A Daring Adventure

Score one More for the EFMs!

[First of all, if you haven't yet gotten to read hannah's RoundUp that she posted just a few hours ago, head on over to her blog the slow move east!  Also, Connie at the blog Whale Ears and Other Wonderings will be hosting next week's RoundUp, so stay tuned!]


                                                  ~   ~   ~


Sorry for the recent silence.  I wrote a post last week that I hesitated to publish, and I'm glad I did, for it was titled "Just Because I'm an EFM Doesn't Mean I'm Stupid!"  It was rather... grouchy in tone and spirit... for the multitudinous EFM issues that are out there are... multitudinous... and lend themselves to be spoken of in grouchy tones.


Perhaps someday I will go back and discuss these things in a more rational manner (and then hit "publish").  As it stands, now, though, the topic of the day is again:  Language Training.   Lucky YOU!


I will never ever ever be able to touch Andy's record of Total Wicked EFM Awesomeness, but I pulled a somewhat Go-EFMs-Rah!-Rah! accomplishment, myself.  You see, we recently had our midway-through-Chinese-training Progress Test, and I actually did rather not badly.  Which shocked me, actually, because I feel like I can't even speak a single blessed word of this insane language.  But evidently I was able to fool a tester in the Chinese Department, for guess which box I got checked on my Progress Test form?


 



Oh HELLS YEAH, peeps!  I gots me the top box checked!  And some awesome commentz, to boot! 


Since there are actually employees in language right now who haven't been fortunate enough to get the top box checked, I feel that this is at least a small accomplishment for EFMs everywhere, especially since (and this is something I bitched about at length in the aforementioned blog post that will never see the light of day) each and every time I have interacted with ANYONE official from State (outside of the language department at FSI), they have told me (in so many words, and to my face, even!) that I will never pass the final Chinese exam and get my 2.


(I'm not making this up.)

They may well be proven correct in the end, my friends.  I have miles to go before the final test, and my classmates and I are now starting to learn all manner of grown-up vocabulary like trade surplus and light industry.  It's all headed to the same place - political, economic, military, trade, etc. vocabulary - that, like, educated grownups use in diplomatic environments.  I may well prove all the Main State Dwelling folks who doubt I have any chance at getting my 2 correct in the end.  Heaven knows a lot of EFMs don't stay very long in the FSI Mandarin program.  But some do... and, goshdarnit... I'm one of them, I'm okay today, and that has to count for something. 


(And yes, I had the Chinese Department email that Progress Test report far and wide in a sort of in-yer-face! (but not) kind of thing.  It's the small joys in life...)

[If I may, I have one small piece of advice for anyone who has just started or who will start Mandarin at FSI in the future:  memorize your characters *immediately*.  Do NOT get behind in your characters, especially in the Reading textbook.  Memorize them the second they are assigned to you.  The volume of daily new vocabulary is so impossibly horrific that it is easy to get behind, and if you do, this is the kiss of death.  Take the weekend to memorize what you couldn't during the week.  If you fall behind in the memorization of the characters, you will end up derailed in Chinese.  If you are a spouse, you will drop out.  If you are an employee, you will be held back.  Progress tests are used as barriers to continuance in the program.  Those who do not test well in their progress tests are held back.]


In family newz, the boys are knee-deep in Boy Scouts here.  James is an Assistant Scoutmaster now (a long time ago, he was the Scoutmaster of a Troop we helped start in Florida... *sniff*... we miss you guys!!), and the other night my boys got dressed to the nines for a formal Scout program.  Matthew got all dolled up in his Eagle Scout finery... it was so cute.  Matthew basically looks like a red, white & blue Christmas tree or something.  It made for a great picture:


 


What's nice about our Troop is that a whole lot of folks in the Troop are with State.  Those not with State tend to be with other federal agencies, so this lends itself to some great leadership, some great kids, and lots of empathy about frequent family comings and goings. 


Also, what other Boy Scout Troops but those in the DC area get to wear patches with Air Force One on them?





Dude.  That is AWESOME.

So that's what the boys are doing.  As for me, all my spare time goes toward cleaning the house (True story- after coming home every Friday afternoon, after a looooooong week at FSI, I immediately.... SCRUB THE BATHROOM FLOORS!  It's a glam life, y'all...) or making the wildlife in my backyard clinically obese.  (I get this from my mother, whose housepets tend to be nearly unable to make it through doorways.)


