Further Explanation

It will probably be even longer between posts than usual for a while. Let me fill you in on what we've been up to.

The same week we found out I was pregnant, John also found out he might be loosing his job. Then maybe he won't be loosing his job, just having his hours cut - or maybe not. It was pretty up in the air for a couple of weeks and things are still a little shaky. That happens when the government pays you to do their projects and then cuts the budget - yea, government contracting!

The upshot of that was that John started applying to school again for his PhD. He wanted a PhD anyway, but we were planning to wait a few years before him starting school again. I was going to get my Master's - going part time while the kids were in school. So in April John will again be a full time student, part time employee, attending the U of U for a degree in Sociology.

The same week we found out that John was accepted into the PhD program, I was asked to be the Young Women's president in our ward. In "Mormon lingo" this means that I am mentor and spiritual teacher to all the young women in our congregation, ages 12 to 18. With a couple of other helpers (counselors) I plan weekly activities, a camp over the summer, teach lessons every Sunday and teach the girls goal setting and pretty much anything else they need me to do. The girls in our ward (congregation) come from pretty rough home lives, so right now they are needing all the support they can get.

Now this is a volunteer position, and I could have said no. However, since I believe that our bishop was inspired by God to ask me it is pretty hard to say no. There are lots of legitimate reasons for turning down a calling, but I didn't feel that "I'm pregnant and sick" was one of them. So I said yes.

That same week John was called to be a counselor in the Bishopric. Again in the Mormon lingo: the Bishop is the leader of our local congregation and the counselors are his assigned helpers. They attend a lot of meetings to help with the running of the ward and conduct Sunday meetings and pretty much whatever else Bishop wants to assign them. It requires a lot of time and energy, but again, we felt that even though it would be a sacrifice, he could do it.

All of these are good things, but they left my head spinning for several weeks. Life has become crazy busy, but I think I'm getting used to it now.

So sorry if you've been feeling neglected, dear reader. You have been. But I'll keep trying.