Some Things Never Change

That's me and Krista four-wheeling in Giza in 2012.
Total rockstars.

WARNING.  This entry is long with a gazillion photos.

Ok. Read on!

So there's nothing like a last-minute three-week TDY that the fab hubby has to take to Tel Aviv to remind you that it really does take a village.  Last minute as in five days notice.  We weren't shocked when it happened; he's TDY'd before, but it's always such a hustle for us when it really happens.

What do we do with the kids?  That's always THE big question.  I work full time at NIH, odd hours (afternoons) and am frequently not home between 5pm and 11pm.  Our daycare closes at 6pm (the fab hubby picks him up).  Plus, I had a five day solo mini-vacay planned (AND FULLY PAID...NONREFUNDABLE) during the surprise TDY in which I was headed to SoCal to see one of my Cairo besties.  WAAAHHHH!!!

So I put the calls out to our posse:  grandparents, friends, co-workers.  And within an hour of receiving the fab hubby's "hey, I gotta TDY" call, we had it completely worked out.  COMPLETELY.

We would drive the kids to Ohio to the grandparents' house where they'd stay for most of the three weeks.  I would work my scheduled hours, get my trip to California (!!!), spend one of the weekends in Ohio with the kids (thanks to a co-worker who took two of my weekend shifts!), drive back to Virginia for the week for work, and then the fab hubby would return, drive to Ohio to get the kids,  drive back to Virginia, and we'd all live happily ever after.

Whew.

Crazy.

I know.

We've done the crazy more times that I'd like to admit.  Stressful, yeah.  But doable.  And like always, we'd make this doable as well.  Kids get an awesome summer in Ohio with grandparents.  I'd get my trip to SoCal and my job would essentially be unaffected.  Fab hubby would do the TDY.

The only snafu would be if the TDY was extended.

Which, of course, it was. For nearly one week.  WAAAAHHHH!!  But after a few texts, our rockstar neighbors (friends from Cairo, you know!) were able to arrange it so that I'd have help during the evenings I worked until he was back.  Whew.

Feel the burn?  I unfortunately did.

Unknowingly feeding the ulcer in California.

During this craziness, I found myself sitting in an ER one evening, having left work with chest pain.  Since I'd recently flown and taken two long car rides back and forth from Ohio,  I was concerned the pain might be a possible blood clot in my lungs (pulmonary embolism).  I didn't even want to contemplate the possibility of a cardiac issue; because you know, nurses aren't always good at identifying personal health issues.  I begrudgingly knew I had to get it checked out.  Four hours, lots of blood work, an EKG, and a X-ray later, I walked away with clean cardiac bill of health.

But my diagnosis?  Gastritis.  Probably an ulcer.  Feel the burn indeed.

I've had low-level heartburn off and on for years.  And truthfully, it typically rears its ugly head most often when I'm stressed.  Thinking back, I can remember the worst of it when I was pregnant, when the fab hubby was in Baghdad, during a particularly dicey time in Cairo, and during the end of my solo stint in California, when the kids had to evacuate from Cairo.  Add the crazy amounts of NSAIDS I take for my arthritis (ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin) and stir in the crazy amounts of coffee I drink?  It's a wonder I have a stomach lining at all.  But I've only ever once had to see a doctor about it (that was when the fab hubby was in Baghdad).

This time, it was just different - a constant heaviness with lots of pressure.  The burning sensation would come and go, but the pain was non-stop.  Pain meds, eating, Tums.  Nothing helped.  The ER visit was honestly a bit embarrassing for me.  I'm not one to go to the ER, and frankly I remember patients like me when I worked there.  But at least I now know what's going on.  The ER doc put me on something specific for GERD/ulcers and I'm following up with a gastroenterologist.  No NSAIDS (or at least a lot fewer -- bad for my arthritis, good for my stomach!), but thankfully the ER doc did say he WASN'T concerned about my coffee binging habit.  Score.

But stress?  Well, some things just never change.  I can't help the craziness of our lifestyle (And yeah, I know.  We picked this!  So I'm not complaining!  Just stating the obvious.).  And I like to think that I have a pretty good handle on stress, but sometimes my body just says otherwise.  In any case, the fab hubby comes home tomorrow afternoon (!!!!), and we're all stoked.  Pretty much half of our summer was burned away by this TDY (Again, no complaints.  Just stating the obvious.).  And we're looking forward to {hopefully} having a little family time.  Labor Day weekend is my scheduled holiday to work, but the kids are so excited to get the weekend with their dad.  And school is starting up next week, so it will definitely be nice to get back to the "normal."

The magnificent Double Double.
Best burger on the planet.

