By this time next week I will be in the midst of my first day with the State Department. I will be getting my picture taken and getting all sorts of new employee paperwork and tasks to complete. This does not seem real at all. Sometimes I feel like Scott and I are a little in denial. Even though we are preparing, packing, and getting everything done I still do not feel like I will be living somewhere different on Saturday night. But then again, what is it supposed to feel like?
You think Scott and I would be used to this by now. The other day I figured out that in the past ten months we have only spent one full month together - May. Starting in October 2011 and coming to this July one of us has always been gone. He was in Oklahoma from October to January and then I was living part-time in Colorado February, March and April. May, we were finally together and even went to Canada as a little celebration. June I was in Chicago for a few days and now here we are in mid-July I will be on my way by the end of the week. This will be much easier than Oklahoma was though. A 7 hour drive is much more manageable than a 10+ hour drive.
The house looks crazy and a little sad. Even though Scott is not moving out yet we took everything off the walls and off shelves to put in piles for the eventual pack out (he didn't want to get stuck with all the moving duties, again). So now our house looks much like it did when we first moved in just six months ago.
And for seemingly silly concerns:
What shoes will I wear on my first day? I don't have them yet. I know all the shoes I currently own are either not dressy enough or will not allow me to last the whole day without being in pain. Where are my comfy dress shoes? I am beginning to think such a thing does not exist. I know you are probably asking yourself, who the heck cares about what shoes they are going to wear? Well, ever since my foot surgeries I cannot mess around with shoes that are not just right and for all the walking I am going to be doing all over D.C. and Virginia, I need good shoes.
And for serious concerns:
The State Department has yet to receive my transcript with my master's degree confirmed. If they don't receive if before Monday my pay has to be downgraded as if I did not possess a master's degree. I called the school and it was sent June 27th. They cannot help me any further. I decided to order another and pay for a rush order and the website timed out so now I cannot tell if it has been ordered properly or if I still need to pay for it. All it says is "pending." That is a very unhelpful word.
And I still don't have my amended travel orders. Not that either of these are huge concern, they are just not helping my already semi-stressed self get stuff together. What justifiably stresses me out: possibly fraudulent e-mails saying I am delinquent on a student loan I never took out for a University I never attended.
I think from the time I sat down and started writing this to the time it is now has been about 2 hours. I have had to make a lot of calls, write a lot of emails, and wait for webpages to load this morning to make sure I have everything in order (and that I am not getting my identity stolen). I am ready to go but I am also not ready. I have so much to do before I feel ready. Speaking of, I really need to get going.
When you find your comfy shoes, will you let me know? I face the same problem you do and thus spend a lot of time in tennis shoes. Or low-top Chucks. Not appropriate for the State Department though.
ReplyDeleteI would call the University that "sent" the email and resolve that. And call the bursar before they get busy. It's very silly. And stressful!
Look at Danskos. I think I am going to get a pair. I've been told they are really comfy and they are not too bad in the style department either. And I will call the school tomorrow...for the third time....
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