Behold!  A normal day's squirrel buffet:





NO I didn't specifically make that macaroni & cheese for the squirrels!!!  It was leftover, the boys hadn't eaten it, so it was stale.  Better to feed it to the squirrels than throw it away or push it down the garbage disposal.  I hate wasting food.


Also, you can't see this in the picture, but the bananas were wayyyyyy past being usable, and please, heaven help me, PLEASE don't anyone tell me to make banana bread from them, for I barely have time to make the macaroni & cheese that my children won't eat.  In fact, I think James probably made it.  So, basically, you would be telling JAMES to make banana bread with the overripe bananas.  Do you really want to do that?


See the piece of macaroni & cheese hanging out the squirrel's mouth?  I tell you, stuff like this brings me some of the only glimmers of joy in my pathetic life right now.  (All this to say:  RUN LIKE HELL FROM BIDDING ON AN SCNL POST.)






This picture makes me happy.  Their little hands and feet are so cute!

This picture also makes me happy.   There are actually TWO squirrels in this picture!


So, today, the weather here is gorgeous.  I will be inside all day, cleaning and doing Chinese, but at least my rental house's windows are open, the shutters are thrown wide, there is a wonderful breeze, and all of this makes me smile.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

 

 

Odds & Ends (Such As: The RoundUp is Up! And My Children are Famous!)

First and foremost, I would like to state that Connie has already posted today's State Department Blog RoundUp (Whale Ears and Other Wonderings)!  Thank you, Connie!  And next week's RoundUp will be hosted by Lydia at Here, There, and Everywhere!


                                                 ~     ~     ~


My boys are so excited - they've landed themselves into the Falls Church online community newspaper!  You see, they went camping last week with their local Scout Troop (it's almost entirely made up of State Department and other federal employee families!) and the camping weekend was very successful.


Speaking of my boys and Scouts, you are now looking at the Troop's new "Junior Assistant Scoutmaster:"






(Taken BEFORE he got leprosy/mange.)


In the article, you'll read that Zachary is part of the "Flaming Marshamallow" patrol/group, and that his patrol/group won an award during the campout.  Can I just saw how totally hilarious the patch for this patrol is?


Behold:  the patch for The Flaming Marshmallows:





Fits Zachary's personality well.


Our family.  Such paragons of Scouting that we have all landed on the cover of Boy's Life Magazine for multiple months in a row.  Here's proof...


Former Scoutmaster Dad, plus his current Junior Assistant Scoutmaster/Eagle Scout and his Flaming Marshmallow (extra credit to those of you who can spot Former Scoutmaster Dad's concealed firearm bulge at his waist!):





And some short old crone joins them just in time for Halloween:





 
Kidding!  (Not about the short old crone part, but about being on the cover of the REAL Boy's Life Magazine.)  It was a photo op from back when we attended the Boy Scout's 100 year celebration a couple of months ago (which means that Matthew is even taller now.  Crazy!). 

 

State. Moving. Money. Pictures. What You've Missed... (Etc.)

This morning is our last here in Washington DC for a few weeks. 


We packed up our Oakwoody (not The Mothership) apartment yesterday.  James is off at his last morning of Training Class #1 ("The Education Needed Before He Can Go to our next post in Chengdu, China"), and when he gets home about noon, our stuff is getting packed into our minivan and we're outta here.  (We have to go back to Houston, Texas (our previous post) to pack up and sell our house, and so that James can process out of Houston.)


Poor James.  The task of getting all our STUFF into our vehicle always falls on him. 


Last night, as we were gathering items and packing, he randomly said to me:


"My Native American name would totally be: Fits Crap in Minivan."

For that is what James does.  He fits all our crap into the minivan.  I don't know how, but he does it.  And he will showcase his Minivan Crap-Fitting Skillz again for us this afternoon.  Don't you wish you were he?

~  ~  ~

But enough of that!  Let's talk money.  For oh, how I love talking money. 


We "moved" here to Washington DC three months ago for James' Training Class #1 (the first of the many classes needed before he can go to Chengdu, China, next year) about three months ago.  Fun little fact:  we have YET to even FILE for the reimbursement of our travel here...from three months ago.

Guess why?  Oh guess, guess, guess. 


Because we traveled here not *just* without Orders (being as it was a last-minute thing), but also without any rubric for billing.  Because the three-month-long Training Class #1 was only meant for him, and not for all of us... so sayeth the Orders.  Thus, only travel for James is on the Orders.


