Limbo

The hardest part about moving is the waiting period. 

It starts once you submit your bid list, then you wait ... until you're paneled by DS.  You wait to be HR paneled.  You wait to hear from post; for a housing assignment, a social sponsor, employment opportunities and information about schools.

You wait for your Travel Orders, your airline tickets, your seat assignments.  For your Travel Tech to coordinate your pack-out, the movers to pack up your house and ship your belongings.

You put your house on the market and you wait for it to sell.  You wait for the inspection to be complete, for the radon mitigation system to be installed, for the buyers to agree to a mutually beneficial closing date.

You wait to finish language school, for your two sets of passports to be completed, for the information in the USG computer system to be updated.

You wait for your girls to finish school, for sleep-away camp to begin, for sleep-away camp to end, for the minutes to pass by as you sit by yourself in your tiny hotel room, while your husband has already been at your new post, in your new home for three weeks. 

On November 9, 2012 we learned we'd be moving to San Salvador for our next three year assignment.  One year and 9 months ago to the date ... and I am STILL in limbo of our next adventure.

The waiting period has never been this long.  After completing his unaccompanied tour in Afghanistan, home leave, seven months of language training and time-filling bridge assignments, we've had 21 months where our future has been (so-to-speak) on hold.  I'm anxious.  I'm irritable.  I'm lonely.

It isn't the same as when Matt returned to Herat after his three-week R&R.  But rather, it's the out-of-body experience of watching my life being lived as I'm in 'no-mans-land' waiting.

My Foreign Service and Expat friends understand. We all know what the transition period is like.  From when a person finds out where they're moving until they clean out their fridge and give you the frozen Butterball Turkey they've been hoarding, because they KNEW you couldn't find one and you needed it for next Thanksgiving.  How the summer cycle moves are never really goodbye, but rather, "until we meet again," as you're sure to do ... like when you visited your friends in Budapest, in Barbados, in Kuwait, in Dubai.  Or when your family and friends visited you in Oman, in Israel, and of course, in India. 

Here in Virginia.  In Ashburn.  It's been a different experience.  The bevy of questions about our move starting in February.  The calls, texts, Facebook comments and invitations slowly dwindling by June as the friends pull away and invest their time in someone local.  The Wisteria Lane neighbors caring more about how much our house sold for rather than offering any help. 

While the girls are off at camp, making friends and building memories, in this studio 'home-tel' room I wait.  Rather impatiently.  For 11 more days.  As I dream of our impending future.  The short plane ride.  Clearing customs.  The drive to our new home and new life.

Though I enjoy Chubby Checker's Limbo Rock, I look forward to the next song coming on the radio, for I'm just about as low as I can go.  

And Then There Were TWO ...

We coordinated her bunk requests and our arrival to camp with Sheridan's BFF.  After checking in, unpacking her bags, and snapping a bunch of photos, she bid me a quick farewell.  With nary a kiss goodbye. 

I think know she's going to thrive these next two weeks.  I only wish I could be the fly on the wall to watch her soar.   

 Rachel, Annie and Sheridan.  Three musketeers from the last two years at Camp Louise!

Two weeks left for everyone.  For Sheridan and Riley at camp.  For Grady and I at the hotel.  Two weeks.  So close, yet still so very far away ...

And Then There Were Three ...

This girl.  She amazes me.  

Two years ago she went away to an all-girls, Jewish sleep away camp for three weeks, bunking with two girls from school.  She came home beaming from ear to ear, begging to go back the next summer.

Last year she went to her all-girls, Jewish sleep away camp for three weeks, knowing a few girls from camp, but no one in her bunk.   She came home beaming from ear to ear, begging to go back the next summer.

This summer?  She left for four weeks, not knowing anyone at camp, as all of her friends are going for the three week session at the end of July.  She said she'd be fine as she'd have no problem making new friends and building new memories.