And what about my mini vacay?!  IT WAS AWESOME.  Remember my friend from Cairo who PCS'd to SoCal last year and then took in my two oldest for nearly three weeks when they evacuated from Cairo?  Yeah.  THAT AWESOME FRIEND.  Well, despite our kids having been able to catch up twice in the last year (summer 2013 surf camp! and spring break 2014), Krista and I had not been able to do so since I left Cairo in February 2013.  Sure we did the "see ya" high five (also know as having a quick Double Double at In and Out Burger) when I picked up the kids at her home last summer before I drove cross-country to the East Coast.  But other than texting and phone calls, we had not had the chance to REALLY catch up.

{{Sob.}}  I missed my friend.  So when some lucky scheduling at work gave me five days off in a row, the fab hubby told me I should fly out to California to see her!  (As always, he's truly fabulous.  He knew how much I had missed her since leaving Cairo.)

Now, I know this lifestyle of "hello! goodbye! hello! goodbye!" can make me worry that maybe things won't be the same when we catch up with our friends.  I'm sure there are plenty of other FS peeps out there who feel the same.  We just don't talk about it.

Yeah, I honestly was a little worried.  BUT I WAS WRONG!!  So wrong.  It was like nothing had changed.  {{Sob.}} So relieved!

Absolutely nothing had changed! We talked.  And talked.  And laughed.  And talked some more.  Four whole days and we could have done more.  The beach.  Old Town San Diego.  We still have so much in common, even though we're not in Cairo anymore.  Some things, the greatest things!  They never change.

The California trip was a much-needed break.  I returned home happy.  Although with the kids and the fab hubby gone during this time (kids in Ohio with the fab grandparents; fab hubby in Tel Aviv), the house felt way too big and way too empty.  Work was great and I got in some good trail runs, but it was just so lonely at home.  The fab hubby and I?  We've done some serious time apart.  His training in 2008 was nine months away from us.  In 2010 he did three additional months of training before leaving for Baghdad for a year.  And in 2013, I departed post six months ahead of my family.  Plus, don't forget the two month TDY he did in 2013, just as we were reunited!  But we're good together, even when we've had a lot of time apart.  It's just one of those things that never changes.  And so when a "short" TDY comes up, I usually don't think much of it.  Four weeks?  Bah.  We could do that standing on our head.

But I guess I should also be the first to admit that some TDY's are just harder than others, even if the time apart is less.  And this was definitely one of them.  Maybe it's because the kids were also gone - and it smarts too close to my six solo months in California.  Or maybe it's just that the timing - it was super last minute and maybe I wasn't mentally prepared for summer to come to a halt so quickly. I dunno.  But it's been tough.

Thankfully, I've got my village!  Lots of friends checked in on me, and I did countless coffee dates and lunches.  I really couldn't be more lucky!

Plus, another friend from Cairo --- she and her family just PCS'd to DC!  I haven't seen them in over two years.  And my high school BFF?!  She had some free time and drove in for a couple of days to hang with me.  And in both cases?!  Yup.  I was worried.  I fretted.  I hadn't seen either of these two friends in a long, long time.  What if things just weren't the same between us?

Seems like I ought to learn.  Some things, they never change, no matter what.  Some friendships, they withstand the tests of time, the tests of growing older, the tests of moving and not seeing each other for long stretches of time.

And we just pick up right where we left off.

I've know Rose for nearly 30 years.  30 YEARS!
We met in 5th grade.  Our friendship is still going strong.

Because you can never have too many sippy faces.

Hanging at the pool with my friend Mel and her adorable daughter.
Lazing in the pool?  One of those things we did in Cairo!
I love that some things never change.

Some more crazy, beautiful moments of summer:

I know said one and done last summer. But I lied.
Krista took me to get some ink done that I'd been contemplating for awhile now.
Don't let this calm face fool you.  I was only looking good for the camera.
This one HURT.

M gorgeous family tree.
Inside of my left wrist/forearm.
Love.

Loving us some Starbucks.

Old Town San Diego.  Fresh, handmade tortilla.
Perfection.

Carnitas and friendship.  Doesn't get better than this.

Arranged marriages are no bueno.

Blended horchata.
BLENDED HORCHATA!
(It's a traditional Mexican drink that I used to have all the time
when we lived in Los Angeles.  The blended is something I've
never had before.  Total awesomeness.)

San Diego, overlooking Coronado Island.
I love it here.

Yes, this.  Wanderlust.
The fab hubby brought me to San Diego in 2004, long before he
joined the Foreign Service.  But I remember it as being the place
that planted the seeds of travel/new careers in our minds.  I loved it there
so much and because of it, I wanted to see more and do more.
But I've always wanted to go back.  There's no place like it.