But - ha ha!!  For this training class (Training Class #1) was three months long, and the Orders only authorized him to fly to Washington DC from Texas.  But a rental car wasn't authorized for the three-month-long class time.  So... that would have meant that he would have been here for THREE MONTHS without a car.  And he wasn't even able to be housed at the Oakwood Mothership with the shuttle service (no room there, because this was so last minute).  And not even that, but this three-month-long training class was held at something crazy like ten different sites.  Some even scattered about in Virginia.  Be here three months without a car, without us, and without being at the Oakwood that has shuttle service to class?  I don't think so.  We ALL came, and we SO drove.


So the whole time we've been here, James has been trying to figure out how to bill *driving here* against what would have been paid on the Orders (just him flying here)... had he had any Orders to begin with.  Various and sundry Departments have told him that they are not the ones who will be paying it, so not to bill against them/ their Orders.


He thinks it's all ironed out now.  Basically, we get to bill against what the plane ticket would have been at the last minute (about $800) to get him here.  That was only half the battle, so please don't anyone say anything like Oh, I knew that!  The other issue was the Orders, or which set to bill against.  For there are so many.  Different sets from different places.


All this to say:  when he was getting hired by State a couple of years ago, I remember hearing about how having good credit was such a big deal.  You HAD to have GOOD CREDIT.  And now I know why.  They want to know that, when you float lots of travel money (which you will), you will still be able to be financially responsible (which we are).  Because you WILL float money.  For long periods of time.  And that's not EVEN when you go on Insanely Expensive Home Leave (Email from the Embassy), which is financially painful and scary.  Holy cow!

~  ~  ~

So, we're leaving Washington DC today and driving back to Texas.  We then have about a month until we have to report back up here for James' Training Class #2 (Mandarin Chinese at FSI for 45 weeks).  Between now and then (the beginning of September) we're going...


... from here to Texas (driving).

From Texas to Seattle, Washington (another James training class, and I'm going, too!)(flying)

From Seattle, Washington (and the Vancouver, Canada area) back to Texas (flying)

From Texas to Florida (driving)

From Florida to Washington DC (flying)

From Washington DC to Florida (flying)

From Florida, with the children, to Washington DC for real and for good until China (driving).

All within the next month.  And somewhere in there, we're packing out and selling our Texas house. 



So those are the plans for the time from now until Mandarin Chinese starts and we're moved (yes, we're PCSing to Washington because we'll be in training for longer than a year) back here.

~  ~  ~

So now, all that's left is to catch you up on what we've been up to in the last few days.


After Matthew finished his Eagle Scout project, we flew from Florida back up here to Washington DC, and James gave Matthew a hero's welcome at Dulles Airport in the Baggage Claim area:

This year is actually the 100th year anniversary of the Boy Scouts, and two Boy Scouty things were going on here in downtown Washington DC this past weekend, so we hightailed it over there.

The first was the Boy Scouts Centennial Parade in downtown Washington DC.  It was the first time since 1937 that the Scouts had a parade in Washington DC... and we were there for it!





There were, of course, lots of Scouts.  And lots of American flags.





Red, white and blue were very much the theme.

There were also a TON of historically-dressed folks.





When these guys marched by, I couldn't help but feel insanely sorry for them.  Yes, they looked so snappy (of course), but honestly- it was something insane like 105 degrees with the heat index.  The heat had to be almost unbearable!





These ladies, also, were dressed so beautifully - but all I could think when they were walking by was Oh my goodness, I'm SO glad I'm wearing shorts and a tshirt! 


We've come a long way, baby.  Yes, the above was more attractive and feminine, but GOSH.  I'll take shorts and a tshirt on any 100 degree plus day!





They had all sorts of historical vehicles.

Everyone in the cars was always dressed in authentic Scouting attire from the period.  So neat!





The parade even had balloons!  Like this cake, for Scouting's 100 year Anniversary.


On one side of the street from the parade, there was the Adventure Base 100 truck and the Adventure Base 100 setup, complete with portable Scouting Museum. 

The Adventure Base 100 setup was right in front of the Washington Monument, and on the same exact street as the parade.

A huge area of grass was roped off...

And the Adventure Base truck was opened up as a Scouting Museum.

~  ~  ~

So - now you're all caught up!  I'll only be on Twitter via my million-year-old Dinosaur of a cell phone for the next few days (as we drive from Washington DC to Texas) until we get everything back up and running in Texas.


A HUGE thank you to everyone for the comments you have left for me and for our family on this blog... on Twitter... on Facebook... via email.  I'm so sorry I've not been on y'all's blogs lately- or returned email lately.  Please forgive me for being so absent and so silent online. 

