Getting the Call

I got the call this week.  The call that I had been waiting for and hoping for for just over a year now.  On Monday, I got an email from the State Department inviting me to join the 160th Junior Officer Class. 

And it's been quite a week since then.  On Tuesday, I reserved our place to live; on Wednesday I registered the kids at their new school; on Thursday I scheduled our packout date. And today I've been wading through masses of information.

It has been quite a long journey over the past year.  Lots and lots of waiting, nail-biting, studying, and preparing.  And now it's a whirlwind.  We have about a month to get our home ready to be packed, to say goodbye to friends and family and to move our entire family to Washington, DC.

This time last year K. and I were both busy looking for jobs.  We had been out of work since our restaurant-movie theater business of over 12 years closed due to the recession.  Big life changes give you an opportunity to really think about what you want.  I've always wanted to live overseas with my family and really get to know a country - or ideally several countries.  My favorite part of our business was the community building aspect.  As I looked for jobs and thought about what I wanted to do with my life now that I had to start over, I came across information about becoming a Foreign Service Officer.  The more I learned about it, the more excited I was.  K. agreed that we could give it a try.

So, I filled out the application and began the process.  There are many blogs that describe the process.  Suffice it to say that it's a long shot.  There are many tests and many hurdles to pass and at any step of the way you can not pass and have to start over.  I certainly wasn't holding my breath that this would all work out.  I kept looking for jobs while I did my best to prepare for the various hurdles.  My daughter was so excited that I felt it was important to remind her that very few people every make it all the way.  She said, "Mommy - you just gotta have faith!"  I love the optimism of kids - and her faith has been justified - we're about to start on our next great adventure.