The usual +1 means someone clicked on the plus for your post. That doesn't automatically give you one more rep in the forum, it takes a few clicks to do that. I think your rep stayed constant the whole time, though if you did see it rise and then fall, then something may be afoot. I'd say ignore it though, it will rise eventually and slowly.
We are a bunch of old farts, taking up most of the corner space on the bar, drinking our beers and laughing at our jokes. We do accept new people in our company, but it takes a bit of time, and we do tend to look down on impatient people. So ignore rep, and rep will rise.