And now, Fits Crap in Minivan and I have some travelin' to do.  See you on the other side!  :)

Now Introducing: The Newest Eagle Scout in the Central Florida District

It all started with... a State Department blog.  Seriously.


There was a State Department blog out there whose sidebars I was mining back when I started the Weekly RoundUp.  Since I'm on my Dad's computer, and not on my own computer, I don't have any of my State Department blog links... so I can't find (and then show you) which blog it was right now, unfortunately...

...But that's how we found Chaplain Darren.   


Up until we found Chaplain Darren, Matthew had been hoping to do an Eagle Scout project that benefited US military Troops somehow.  That's his passion, since for the last five or six years Matthew has been hoping to get into the Air Force Academy or the Naval Academy after high school (so that he can get a flight slot).  Also, James was in both the Coast Guard and the Army, so we're a family of militaryphiles.  And since Boy Scouts get to choose everything about their Eagle Project, Matthew had long ago wanted his Eagle Project to benefit members of the US military.


Before finding Chaplain Darren (a Chaplain in the US Army who is currently serving troops in Afghanistan), Matthew had resigned himself to partnering with a large group such as the Adopt a Platoon folks.   And while partnering with a large group would have certainly been a wonderful option, he'd always hoped to have his Eagle Project be a bit more... personal.  To know where his items were going and who received them on the other side.
 

So when we found Chaplain Darren, we were thrilled.  We contacted him and he graciously helped us connect with a Chaplain (I'll call him Chaplain Y) who would be in Afghanistan long enough for an Eagle Project to be able to be completed (for Chaplain Darren is soon to return home).  


Chaplain Y was very kind and agreed to work with Matthew on his Eagle Project, which became a project of sending care package items and notes of encouragement over to soldiers in combat who are under Chaplain Y's care.  


Chaplain Y explained the following about the soldiers targeted for Matthew's Eagle Project: 

~  ~  ~

   

Imagine yourself in an area roughly the size of a football field.  You are surrounded by walls made out of sandbags.  There are no trees and no grass... just dirt and gravel.  There are no buildings... only guard towers.  There is no running water or plumbing of any kind.  Any electricity is only for tactical use.  There is no shade, and there are no buildings but guard towers.  There is no kitchen and there are no restrooms...although they did receive a few port-a-johns recently.  There are no telephones, and there is no internet.


Soldiers arrive with only what they can carry on their backs.  They work very long hours.  In these conditions, every letter, card, or care package is precious.  To get a personal note or gift feels much like Christmas morning did when you were eight years old.  Anything you do will be appreciated and will make an impact.  Soldiers keep handwritten letters from people they have never met.  In the midst of their uncomfortable situations, it just feels good when someone says Thank You. 

~  ~  ~

   

We had initially partnered with our phenomenal Church back in Texas (Grace Presbyterian Church) in order to complete the project, but that whole plan fell through in the blink of a Chengdu, China, NOW bid eye.  When we were given less than a few hours to leave Houston to get to Washington DC to begin James' training for Chengdu, we left Houston so quickly that we inadvertently left behind all of Matthew's Boy Scout things... including his uniform, merit badge sash, and Order of the Arrow sash.  


Matthew's Eagle Project had to be re-started with another group of folks... but who?  We didn't know anyone well enough in Washington DC, and this summer was our only chance to get his project done.  So we turned to our hometown Church (Oviedo Presbyterian Church) in Oviedo, Florida, which is where we lived before the State Department hired James.  They are also the Church that sponsors our Boy Scout Troop, Troop 672.  


And did I mention that James, Matthew and I helped to start this Troop a few years ago...and that James was its first Scoutmaster?  So it was good to come back here to complete Matthew's Eagle Scout journey.  Matthew, Zachary and I flew down here to Florida about 10 days ago so that Matthew could complete his Eagle Scout project. 


They day before we left DC to fly down to Florida, we bought Matthew and Zachary brand new Boy Scout uniforms.  Since theirs are - ahem - sitting in their drawers in Texas! 


Oviedo Presbyterian Church graciously allowed Matthew time during its Sunday morning service to describe his Eagle Project (sending care package items to the Troops in Afghanistan through Chaplain Y) to the congregation and ask for their assistance.  He wrote out a speech and had a supporting PowerPoint presentation on the screen behind him:

   

      
   
 

After the service, Matthew and two other Scouts staffed a table in the back of the Church.  There were blank notecards for people to use to write letters or notes of encouragement to the Troops.  There was a basket for cash donations.  

