So....Much....Stuff.....

Wow. I mean, wow, there's a lot of stuff in this apartment. Anyone who knows me knows I like to be prepared (never a Girl Scout, I think I've overcompensated as an adult), so my attempts to purge have been met with a great deal of resistance and stress. But I'm trying.

The last few weeks have been extremely busy; I was in Winchester, VA for training for two weeks (where I acquired EVEN MORE STUFF). But finally, training has come to an end!! And now, I'm on an official countdown to departure. Things are falling into place. Even if I may have a different housing assignment (still up in the air), I don't actually have tickets yet (end of the fiscal year/waiting to avoid the impending shutdown), my social sponsors have been dropping like flies (I haven't even met them yet!!)..... OK, maybe not exactly into place, but close enough for Government work (see what I did there??)

My departure is tentatively set for Oct. 29. But have no fear, somehow, that will get screwed up, too :)

Now I just need to purchase, sort and pack stuff for a house that I haven't seen, buy food and toiletries for a set amount of time, and ship out all the stuff ahead of time that I can (thank goodness I can send all my work stuff ahead!). I'm making arrangements to ship my car out ahead of time and trying to figure out when to get Hobbes in for his pre-flight checkup (yes, that's a thing). So if I'm a little stressed, that's why!

Until next time....  :)

I HAVE A HOME!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to get wrapped up in the details of things....I think that's part of what makes me a decent investigator! I like to know every little thing as soon as I possibly can. Unfortunately, now that I work for the Big Government, I've had to relinquish a lot of that control and "semper gumby" as I was taught early on. But this transfer, this PCS (or Permanent Change of Station), this whole moving across an ocean, while routine and normal for many people, is new to me. And whoa, scary!!!

But, in theory, it's easy. Right? Someone tells the post I'm going to (Pristina, Kosovo), that I'm coming. At some point in time, the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) reaches out to me and sends me a warm, welcoming email telling me everything I need to know about my new city and country. They assign a social sponsor, someone who will help me get things set up ahead of my arrival so my transition will be as smooth as possible. Luckily, I met my boss during language training, so I've been in contact with him pretty regularly. And at some point, a set group of people called the Housing Board meets to decide which Embassy-leased or -owned residence I will occupy for my 2 year stay. They make the decision based on a few factors; what position in the embassy I will fill (some positions have a lot of social responsibilities and do a lot of entertaining), how big my family is, what pay grade I am, and if there are any requirements as to how close to the embassy I need to be. All the residences in Pristina are furnished, so my big furniture will go into storage, but I can bring whatever I like, whatever will fit into the space.

So here I am, less than two months before I leave, and I haven't heard anything from ANYONE listed above. Except my boss. For anyone else in the Foreign Service, this is par for the course. No big deal. This is just how it works. For Katie, this means I will be living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. And I'll try to bring a second one, because Hobbes likes to take up as much space as possible in boxes. Oh yeah, he's totally coming with me. So when I got my housing assignment this week, I got REALLY excited!!! It even came with pictures!!! So I've been planning things in my head all week.

I will be living in the bottom half of a house; a 2 bedroom apartment, essentially. It's a short walk to the Embassy and I think I'll be pretty much surrounded by other employees. The place looks really cute, and my living space is listed as bigger even than the house I owned in Caroline! The name of the house is Orange because the exterior is, well, orange. Luckily, the interior is not. It is filled with FS-typical Drexel Heritage furniture (a long-fought battle by Foreign Service members due to its outdated and somewhat ugly style, and truthfully, if it's all I ever lived it, I'd hate it too), but for 2 years, I can't really complain. I will be bringing plenty of my own decorations to add my personal touches, for sure!

As I get closer to departure, I will add my address here so you guys acn send me pounds of peanut butter, because I fear that's going to be my ultimate weakness.

How Time Flies

I never was very good at keeping a diary....

Here I am, another 2 years later, preparing for another move, and deciding, again, to try this blog thing. This time, though, I think I may have more interesting things to write about.

Herein starts my first "real" move. Overseas. To Kosovo. Pristina, to be precise.  The reactions I get vary:

"That's AWESOME!!!"
"Cool!! Where exactly is that?"
"Oooh, you got a good post!!"
"Is that in Africa?"
"Why?"