Treating Krista's people to some fine cupcakes in San Diego.
My kids miss these kids so much.

Because goodbyes are always easier when burgers are involved.

Had a chance to catch up with my friend Shannon in
Long Beach.  At my favorite cupcake place in the whole world!
We've known each other since 2009 -- we worked in the same
ER together.  She's amazing!

The extra weekend I was in Ohio?  I took the kids to a petting zoo that the fab
hubby and I used to take them to all the time when we lived there.
Such a great trip down memory lane.

Owen and the most adorable baby camel.

Abby finally getting up the courage to feed a giraffe.

Kellen always had the courage to feed the giraffe.

Really cool play structure at the petting zoo.  Pirate ship!

Adorbs.

Goat on the right.  Goat on the left?

He got the light-up monkey sword and not the giant stuffed giraffe.
I may have chosen poorly.

Owen eating crickets.

Gross.  Really. Crickets!

One of my many, many trips (three of them!)
back and forth to Ohio in August.
Thankfully, there's multiple Starbucks on
the Pennsylvania Turnpike!

Geeze It's Been a Couple of Months of SUCCESSES! Spring Break, TDY's, a New Job, and Running!

Because after a hard afternoon of tromping through a museum,
everyone deserves ice cream on the national mall!

This poor blog has been left alone and abused!  How can two more *expletive* months have gone by without a single entry!?

But honestly, it's been a successful, and of course busy!, couple of months.

Spring Break success!  The kiddos' friends arrived from California  (we'd know them in Egypt!) and hung out with us for a week.  Hard to believe that this was my last update.  We were so excited that Spring was finally here!  And now it's summer already?!  ALL FIVE KIDS (that's our three and the two who flew out to us!) had a blast.

I was still in the middle of a RN contract assignment and had somehow been scheduled 48 hours that week, so the fab hubby took off some time to hang out with the kids and keep them out of trouble.  He took them bowling and to the movies and also to Great Falls!  If you live in the DC area, you must go there.  It's absolutely fantastic!

All five kids at Great Fall.  The fab hubby was super fabulous
and took the kids to great places like this!

Gorgeous.

After some schedule finagling, I managed to pull a fab mommy moment and take all the kids to the Smithsonian National Natural History Museum.  The dinosaur exhibit was about to be closed for FIVE LONG YEARS, so we had to get in and see it!  Unfortunately, it was the last day of spring break and it was PACKED.  I'd never seen so many people crammed into a museum at once.  But we'd navigated crowds in Egypt, so we knew how to handle ourselves.  The only scary moment was when The Toddler decided he could navigate faster by crouching below knee level and crawling between legs.  That kid completely owns me.  I bellowed  out "KELLEN" so loud that the crowd of people surrounding us hushed and parted so that I was able to scoop up my wandering toddler.  Thankfully, I hadn't resorted to tears.  And yeah, I'm that kind of mom sometimes.

Orange Line, baby!  Riding the metro.

Quite possibly the greatest metro rider. Ever.

Chaos in the museum!  (Abby took this photo!)

Tourist time!

I had a hard time getting the boys to not do something crazy whenever I
took their pic.  This is the best way to get them - when they're not looking!

How can I not forgive him for running off in the museum?  Such a sweetie.

Anyway, just as we sent our visitors back on a plane to California, and things were getting back to 'normal', the fab hubby headed out into the world on a 2-week TDY.  Thankfully, my mom flew in from Ohio to help out with the munchkins.  The kids were happy to see her and I took her to see some of my fav NoVA spots.  You know.  Starbucks.  Old Town Alexandria.  More Starbucks.

Teaching my mom the fine art of the sippy face.

Old Town Alexandria.  One of my favorite places.

Because when you help out with your crazy grandchildren for nearly
two weeks, you totally deserve a beer at lunch at least once!

And then, in all this craziness, my contract at NIH concluded.  I'd been a travel/contract RN since arriving in NoVA, but I was starting to feel like a vagabond.  As much as I loved contract nursing, I was kinda tired of moving from job to job every few months.  And I really, REALLY love working Pediatrics at NIH.  So, I took the plunge.  And accepted a full-time position at NIH.  I honestly couldn't be happier.  This is a great direction for my career, and I'm up for the challenge.

And speaking of challenges.  I'm officially in Marathon training mode.  It's about four months until the Marine Corps Marathon and I'm convinced I can do it in under 5 hours. I ran The Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco in 5 hours 38 minutes.  Honestly, I WAS pleased with my time, but at the same time, it was sorta frustrating -- I was tracking for under 5 hours at the 20-mile mark.  The last 6 miles killed me!  Anyway, I'm on the trail again and have increased my distance while decreasing my time.  And of course, I love it.  I have sadly been having some arthritis flair ups - especially on cold/wet/humid days.  But I've been able to work through it, and that's really all that matters to me.  Power through it or quit running.  I chose to power through it.

