Life in August

Life is good....very good. I found out last month that not only am I going to have another grandchild in March, I'm going to have 2 more grandchildren in March! Twins are on the way! There's no history of twins so I guess my son has started something good. We're all so excited and now that makes 2 more reasons to fly to Kauai...to see my 2 new grandchildren when they arrive in early March!

My quest to join the Foreign Service is progressing. The ex-FBI agent has been conducting the background check on me, talking to all ex-employers and co-workers, friends, business references and neighbors. In the meantime, I've been undergoing a bunch of medical tests to make sure I'm a healthy candidate for the job. One more test tomorrow and I'm done and will (hopefully) have a clean bill of health! The deadline for the agent to submit his report is September 2. I guess I just sit tight and wait. Some more. It's just a long process to get a job with Uncle Sam, but well worth it.

Hopefully I'll be saying how good Life in September is soon.

Foreign Service...My Oral Assessment

After waiting many months, I finally came to Washington DC for my interview, affectionately known as the Oral Assessment. Along with the interview, I had to take a proof reading exam and write an essay on one of 14-15 topics. I love to write so writing on the topics was fun. All the topics were great but I picked one and began to put my words on the screen. I finished way ahead of the 45 minute time limit. Then I went to another floor, down a few halls and through a couple of doors and sat down at a computer for the proof reading test. I felt good about that part too. Then back to the first office where I met with 2 people. Many questions were asked and I felt I was giving the right answers. Well, right to me but were they right to the interviewers?? When it was all over, I returned to the waiting room to await their decision. After about 10 minutes, they called me back into the conference room and said..."Congratulations!! You passed the oral assessment and we are now extending a conditional offer of employment with the Foreign Service!" I was soooo relieved!!! The hardest part was over. All my worrying and wondering was over. They then briefed me on the process that would begin. The background security check would start Monday (7/23/07) and I would be contacted by someone in my area who would want to meet with me and ask "a thousand questions." This person would also, I understood, visit my neighborhood and previous employers as a routine part of the background check. No measly telephone calls for the US State Department! I will also have a complete physical and submit the results to the FS. At that point, once I'm deemed a good risk, I will be placed on a list of eliglble persons and from that list, they will pull people for different locations. I was told to NOT go home and sell my house or quit my job. This process could take 30 days or it could take 6 months. He told me that if I did not receive a formal offer of a job in 18 months, I would have to apply all over again. I was afraid to ask how often that happened. So, basically after waiting 8 months for the interview, I now get to wait some more. I can deal with that, knowing the tough part is behind me.

So, I'll just go about my life like nothing is going on. Everything is normal, day to day stuff. And one day, when I least expect it, I'll get that letter with the formal offer. Then life will change....I can't wait.

A Date in Washington DC

I finally got the notice I was waiting for. Finally. After making the application back in November, passing the test to be certified in Microsoft Word (it wasn't as easy as you might think) and then waiting, waiting, waiting....I finally have a date for an interview with the Board of Examiners on July 19th. I will finally know if I am going to be offered a position with the Foreign Service. It's in my hands now. There will be an hour long interview by 2 people, one examiner and one current Foreign Service person in the area I'm applying for. There will also be an essay question, one I choose from a list of several. They don't care what I write but how it is written. Knowing how much I enjoy writing, I feel certain I could write about anything. Let's hope the nerves don't kick in too badly. My daughter will be arriving in the Washington DC area around the 8th of July so I will be able to stay with her. She said she'd even drive me to my interview. How cool is that...daughters are so wonderful!

I am also leaving on June 18th for 9 days in Hawaii so that I can be with my son and his wife to celebrate my grandson's first birthday. And what a celebration that will be!! In Hawaii, the first birthday is very special and you have a Baby Luau. I can't wait to see them again. They were here in Fort Worth last December but now, Gavin is walking and babbling so it will be like seeing a totally different little boy. He's sooo cute! See?? What a little ham!! His uncle is a professional photographer so I'm sure I'll have an abundance of wonderful shots of him throughout his life.

Life is good...let's hope it's still good after July 19th. Hopefully, I'll return to Texas to report I've been offered a position with the State Department. If not, Plan B is to find a way to move to Kauai so Gavin can have a second wonderful grandmother around him as he grows up.

Tokyo, Japan 2007

I just returned from a 2 week vacation in Tokyo. Actually, the trip was to visit my daughter who lives there. She's been there for almost 2 years and in July will be moving to Washington DC, so it was now or never to get over and see her. I had a wonderful time! The subway system is a trip...as much as I wanted to, I didn't venture out and ride it by myself. The thought of getting lost in the Tokyo system brings up visions of blank looks from people when I say...I'm lost! The food was wonderful and no...I didn't have any sushi. No sushi for me!! Shibuya is one of the districts and there is a huge intersection that, when it's green for the pedestrians, it's mass people walking in every direction. You better be out of the intersection when the light changes! We saw beautiful temples and at one, were fortunate enough to see the ending of a traditional Japanese wedding party. They were slowly walking across the temple grounds, with the person holding the red umbrella over the bride and groom and the wedding party processional behind them. Very beautiful. We shopped a lot and one place we shopped was Asakusa, where there is a temple, surrounded by rows and rows of vendors. They sold everything...traditional Japanese items, souveneirs, sweets, leather goods, chocolate covered bananas on a stick (mine was yummy) and many other goodies. And no trip to Tokyo would be complete without a trip to DisneyTokyo. We chose to go to the DisneySea rather than the Disneyland. It was wonderful!

