Nothing to See Here....

It's been a fairly typical week in the Gisseman home.  School and soccer practice for Brie, work for Mark and me.  Alyssa is in her last few days of class and then finals and then she'll be home!  :-)

Brie's first soccer game of the season was yesterday and they tied.  This is most definitely a different experience than she had playing Academy and Athena leagues with CGSA.  She misses her soccer team/soccer family from Georgia and the level of play she enjoyed there.  But I think she does enjoy being on a team with several friends.  We keep telling her this is just a way for her to ease back into soccer and see if she wants to continue with it in high school.  I hope she enjoys the season.  She has been spending more time with friends this week and that has been fun for her.

Mark was approached by the president of the recreational basketball league and asked if he was interested in being on their board of directors.  He said no, although I think he might enjoy it.

Things are about the same for me at work.  I don't love the work I'm currently doing, but I am definitely learning a lot, and that's the whole point of a career broadening assignment.  There are a lot of days that leave me feeling like nothing but a "paper pusher" but I have to find and hold on to those moments when I know that what I'm doing has the potential to make things better for my career field.  In the meantime, things are gearing up for the upcoming furlough (June) and, unless things change, we will have 14 furlough days starting in June.  It still scares me but I know somehow things will be ok for us.

Our ward had a Relief Society activity this past Thursday evening.  Apparently it's a tradition they've started -- to have an activity the week after General Conference and let everyone share their thoughts, feelings, experiences, impressions.  I really enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say.  It was interesting to see that I wasn't the only one who picked up on the different tone of the messages in this conference.  While the talks were still gentle and filled with love, the tone was urgent, unapologetic, and bold.  I liken the message to Samuel the Lamanite preaching from the wall.  His message was urgent and important and he was completely unapologetic in delivering it.  He knew he had the truth, and he knew it needed to be heard.  The themes I picked up on in this conference were strengthening families and marriages, faith, obedience to God's laws, and missionary work.  There are several talks I need/want to go back and re-read.  I especially loved Elder Holland's talk -- he has an amazing ability to take a short scripture story, only a few verses, and expound on it in a way that brings meaning that I never saw before.  It was wonderful.

I have to tell on myself...we didn't watch conference on Saturday.  Brie had a soccer game and then I took her shopping to try to find a dress for her upcoming 8th grade (semi-formal) dance.  At the end of the afternoon session, Alyssa texted me:  "Catch the wave."  Neither Brie nor I knew what she was talking about.  When I talked to her on the phone, she said "I know what you weren't watching this afternoon!"  LOL  But it was one of those moments of "Mommy Pride" -- because even though I wasn't doing what I should have been doing, SHE WAS, and she was doing it on her own initiative.  SO proud of her.

I have to admit that I seem to be on the road to recovery from my allergy to Relief Society.  I think it helps to be in a ward where I feel like I fit in and am accepted, quirks and all.  I never felt completely that way in either of our wards in Georgia.  Mark did, so maybe it's just something wrong with me.  I don't know.  I was most definitely blessed with absolutely wonderful friends in our wards in Georgia.  But I never felt completely accepted or like I fit in.  It's strange and I can't really explain it. Part of it probably stemmed from hurt feelings from my first couple of weeks in the ward where in one Relief Society meeting mothers who worked outside the home were quite soundly and strongly condemned...and then the next week where women who had only a few children were criticized as being selfish and not fulfilling their mission on earth.  I admit it -- I allowed those comments and remarks to hurt my feelings, very deeply.  I haven't felt judged like that in our current ward.  It's a nice feeling.  And so I find myself voluntarily going to Relief Society activities and being active in making sure my visiting teaching is done and done well.  I don't want my (few) readers from my ward in Georgia to feel unloved -- I want them to know that, had it not been for their friendship, love, encouragement, and support, I probably would not have been willing to accept a call to serve in Relief Society in this ward and would not have been open to the experiences I'm now having.  And I want my friends in our new ward, especially our Relief Society presidency, to know that part of the reason I think I'm enjoying Relief Society so much is because they came to me and asked -- with genuine love, interest, and concern -- about my issues with Relief Society.  They acknowledged my history and accepted my feelings, never saying that I was too thin-skinned or shouldn't have allowed those experiences to get to me the way I did -- but instead they came to me with love and friendship and made me *want* to be part of their sisterhood. I appreciate that.

Spring has sprung and with it I appear to have developed allergies.  Such fun!  I've been sniffling and sneezing all week.  Claritin is my new best friend.  LOL  Fortunately, after several days on Claritin, my symptoms are starting to subside and I'm feeling better.

I have continued to stay strong in my effort to give up caffeine and its hold on me.  Yea!  Mark and I went out to dinner the other night.  He hade a Diet Coke...I had water.  Two glasses of water!  I did have a root beer yesterday...I was craving a Coke but refused to give in.  Yea me!  My daughters didn't think I could do it.  But I'm doing it.