Cooler weather is coming, I can feel it. We had a glimpse this past week with gorgeous daytime temps and barely any humidity. That's all changing this coming week, but the break was enough to encourage us to start home repair stuff again. Today we fixed the leaky outdoor faucet that grew icicles this past winter and created a bog in the surrounding grass this summer. No more waster water there. Ian replaced the dusk/dawn sensor eye for the outdoor lamppost in hopes that it's now going to function properly. It stopped working about 2 months after we moved in but we have lights by the front door and a motion sensor floodlight by the garage so it wasn't too terribly urgent. Still, short days are on their way and getting that lamppost working would be nice. Next on the list is power-washing the side of the house that has algae on it from the spring, and deck-washing the deck from the pollen stains, also from the spring. Indoors, there's the rest of the border to strip from the kitchen, a little paint to apply and then a crown moulding. That chore is a little overwhelming to consider since we're not exactly the handymen type. There are 3 more indoor faucets to change, one we bought months ago and it still sits in its box, but really the kitchen faucet has to be replaced, I can't stand it. And then finally, the kitchen cabinets. I want to paint them white, and I know the project is far bigger and will take far longer than I anticipate so I'm procrastinating like I have been the past year.

But first... the deck, the siding, and the faucets.

Entry Level Officers (ELOs) have directed assignments. They receive a list of job options (the Bid List), rank which ones they'd like to go to and which ones not so much, they submit the list to their own Career Development Officer (CDO), the CDOs spend a couple days fitting round pegs into square holes, and ELOs are notified of their assignment. Within their first 2 tours they have to get off language probation (every officer has to have a foreign language), and there are a few other considerations as well.

For Mid-Levels it works a little different. The list comes out and we choose a minimum of 6 posts, with no more than 3 in one Bureau (Bureaus are sections of the world... WHA: Western Hemisphere, NEA: Near East Asia, EUR: Europe, AF: Africa, SCA: South Central Asia, EAP: East Asia Pacific, and of course stateside jobs). Ian already shortened the list to a couple hundred Consular positions. Since he's out of his cone now in an HR position, he wants to get back into his own field. Once we know where we want, Ian goes about the task of lobbying... talking to posts and the assignments team, submitting references and resumes, all in an effort to not only choose a post but have the post choose him. This process gets easier with each bid cycle as more and more FS officers know your name and your work.

With Ian up for promotion this summer we're making two lists: an 03 list if he doesn't get his promotion and an 02 list if he does. It's best to cover all bases. Within our lists we have jobs with language requirement and jobs without. This is an important distinction. Ian rotates out of his current position next August. A job without a language means we move out next summer between July and September. Jobs with language mean staying until anytime between December 2011 and August 2012 and adding either a half- or full-year of school in the States for the kids.

We've cobbled together our lists and wait for other pieces to fall into place: medical clearances to come through, AIP (Afghanistan/Iraq/Pakistan) assignments to knock off posts, lobbying to posts we really want. Our list won't be officially submitted for a while yet, not until after the promotion board, and that's a good thing. New jobs pop up, old ones fall off, preferences change, lists get reorganized.

In the Foreign Service everything is in a constant state of flux and it's truly a test of patience. In this line of work every Post decision affects the Officer's life and the life of the family and cannot be taken lightly. We just try to make the best decisions we can.

Though we still haven't received an official copy of Katherine's scores, I did contact her previous school counselor and got the numbers from her.

History: 542
Math: 600
Reading: 516
Science: 565

If you wish you can refresh your memory on what the SOL is all about from my last post.

The birthday roll-over, that is. Between April and August all the kids are evenly spaced, this summer we were at 8/10/12/14. Come August 18th Jonathon begins the roll to the new numbers. He's 9!

It's been a while, long time no see. And to go over everything that's been happening the past 3 weeks would be long and hard. So, let's stick with the big stuff, and the good stuff. The beach.

Greetings from Great Wolf Lodge where we extended a day. We'll be home Saturday.

Our trip this summer is a short jaunt to Virginia Beach with an overnight at Great Wolf Lodge. It's not going to be the vacation I'd hoped for but it will be good anyway. My dad can't come, he's in school this week. Ian can't come, a new class means all sorts of stuff he has to do at work (and he took that other week off recently, but still). Katherine won't be with us, so it's just me, my mom, and Rebecca, Nicholas and Jonathon. We're taking 2 cars so we won't be traveling together, and it might end up that I cut my time at the beach short.

No, it's far from perfect, but it is what it is and we'll still have some fun. Bring on the sun and sand.