One of the other Scouts at the table was... duh... Zachary: 
 
  




Church members FLOODED Matthew's table after the service.  


See all these grownups?  They're all writing notes to the soldiers, and there are tons of other folks sitting and standing outside the camera's view who are writing, also:   

   


      

That Sunday morning, Matthew received more than 45 notes to include with the care package items, and $278 in cash donations!  

Between the Church donations and other donations from family, friends and other sources, Matthew's project received $619.15.  


That's a LOT of baby wipes!


So Matthew went out and purchased the list of items that Chaplain Y had suggested.  Between those purchased items and the donations of items he received, Matthew's full list of donated/purchased care package items to the soldiers was as follows:

  

100 personal sized bottles of shampoo/body wash

183 magazines

50 packages baby wipes (80 wipes per package)

72 greeting cards/letters/notes of encouragement

56 boxes snack crackers

51 packages honey roasted peanut snacks

25 paperback books

10 packages sunflower snacks

5 packages peanut snacks

2 extra large jugs of baby wipes

8 packages baby wipes (85 wipes per package)

7 packages eyeglass cleaner wipes (it's a dusty world out there)

14 bottles of hand sanitizer

3 bottles of sunscreen

This past Sunday evening, members of the Church and the Troop gathered together to lay out all of the donations onto tables and pack them into boxes to be shipped:   

 

 
  
Even the Youth Group got into the packing spirit!  

  

   

And not only that - the Youth Group also contributed tons of notes to the Troops (which is, in large part, how we got our final number of 72 notes!):

    

By the end of Sunday night, Matthew's Eagle Project items had been packed into 19 boxes to be sent over to Chaplain Y.  

(And this didn't even include the KLENZ "shower in a towel" boxes that we ordered online and that are being sent directly to the Troops!) 


Monday morning, Matthew and I hit the Post Office with his 19 boxes.  There we were very grateful that we had previously been advised not to fully seal the boxes, for we learned that EACH BOX HAD TO HAVE A DETAILED CUSTOMS FORM FILLED OUT FOR IT.  And so, each box needed a full list of the items that were inside of it!  Needless to say, we were at the Post Office a REALLY long time!   

 



    

But finally, all 19 boxes were sealed and ready to ship!  





At that point, Matthew was smiling.  But the poor postal guy was NOT: 

  

(Just kidding- the postal guy was actually really, really nice and he really, really liked Matthew's project.  In fact, we created quite a sensation there at the little Post Office!) 

In fact, the Postal Guy even had this totally nifty Mandarin Chinese set of characters tattooed on his arm.  He says it means "big brother" in Mandarin.  I can't wait to show this picture to our FSI tutor and ask for the direct translation!  

  


            

After the boxes were shipped out, Matthew and I mistakenly believed that his project was done.

Silly us!!


For the next day (Tuesday evening), we received THREE MORE BOXES' WORTH of donations!!  So another trip to the Post Office was in order on Wednesday morning!
 

All in all, Matthew sent out 22 boxes of care package items and notes to the Troops via kind Chaplain Y, who will facilitate their distribution...and that's not EVEN counting however many boxes are being sent full of KLENZ "shower in a towel" packages.

~  ~  ~

With his project done, Matthew appeared before his Board of Review last night in order to be... I don't know how else to put it... interviewed for the rank of Eagle.   These folks knew of our circumstances (we're flying back to Washington DC today), and all of them worked incredibly hard to make sure that Matthew was able to sit for the Board (interview) before we left.  

He passed the Board examination/interview last night, and was declared Central Florida Council's newest Eagle Scout!






We are so deeply grateful to everyone who helped Matthew achieve this goal.  From various selfless letter-of-recommendation writers who rushed to get their letters out immediately (Matthew can't appear before the Eagle Board without having lots of letters of recommendation) to the Churches involved and the Troop that we love and very much miss... we thank you all.   

Chaplain Darren... Chaplain Y... everyone who donated (time/money/items) toward this project... both Churches' leadership... the Session of Oviedo Presbyterian Church... the leadership/members/Scouts of Troop 672... the adults/leaders who selflessly served (at the very last minute) on Matthew's Board of Review... our family and friends both here and scattered about...

  
...Matthew wouldn't be an Eagle Scout today had it not been for each and every one of you. Thank you so very, very much for everything.


(And if anyone figures out before I do which State Department blog directed us to Chaplain Darren, could you please let me know?  We owe them a huge thank you as well!)