There is just something so cool about sending your daughter away to sleep away camp and allowing her to spread her wings. Why yes, four weeks is a wicked long time. But when I check the camp website every morning, (religiously at 9:30 am ...) see all the amazing activities they're doing and then find the photos of her smiling and hugging new friends, I get verklempt. 

Fly baby fly.  And don't forget to write your momma!!

Slowly But Surely, Everything Is Heading South And Falling Into Place!

First our belongings were sent.

Then our car left town.

 

Last Wednesday morning, at O'dark thirty, Matt got on a plane and left for El Salvador a month ahead of us.  We miss him already.  

And thank goodness I had the foresight when I bought Matt's Jeep to register it in my name.  Who knew I'd be stuck selling it on my own a year later (um ... aside from me).  This ad on our Foreign Service Facebook Group and Craigslist seemed to do the trick.  Car sold in less than 6 hours!

2013 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited

Moving to or in the surrounding DC area and want a wicked fun car to drive this summer and beyond? Our move to San Salvador next month is YOUR gain. This excellent condition, black, 4-door Jeep has 14,600 miles and was purchased just 13 months ago as a gift for my husband's completion of a 2nd Unaccompanied Tour. The Jeep was driven to/from FSI for language training and a bridge assignment in Rosslyn, and since my husband passed his class after listening to Spanish Podcasts on the drive, this Jeep comes with extra Mojo!

The hard top comes off in 3 pieces ... two of them over the drivers seats as an "extended sunroof", which takes less then 3 minutes to undo (with or without your spouse). The rest of the top comes off with a little help from a friend or two and can easily be stored in a garage (when it's not raining outside and you can actually enjoy the weather). Though I digress ... I should also mention that it seats 3 kids (with at least 1 in a car seat) perfectly in the back row, and the rear view mirror easily tilts so you can see your kids when you're disciplining them through clenched teeth.

Kelly Blue Book values this Jeep anywhere between $33K - $33,900K, but can be yours for the no haggle price of $32K.  Email Jill at mjperlman@me.com if you're interested. Serious buyers only please as I'm hotel bound with 3 kids while my husband has already departed to post. Lucky SOB.

Jill

NY, Muscat, Tel Aviv, Chennai, Baghdad (ISMA in CA), DC, Herat (ISMA in DC), FSI, San Salvador (in 4ish weeks - though not soon enough).

Let the countdown begin!

The Sexy Side Of Hotel Living

Too much cr*p crammed into a small room.

Breakfast is provided every morning and dinner, which includes 2 FREE cocktails, is provided Monday - Thursday evening.  #Imayneverwanttoleave

We go to breakfast in our robes and PJs everyday.  We know every family staying here with pets!

We even eat ice cream in bed and watch cr*p TV at night.  #shhhh #don'ttelldad #bestmomever

We swim in the hotel pool ... sometimes twice a day. 

 

It's always fun taking your son into the girls bathroom where he notoriously belts out a LOUD question or three.  Today's were, "Hey mom, what is a tampon for?"  Followed up with, "I can't reach the paper towels, but I see a napkin here.  Hey mom, do you have money for a napkin?"

Gotta love a 5 year old who is excited to have his own bed.  Thankfully he doesn't care that it's just a couch in the sitting area in between the two bedrooms ... and he can sleep through all the commotion of us out and about.

Got passports?  We sure do ... and in 3 weeks I know we'll be ready to use them!

Going ... Going ... GONE!

On January 15, 2011, we signed on the dotted line and became Virginia State homeowners.  On June 13, 2014, we signed on the dotted line and became homeless vagabonds once again.

So many emotions.  So bittersweet.  So much to say, that is better left unsaid.

Many people have asked how we could sell the house that we custom built ... adding on a beautiful deck, putting in a sprinkler system, picking out a kitchen backsplash, and deciding the perfect colors for each of the rooms.  Honestly?  It was easy, as we've never been tied to a physical structure but rather appreciate the memories we made.  Sure, it was exciting to let the kids pick out their furniture, choose their own bedding, decide what they want to hang on their walls.  But that's superficial.  They've moved around enough to know that wherever we are as a family, wherever we can hang our Mezuzah on the front door, will be our address.  Our "home" will always be where the five of us reside and start a new set of adventures.