My favorite compression shirt for those days when my hands really hurt.
Arthritis sucks.

A pain-free and awesome running day; hitting a local trail!

Right now?  I'm on a TDY!  But mine is for the Army.  I'm at Fort Carson, Colorado (in Colorado Springs) completing my annual Army Reserves training.  Really, it's fantastic.  I work in the ER as a nurse here on Post for two weeks every year.  I love that my military career mimics my civilian career.  Doesn't get better than that!  And despite my work load, I'm still able to get out and run, whether on Base or at my favorite stomping grounds -- Garden of the Gods.  Nothing but successes right now.  And it feels really, really good.

Fabulous TDY.  Pikes Peak in the distance.

Garden of the Gods.  One of my favoritist running places in the world.

Fabulous trails!  Doesn't get better than this!

Of course we all know the dreaded bidding season is upon us, right?  It's all the Foreign Service rage. And we all love it.  <insert eye roll here>  But we've got our theoretical plans for bidding mapped out and we're comfortable with it.  Here's hoping one of those theoretical plans works out in our favor.  We'd love an additional success!

Yup.

The Kids Are Safe AND I Don't Have Cancer

The kids are safe and I don't have cancer.

That has been my mantra for the past week!  My mole biopsy came through last Wednesday, and it's not a melanoma.  It IS severely abnormal and I'll have to have a sizable chunk of skin surgically removed, but it's NOT cancer.  I was so excited!  Lots of promises made to God that included sunscreen. [Although a little side note here:  the mole was located on my body where the sun DOESN'T shine.  But I still promise to beef up the sunscreen.]

And I was all ready to sit down and put my happy words on my blog.

And then Cairo happened.  I'm not even going to sugarcoat it.  The last five days have been nearly unbearable.  Not knowing exactly what was happening there, feeling so completely out of control of the situation (but to be fair - I wouldn't have any more control of it even if I were there).  Evac or no evac?  That was the question.  And we stood by no evac until ordered otherwise.

I knew the kids were safe, but I of course kept wishing they were home.  And yes, I worried constantly and fretted and I even brushed away a few tears.

I was coming off a horrid week anyway (cancer vs. no cancer), so my mantra became:

The kids are safe and I don't have cancer. 
 
 But after five days of unrest and some major political changes, there was no more option for authorized departure.  Call from the fab hubby at 9AM on the west coast = 6PM in Cairo.  Ordered departure was on.  He was packing up some stuff and getting the kids and their chosen favored belongings in order.  (Our house was due to pack out on July 11.  Bummer.)   

And after a gazillion emails and phone calls and messages and more emails and phone calls and messages, he and the kids made their way to Cairo's airport less than 12 hours from the time he first called me and flew out to Germany and will soon be on their way to DC.  No, I won't be seeing them any earlier (my military orders for my Reserve Training are in the very near future and can't be altered).  But they are safe.

AND I DON'T HAVE CANCER.  (!!!!!)

Some things I need to jot down before I forget - and my apologies for this being so short, but I worked today in the ER late into the evening, and I'm flipping back into another shift early in the AM (oh, thank God for coffee!):

I'm so grateful to everyone who reached out to us over the past week.  Heck, for the past six months!  Our friends, our family, all of you.  Thank you, thank you! from the bottom of my heart.

And to everyone at the Embassy (yeah, I'm pointing at you, GSO!) who helped to get the ordered departure organized and running so smoothly in a the crunch of a mere few hours:  I am impressed and grateful. 

The fab hubby will simply (haha! as if any of this is simple) be starting his next assignment early.  Family and friends across the U.S. have offered to help with the kids since I'm still away -- and we've taken many of them up on the offers.  In fact, shhhh....but a nice little trip to Los Angeles just might be in order for the big kids for a few weeks this summer.

Because you know what?  The kids are safe.  And I don't have cancer.

It's not at all how we envisioned our first assignment concluding, but that's exactly what it is.

One more thing, and this is in regards to Egypt itself.  This past week has been a victory to many of the people living there - and while I make no political statement whatsoever about the outcome, I am hopeful for Egypt's future.  After spending hours reading news stories and looking at pictures of the demonstrations, this is the picture that holds a special place in my heart.  Because in the end, all of us, every single one of us, no matter what nationality or religion, just want our children to have a chance for good future and to be safe and loved.

I don't know where I found this picture (wish I did, so that I could give credit), but this is a beautiful, intimate moment of hope.