OK, I'm over DC

The trip has been fun and we found so many more things we wanted to do that wasn't on our original itinerary that we seriously considered extending our time in DC, but after dealing with crowds worse than Disney on New Year's Eve, 50 degree rainy weather and being nearly hit head-on by impatient drivers ignoring double yellow lines, I'm ready to go back to Florida, but I'm not quite ready to go home just yet. I'm thinking that we may sidetrack to Panama City Beach to celebrate New Year's. Margaritas on the beach in 70 degree weather is sounding much more enticing than staying here for more museums (and consequently more whining by the kids about boredom).

With that being said, I think I need to remember this experience to remind me why Russia (with its cold weather and crazy drivers) should never be a high bid for me as an FSO. Yes, I realize 50 degrees is "warm" to you crazy folk who live north if the Florida line, but at 50 degrees this Florida girl is ready to put on a parka. You can take the girl out of Florida, but you can't take Florida out of the girl.

I Could Learn to Love This Place

We made it to DC and because my internal alarm clock just won't accept that I'm on vacation, I write from a dark hotel room in Fairfax, VA with the cacophony of a snoring husband and slamming doors of the early bird family across the hall in the background.

We started the trip with a visit to Mount Vernon, which I really enjoyed. Before we left my family got together to do our annual gag gift exchange & one of the gifts was a Travelocity gnome that I stole from my brother and my brother's girlfriend stole again. But, since she is sweet & thought it would be funny, the gnome is now on loan to me for our trip. We haven't roamed alone in DC.

 

Yesterday we went to the Air & Space Museum then browsed a few rooms in the National Gallery and then headed to the Natural History museum. I was surprised to see the crowds at Natural History rival those of Disney on New Year's Eve! I thought this was supposed to be the off season up here. Oh well,  a good time was had by all and, God willing, we will have a chance to re-experience it as locals in the near future. Funny enough, I used the Parking Panda App to reserve a parking spot for the day for $2 (actually $12 but I used a $10 off discount code) and did not realize the spot was in the garage of the Holiday Inn Capitol where many OA candidates stay. Since Parking Panda only identified the garage as 500 C  Street, my garage choice was purely coincidental, since I based my reservation on price and proximity to Air & Space. As my hubby parked the car, I looked up and we landed directly across from several spaces marked reserved for DOS FSI. Maybe this was a sign of good things to come. :)

I did learn the value of good walking shoes up here, though, as my back and feet were screaming by dinnertime yesterday. After our outing on the National Mall we headed to a different mall in Tyson's corner to find me a new pair of shoes. I'm pretty sure my back & feet will thank me today as we conquer the National Zoo. We are enjoying our trip so much that we are considering extending our trip a few days.

DC Bound

Long before I decided to take the FSOT, we had a trip to Washington, D.C. planned for our Christmas vacation. It has been over 10 years since I've been up there and my husband & kids have never been there before. We are ALL counting down the days until we leave...10 more days. My husband is especially looking forward to the Air & Space museum. The kids are excited about the Natural History museum. And I'm anxious to scope out State Annex 44, where I intend to do my OA, should I be so lucky to receive an invite. I'm a visual person, so if I can see something it makes my dreams and goals seem more real. Oh and I'm also excited to see the National Zoo...I'm a total sucker for animals.

Of course, we are continuing the tradition of the road trip for our trek to DC this year. I'm skeptical that this year's trip will top last year's cross-country travels through Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, but I'm pretty sure we'll come home with more epic crazy stories than last year. I'm a little nervous about driving in DC, so I've finally convinced the family to give public transportation another shot, despite the painful recency of our July 4th 3-hour trolley ride through Gatlinburg. My daughter has been praying for snow on our trip and, since I value our safety and warmth over making snow angels (Floridians driving in snow doesn't bring thoughts of safety), I've been praying it doesn't.

Anywho, unless we take another unexpected diversion through 4 states, we'll be back in time for daughter and I to spend New Years Eve at Disney again (a place my husband refuses to consider stepping foot into during the summer and between Thanksgiving and January 10th). All in all, this is a trip that I'm really looking forward to and I'm hoping to return home with a greater sense of my dream being a reality. And hopefully a few short weeks after we return, I hope to be planning a return trip very soon. :)

5am Musings

I'm a sucker for Facebook quizzes...especially between the hours of 4am and 5am. If you haven't already figured it out, I'm a (very early) morning person. My typical day starts at 3am because my body for some reason can't seem to understand the concept of sleeping in... Oh how I miss the days of my youth when my mother told me that I was wasting my day when I slept past sunrise. The upside to this situation is that I now call my mom every morning at 6:30 on my way to the office and remind her that she's wasting her day away because my call sometimes catches her before her alarm goes off. The other perk is getting quiet time in the morning before the kids are up (and responsibility sets in) to check e-mail, surf Facebook, read the news, catch up on my DVR recordings, and do silly quizzes as they roll across my Facebook feed. This morning I took a quiz about my most dominant character trait. I was not surprised by the result and I think anyone who really knows me well would agree with it:

Your Most Dominant Character Trait is Ambition!

You are a true fighter who knows that getting anything done the right way absolutely needs motivation and drive. When you have a goal or set a plan for yourself, there is no stopping you. You are a strong-minded individual who can accomplish anything within a given period of time. You are very passionate when it comes to things you're excited about and this is what makes you so reliable and effective with anything you set out do.

 

 

In my opinion, this is probably the best character trait to have when you are pursuing a career in the Foreign Service. Most of my friends and family describe me as "determined"...isn't that just another way to say I have a lot of ambition? 

 

So, if you're a sucker for silly quizzes and want to play along, you can find the quiz here. You're welcome. :)

Tick Tock

The countdown to getting PNQ results from the QEP is still ticking. I honestly don't expect to hear anything until mid to late January at best. But, the wait is KILLING me. I've been occupying my time reading OA recaps on the FSOA Yahoo group in hopes of finding that one gem that would give me an edge should I be lucky enough to be invited to partake in the fun of the OA.

The Case Management exercise seems to be the bane of most OA participants'' existence. To be completely honest, assuming I get the OA invite, the SI (aka the Structured Interview) is my most feared portion of the day because of my inferior experience compared to what I imagine other candidates already have. This all goes back to my fear that I'm so under qualified for this dream. But what's the worse that could happen? I fail the OA and have to start all over again? I'm prepared for that. In fact, at this point, I don't even expect to make it through the PNQs, but as I did with the written portion of this testing/application process, I'm expecting the worst but hoping for the best...and while hoping for the best, I'm preparing for the OA... you know, just in case ;)

To keep me preoccupied while waiting for my results, I have made a binder full of study materials and have already started reviewing the SI materials so that I can start really digging deep into my "experience" and jot down stories that fit the 13-Ds. Although I tend to work much better under pressure, I am finding that being fully prepared ahead of time and not waiting until the last minute lowers my anxiety level and lets me put my best foot forward.