I didn't have to get up that early, thankfully, but I did go to the baptism, which was for a lady the missionaries have been teaching. The baptism was lovely and I'm glad I took the time to go, even though today was so busy. Originally, Frank was going to perform the baptism but when mid-week he was feeling sick and he also sliced his finger and it hurts to get it wet, he decided he may not be able to do it. So our new bishop performed the baptism and Frank is going to confirm her tomorrow. Anyway, a sweet moment at the baptism was right after this sister was baptized and she came up out of the water. I happened to be sitting where I had a clear view of our bishop's face, and the look he gave her--of excitement and joy--just made me think. I mean, of course he was personally feeling joyful about this new sister making this covenant and joining our ward, but I realized that in a way he was representing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and in his face for a moment I caught a glimpse of their joy at seeing this daughter make this covenant and join their church. Very sweet!
After the baptism was when I finished up the job application and then I had to hurry to eat lunch and mop the kitchen floor so that it would dry in time to get some pizza dough going before we had to leave for our ward's Trunk or Treat. That all worked out, and that is actually when I started this post also--shortly before I needed to make the pizza dough. Actually, Frank made it for me so I had a few extra minutes. The weather has been cold and very humid the last few days (I've been freezing and my hands and lips are chapping!) and it rained last night and all morning so it wasn't a great day for a Trunk or Treat. However, the rain did stop shortly before we had to leave, so that was nice. After the Trunk or Treat, I barely had enough time to come home, make pizza, and eat a little bit before I had to leave for my first self reliance group meeting. I think the meeting went well. There are only two people in the group besides the other facilitator and I, but it's nice to have a small group. I'm doing the "Find a Better Job" group again (I was kind of hoping to do the personal finance one, but maybe going through this again will aid me in my job search). Anyway, both of the group members are young single adult men. I was impressed by their thoughtful answers to the questions we discussed tonight. I hope this group will really help them.
Frank was pretty busy again this week with his business. Even on Thursday, when he wasn't feeling well, he ended up working for several hours. He never did get really sick, which we are both thankful for.
That was our week, and I am going to bed!
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