You can tell who the other Foreign Service people are from the reactions :)   Kosovo is a small land-locked country in East Europe. It also has the distinction of being Europe's newest country, declaring it's independence from Serbia in 2008 (on my birthday, no less!)  It's still an area of dispute, as not many UN member states recognize it, but the relations with the US are extremely good. So I think it will be a great first tour! Plus, geographically, it really can't be beat! Although it's a small country, Kosovo is within a stone's throw to Albania, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Macedonia.... I can't wait to start exploring!

I spent a few months learning Albanian, the prevailing language in Kosovo, and now I have some work-specific training that I will finish the first week of October. Then, a few days of wrapping things up, a quick vacation with Mom, and off I go! Luckily, I will have a furry travel companion with me, so the trip will be anything but boring.

I promise I will try to keep this up during my adventures; this format is easier than Facebook or Instagram, and allows me to babble a bit more. In the meantime, if anyone wants to help me sort, purge and pack, let me know!

Take 2

OK, so much for keeping track of my thoughts. Clearly one thing I lack is long-term discipline. This is why my stints of hitting the gym only last but so long!

So here I am, still in the NYC. My cats are still insane and medically challenged. But I have had some incredible adventures. Last Spring, I spent 75 days touring the US and world with H Rod (or "Hill" as one friend calls her). I got to see some really cool things such as the Great Wall, churches older than you can fathom, and the Midnight Sun above the Arctic Circle, and ate some fantastic food (Chicago pizza, which I'll take any day over NY's, and I developed a taste for reindeer steak).

The one thing I left that temporary tour thinking though, was how easy it is to judge someone when you know virtually nothing about them. And if we all took a minute to walk in someone shoes before we became our typical catty girls (myself included), the world might be a nicer place. When I took my job two years ago, I wasn't particularly impressed with Hillary. I am not a big politics person, but I just thought she wasn't very nice. But after seeing what I've seen for the last few years, I am a convert. I am such a big fan now. She has to be one of the hardest working people in the world. And I'm impressed with her political prowess; she's a politician without acting like a slimy vote-chasing sleaze. I've seen her in all sorts of situations, work and personal, and I really like what she stands for. Personal integrity. Hard work. Fighting for what's right.

I just hope I can remember all these things as I move forward in this crazy career and life.

It's so much easier being a catty girl sometimes! (I'm watching American Idol right now, and Nicki Minaj drives me bonkers!!)

Why, Hello There!

So, I've decided to start blogging. "What is blogging, exactly?" I thought. I have no idea. "What could I write about?" Again, a big nada. "Who would read it?" Probably no one. And that's ok with me. When I was younger, I found writing to be therapeutic. I could put words on a page, sort out my thoughts, or ramble senselessly. And it didn't really matter to anyone else; it just made me feel better. I'm in a strange place in my life, and I could use an outlet for my thoughts. And let's face it: therapy is way too expensive. 


So I think this is where I'm supposed to explain myself a little bit. About a year and a half ago, I decided that my simple, boring life wasn't going anywhere fast. And I was ready for a change. So I started putting my resume out there, and looking for a new job. I wanted to stay in my previous line of work, but at a different level. That's hard to do sometimes, without ending up being relocated. So I found a job where I knew a few people, and they all praised the job, said how much fun I would have and how good I would be, and the best part of it was, I could stay where I was! The application process was long and tiring, and about a year later, I was offered a job! I was so excited! It seemed like things may finally turn my way!


You know that saying, If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is? The long and short of it is, I really enjoy the job. Like, the actual work, the people, the atmosphere. But, I am working for the Government, and as it turns out, they do with you what they want. Not what you want. So even though I had some really compelling reasons to stay in the DC area, I got the surprise of my life when I was told I'd be going to the New York area for the first two year tour. Oh by the way, did I mention that every two years I get to change positions? And locations? And possibly countries? Yeah, that's right. The girl with next to no travel experience is supposed to live overseas at some point in this journey. Let's just say, perhaps I didn't do my research as thoroughly as I thought I had. 


So I left my family, my friends, and the first guy I've truly cared about in a long time, and headed to New York. It was not easy. Heck, it still isn't easy. I try to be the glass-is-half-full kinda girl all the time. But that's exhausting. So my goal here is to be as honest as possible. With you. With myself. So here goes....


This is my story.