Recharge
From Thursday morning through last night, so for four straight days, my life was filled with people. On Thursday and Friday, I attended a Resiliency Training Assistant course so I could become certified to teach resiliency to people here on the base. The training is part of USAFE's (United States Air Forces in Europe) Operation Grit which has the goal of developing courage and determination in military members and their families. This training course was for members of Jared's squadron and their spouses so it was me, two other spouses (who used to be active duty Air Force), and a room full of military cops. I definitely felt like the odd woman out, but I'm still glad I attended the course and that they opened the training up to spouses. I learned that there are as many interpretations of business casual as there are people. Mostly I learned that being resilient is more than just bouncing back after difficulties. I was not surprised to see that so many of the concepts are in line with the teachings of the gospel - be grateful, take the time to really get to know and care about others, develop mindfulness through some form of spirituality or mediation, work hard, be forgiving, have hope for the future, and remember that people are always more important than programs. It was worth the effort and I really appreciated that I had the chance to go and learn something new. Still, it was a lot of talking to people I don't know very well and so much small talk in the downtime between segments.
That afternoon was Abigail's first soccer game of the season! We were at the high school watching her game and then the varsity boys game (two wins for Lakenheath!) for four hours. Jared was on the field being an amazing referee while I was in the stand being an amazing soccer mom. So for me, those four hours were filled with more socializing and talking with the other soccer parents as we cheered for the Lancers.
Saturday we had a get together at our house for all the senior NCO's and officers in the squadron. So Saturday morning was spent preparing for the big party and trying to treat a migraine that I'm pretty sure was brought on by all the stress of the two previous days of social interactions. I was just feeling off and cranky all morning. We were running last minute errands on base and the girls were getting on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. Jared suggested dropping me at home so I could nap before our guests arrived while the kids took care of some things in the kitchen but I just wanted to be away from everybody, even the kids. Jared was the only person I was happy to be around at that point so he and I went to both grocery stores in our little town to buy all the bagged ice we could find for the cooler of drinks. I can't believe I chose shopping for ice over napping. Anyway, it's always good to get together with people from work and build those relationships outside of the office. I was able to meet a bunch of other spouses and family members from the squadron. We even had one couple bring their parents who were visiting from Germany! The party was fun and I think I did okay as far as being a friendly hostess goes. And that evening was blessedly people free!
We had enough food leftover from the BBQ the day before that we needed reinforcements to clear out our fridge a little bit. So we invited three families from church over for dinner. I think we may have had almost as many people over for dinner on Sunday as we did on Saturday. At least I knew all of these people pretty well so I was more comfortable with the company. Right after dinner with our friends, we had a combined choir practice with members from our ward and the Mildenhall ward in preparation for performing at Stake Conference. Since our house has a piano, an open floor plan by British standards, and is pretty centrally located, the practice was at our house. Our front hallway was a minefield of shoes and our dining room was filled with every chair, stool, and bench we own. I do like having people over to sing on Sundays because I love hearing the music in our home.
I love people, but spending too much time with people just wears me down. Or is it that not enough alone time wears me down? Either way, I was physically and emotionally exhausted when my head hit the pillow last night. I don't have to work on Mondays, hallelujah, so I was able to stay home basically all day. I did go to seminary this morning to be the second adult in the room and this afternoon I ran to the gas station to fill up the car and to the post office to pick up three packages (happy mail!)
The rest of my day was spent in our room, sitting on our bed, doing homework or napping. Samantha was home sick from school today and she was camped out in the living room, but even she would have provided more social interaction than I was capable of dealing with. Oh man, it was just what I needed. Any other introverts out there get where I'm coming from?
That afternoon was Abigail's first soccer game of the season! We were at the high school watching her game and then the varsity boys game (two wins for Lakenheath!) for four hours. Jared was on the field being an amazing referee while I was in the stand being an amazing soccer mom. So for me, those four hours were filled with more socializing and talking with the other soccer parents as we cheered for the Lancers.
Saturday we had a get together at our house for all the senior NCO's and officers in the squadron. So Saturday morning was spent preparing for the big party and trying to treat a migraine that I'm pretty sure was brought on by all the stress of the two previous days of social interactions. I was just feeling off and cranky all morning. We were running last minute errands on base and the girls were getting on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. Jared suggested dropping me at home so I could nap before our guests arrived while the kids took care of some things in the kitchen but I just wanted to be away from everybody, even the kids. Jared was the only person I was happy to be around at that point so he and I went to both grocery stores in our little town to buy all the bagged ice we could find for the cooler of drinks. I can't believe I chose shopping for ice over napping. Anyway, it's always good to get together with people from work and build those relationships outside of the office. I was able to meet a bunch of other spouses and family members from the squadron. We even had one couple bring their parents who were visiting from Germany! The party was fun and I think I did okay as far as being a friendly hostess goes. And that evening was blessedly people free!
We had enough food leftover from the BBQ the day before that we needed reinforcements to clear out our fridge a little bit. So we invited three families from church over for dinner. I think we may have had almost as many people over for dinner on Sunday as we did on Saturday. At least I knew all of these people pretty well so I was more comfortable with the company. Right after dinner with our friends, we had a combined choir practice with members from our ward and the Mildenhall ward in preparation for performing at Stake Conference. Since our house has a piano, an open floor plan by British standards, and is pretty centrally located, the practice was at our house. Our front hallway was a minefield of shoes and our dining room was filled with every chair, stool, and bench we own. I do like having people over to sing on Sundays because I love hearing the music in our home.
I love people, but spending too much time with people just wears me down. Or is it that not enough alone time wears me down? Either way, I was physically and emotionally exhausted when my head hit the pillow last night. I don't have to work on Mondays, hallelujah, so I was able to stay home basically all day. I did go to seminary this morning to be the second adult in the room and this afternoon I ran to the gas station to fill up the car and to the post office to pick up three packages (happy mail!)
The rest of my day was spent in our room, sitting on our bed, doing homework or napping. Samantha was home sick from school today and she was camped out in the living room, but even she would have provided more social interaction than I was capable of dealing with. Oh man, it was just what I needed. Any other introverts out there get where I'm coming from?
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