My daughter was worried that I wasn't seeing enough or going to enough places to really see Tokyo. I told her...90% of the reason I'm here is to see you, 10% is to see where you've lived and eaten and walked and shopped. That's the Tokyo I wanted to see and I did. Spending time with my daughter was just what I wanted to do...no matter what we did or where we went. I hope she understood that and realized that thanks to her, my trip was one I will always remember...one of those 'once in a lifetime' trips we always dream of. Thanks Ann...and I love you very much!

Sheryl Crow, Sit Down and Shut Up

Sheryl Crow, you've crossed the line. First of all, I think you're looney, have lost touch with reality and are sadly mistaken if you think you speak for the masses. I've tried to just ignore you and it's been fairly successful. Until today. As I sat here listening to Mark Davis on my local talk radio in Fort Worth, Texas, he related to me your newest grand ideas for greening up America. No one...I repeat NO ONE...is going to tell me to use one square of toilet paper to wipe myself in the bathroom. I know you were being generous when you went on to say that we could use 3 squares for, well, our more messy needs. Maybe you think that's a healthful and sanitary way to take care of business in the bathroom, but you're (sorry to be repetitive) just plain looney. Just who voted you spokesperson for the world??? I'm sick of the whole bunch of people in the entertainment field speaking as though they were experts in every field, putting down those who ARE experts and using their time in the spotlight to spew their personal feelings on any and everything. Yes, we can use the OFF button but there are so many people who, just because they love your music, will believe you actually know what you're talking about.

Another great idea Ms. Crow has come up with is a Dining Sleeve. She thinks that way too many napkins are being used to wipe our faces at the dining table. This Sleeve would be detatchable and washable. At the table, when you're chowing down on some very tasty BBQ ribs, you would just...wipe your mouth on your sleeve. And don't forget, you could probably wipe your nose on it too and be perfectly Green! No thanks again, Ms. Crow. I think I'll just take my cat, Brandy, with me and let her lick my face and fingers for me. I hope you aren't laying awake at night coming up with these rediculous ideas.

I hope that this most recent bit of advice you've so generously shared with us serves to let people know that you really are only a great entertainer and certainly not to be taken seriously in any other arena. I can't wait for your next album...I'm sure we will be graced with song titles like One Sheet Woman, Take A Chance and Hold My Hand and No More Fingertip Kisses For You.

December 31, 2006

Happy New Year! Oh Seven is just around the corner. I can hardly wait to hear all the gunfire from the idiots that live a couple of streets behind me. Maybe I'll get lucky and they will have moved!

Quite a bit has happened since my last entry here. First and most important, my new grandson, Gavin, is wonderful! My son and his wife and Gavin were here the first week of December and that's when we celebrated Christmas. My father was so proud to hold his first great grandchild. He held him for most of the 3 hours we were there the first night. I have to say this being a grandmother thing is terrific. I don't feel any older just because I have a grandchild. Holding him in my arms definately gives me a feeling of great love and pride. Love for my son and pride in what a great father he is. I just wish I lived near them...I'm in Texas and they live in Hawaii...on Kauai. Maybe I should be planning my retirement.

Last December, I left the healthcare field. I just hit a brick wall and experienced burnout. It didn't help that I didn't enjoy the work any more either. I tried my hand in the 'private sector' and found I just wasn't the Executive Administrative Assistant type. We parted in October. In the meantime, I made the decision to make a huge change in my life. (No...not a sex change!!!) I decided to apply for a position in the Foreign Service...a branch of the State Department. I'm waiting to hear from them now and the holidays have definately affected the speed with which they respond! This would mean selling my house, my car, most of my furniture and who knows what else. It would mean training in Washington DC and then an assignment somewhere in the world where there is an embassy. I'm ready for that kind of change and I'm not good at playing the waiting game. Now that the holidays are over, I expect an email...a snailmail...a phone call...ANYthing! Ack...I wish I had more patience...wish me luck!

That's all for now. It's going to be a quiet night at my house tonight. Who knows, maybe I'll be somewhere exotic next New Year's and I'll make up for this one!

It's Me, Yaya...

Yaya. Translated from Greek, it means "Grandmother." That's what I am now...a grandmother. My new grandson will call me Yaya once he starts talking and catching on to the 'everyone and everything has a name' game. I can't wait for the day when I hear him call to me for the first time. I worry, however, that it may take a while. If I'm living away from him, it will be up to my son and his wife to keep the image of Yaya alive for him. Texas is a long way from Kauai and I don't know how often I'll be able to visit. Moving here would be fantastic, if I could find a way to swing it.

So, until then, my first grandson will have to rely on his mommy and daddy to talk about me, how much I love him and that I can't wait to see him again.

Getting on the airplane in 9 days to return to Texas is going to be very hard.