The timing was perfect for us to sell and to move on.  We acknowledge Virginia for what it was to us ... the right house .... at the right time ... in the right community. 

But like everything in the Foreign Service, you know when it's time to move on.  And ... It. Was. Time.

My Heart Is Full

After three wonderful years, on June 13th we said goodbye to our amazing elementary school.  Creighton's Corner El has been our home away from home, where Grady could run free, where Matt volunteered, where I was a substitute teacher, and where "everybody knew our name."  One should be so lucky to attend a school where the teachers and more importantly, the administrators, truly care about you and your family. 

We attended Riley's 5th grade promotion ceremony on her last day of school, though unlike Grady's preschool class, it wasn't filled with pomp and circumstance, instead it was far more sentimental. 

They had videos of the kids, diplomas to hand out, and of course, a few special awards.  Riley received one of them ... The President's Award for Educational Excellence.  

We. Are. Proud!

On top of Riley's excellent achievement, I also received a wonderful note and gift (wrapped in my favorite Little Blue Box) from the principal at our school.  While I had a tumultuous year as the PTA President, it warms my heart to know that my dedication to the school did not go unnoticed.  The school's mascot was a Colt, thus the sterling silver horseshoe that he gave me was truly a heartfelt gift. 

Though we've said goodbye for the last time to Creighton's Corner Elementary School, I know our family's legacy will live on.

Moving Sucks ...

Don't get me wrong, the anticipation of every move is exciting and the purging is cathartic.  I should know ... after nine Foreign Service moves, I've become a self-appointed expert.  But holy shmoly ... the organizing, separating, donating, selling, labeling, packing, and months of preparation before the big days really takes its toll on ones sanity.

This pack out, spanning 3 full days from June 9th - 11th, was no different. 

Over the winter holidays we went through every box in the basement, in every closet and every drawer in every room in the house.  We labeled.  We sold.  We donated.  We trashed.

We used our biggest luxury, time and knowledge, to our advantage.  We knew how things would fare (or not) after being in storage for long periods of time.  Since we aren't sure where we'll be heading after San Salvador, and after communicating with our sponsors, we decided to bring more of our personal items to San Salvador than we have brought to previous posts.

Preparing for this overseas move was my full-time job, on top of my almost-full-time subbing job at the elementary school.  It was time consuming, overwhelming, and caused many sleepless nights.  Thus my stress began.  AND continued.  Until the moving company called me with the total weight of our shipments.

For those of you who have followed along from previous pack outs, you'll remember that the State Department allows us 18,000 pounds of storage or shipments broken down in three ways.  It includes 7200 pounds of Household Effects (HHE - calculated as net weight ) to travel via sea to post, 800 pounds of Unaccompanied Air Baggage (UAB - calculated as gross weight) to be sent via air, and the remaining balance of 10,000 pounds to go to storage.  Anything we ship that is above and beyond this allotted weight limit costs us $5 per pound!

As a refresher, we left India with 695 lbs of UAB and 6231 HHE.  We left Israel with 7 crates going to India, 1 crate going to Storage, and a total of 7028 pounds shipped. 

But this pack out?  THE PINNACLE of our nine moves ...  Our UAB came in at EXACTLY 800 pounds.  Our HHE came in at 7194 pounds.  For a total weight of 7994 (out of the allotted 8000) pounds shipped to San Salvador.

I.  Am.  Good.

I'm just pissed about wasting those extra 6 pounds ... though I now have a goal for my next pack out in 2017.    

Now You See Them ...

... Now you don't!

Her entire treatment lasted from 9/6/2011 - 6/4/2014.  My what a difference those few years made!