The Countdown

Our journey in the foreign service really started in May when PFF (my husband) got the invitation to A-100 in June.  For those not familiar with the new lingo, A-100 is the orientation that new foreign service generalists undergo at the beginning of their careers.  That was the first countdown.  We had about a month to sell the house, organize the movers and wrap up loose ends before he left.  We had some hits and some misses.  We got the house under agreement, packed up, sold and donated most of our stuff, and had lots and lots of loose ends left when PFF left for DC.

That started the next countdown.  I then had about two weeks to close on the house, finish finding a home for the rest of our stuff, tie up more loose ends, and start the round of good-byes.  All before moving to the DC area.  Again, hits and misses.

Once we were all in DC, the third countdown began - where would we go for our first post?  PFF submited his bid list in early July, and we had to wait until late July to find out.  We knew where we wanted to go, but would the FS agree?  Where did they see us living for two years?  Would we agree with their decision?  The Global Geraghtys are pretty laid back (at least I think so), but I do have my Type-A tendencies.  Well after our wait we found out - Oslo, Norway!  Yea, but now the fourth countdown...

PFF had one more week of A-100 and then 12 weeks of additional training before we would go to Oslo.  It seemed like such a long time.  And then A-100 friends started leaving for their posts, and the date seemed like it was both looming quickly and still so far away.  Until good friends left and I realized, yikes, we leave in exactly six weeks.