so frustrated...

I am so frustrated. I know this is a waiting game. I know patience is a virtue.  This process has been relatively uneventful for me. My security clearance was, well, pretty fast. All in all, the whole process has been fast. I had my interview in May, my security interview end of June, my interviews were done by mid July, and I got my clearance in August. Final suitability was only supposed to take a week to 10 days, right? wrong....
Next Friday will make 2 months. 2 long months that I have been waiting in final suitability limbo.
I have called. I check my email several times a hour. I can hardly wait each day to check the mail.
I talked to my HR contact {a new employee} a few weeks ago, to see if she had any idea what was wrong. She gave me a number to someone else to check my status. I called that lady, and oops...big mistake. She told me that they do not give out status updates, and that I would be notified when a decision had been made. Furthermore, I should not worry, because how long it takes really doesn't matter, and it how long it was taking had no bearing on whether I was suitable. I am a worrier. I am very, very good at it.
I am trying not to read into things. Really. But holy cow, people,  something. must. be. wrong! From what I can tell, most suitability evaluations take days...a week maybe.

I know that a few get through the security clearance and do not pass final suitability. I am now having nightmares about things I have not even done that would prevent me from being declared suitable.
My daughter wants a cell phone for her birthday. I don't want to get into a 2 year contract if we are leaving in the spring. There are so many things we want to do, but not if we are leaving...

Really hoping for some good news. Soon. Please......

am i suitable?

I got my security clearance in August. Have been in the final suitability stage since then. It's almost October. Hope to know something soon.
Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Hopeful...


How long did your final suitability reviews take? Any info is appreciated.

Good News/Bad News

Ok. So the good news is this: I spoke to a very nice lady in the final suitability dept. today and she told me she had just received my packet and should have an answer for me next week. That's exciting, right?
Then came the bad news...
The next specialist class that will have spots for health practitioners is MARCH!

Apparently there is a class in January, but they have no allotted spots for health practitioners. Bummer. She also told me there are several health practitioners already on the list. I am not positive, but I think she said there are openings for 4.

This really could take forever.

Woot! Woot!

I decided to bug the security folks again today, to see if they had made any progress with regards to my clearance. The nice gentleman who answered the phone verified
my name..."yep"
birthdate...."yep"
ssn....***-**-"****----yep"
then he says, "hang on a second"
and then, he informs me that my Security Clearance was issued yesterday.

Glad I called.
This made my day.
Now I just wait on the final suitability. Hopefully that goes quickly.
Then, Bfiles, I'll take mine to go, and myself can share a celebratory bottle of wine in DC in January!

Option #1

Well, it would appear the Case manager chose option #1.  Need. More. Info.


My ex husband called today and says he has a meeting with the security agent on Tuesday. Apparently the case manager discovered he did not have anyone interview my ex. Hopefully this will be the last interview.

I was really hoping for the email.

Dear Mrs. Burkett,
We are pleased to inform you that we have issued you a TOP SECRET SECURITY CLEARANCE. Additionally, we will be sending out a package that will welcome you to the Foreign Service, and provide further details on your start date.


Regards,
Mr. Top Secret Issuing Case Manager

Thought for the day

I have nothing funny to post. Nothing really even that interesting. When I read some of the old posts from other Fs'ers, it seems that we all get into this 'holding pattern' that gives us really nothing to blog about.
So, I'll blog about some of the things that happened this summer that I couldn't really blog about until now.
Audrey learned how to do 2 back handsprings in a row this summer. She is very proud of herself. I always wanted to learn how to do that. Now, I think I may break in two pieces, or maybe more when I hit the ground. Probably not a good idea.

I did say two in a row...not three. Not yet.

Tyler had fun in Africa. We are seriously considering sending him on another mission trip this fall. Our church is offering one to Mexico for 5 days. This one would be without me or any other family. It is a high school mission trip through the church. I had been more excited about it until I read about the killings of the 6 Americans in Afghanistan...now, I am not so sure. Not that I am comparing Mexico to Afghanistan, but, well, Mexico has developed a not so safe reputation lately. At least here in Arizona. 


We lost our dog, our sweet friend, Lucy this summer. Right before I left for Africa, actually. It happened to be on our wedding anniversary. Boo. We miss her terribly. She was only 4. A great family friend and pet. We had an A/C guy out to work on our system, and unfortunately, he left our gate open, unlatched, as he left. When we arrived home, we found our dogs missing. We looked for hours, then found our female boxer lying on the side of the road. She was alive, but her back was broken, and sadly, we had to put her to sleep. On our freakin wedding anniversary, did I mention that? Some present.

Lucy Burkett 2006-2010
AKA: "Luter" (for stealing food from our countertops!)
We miss you!

Since then, our male boxer, Dezi, has been grief stricken. As much as we want to get another dog, we are not sure if we should. Why, you ask? Because we may be moving overseas with the FS.  Not sure we want to make a travel commitment to another canine, since we have no idea what the quarantine issues may be. So, for all you Foreign Service Travelers, feel free to advise. How much would having two 60-80lb dogs cramp your traveling lifestyle?

As far as I can tell, my security clearance is in a holding pattern. I called on Monday and was told that the case is in review by the case manager. From there, one of three things could happen. Either the CM will 1)send it back for more info, 2)approve the clearance, or 3)send it through a final adjudications process.  Hmmm.  We are hoping for option #2, please. No news is a good news, right? I am still hopeful to hear something soon.

Next week it is off to Chicago for a work conference, with a brief stop in Indiana to visit some dear friends. After that, it's Labor Day and we are heading to Vegas for Tyler's soccer tournament. Hopefully I will have some news after that.  We will see.

In the meantime, here are some more shots from Africa.

And finally, the thought for the day...If I were in the FS in a country where I did not speak the language...how would I communicate?

Mimic, of course!  It works!

Africa

I returned home this weekend from my mission trip to Malawi, Africa. I had an awesome time! I realize that a mission trip is not even close to living in a place for 2 years. I won't even begin to pretend I learned all the in's and out's of Malawi. But I loved it.
We stayed at Children of the Nations in Lilongwe. It was like glorified camping. 6 to a room. A hut, really. With bunk beds and a sink. A community bathroom. With cold water on most days. But it was awesome!
I cannot wait to go back.
I want to work for the FS! I want to MOVE there. Somewhere. Anywhere.

Our team was comprised of myself, a pediatrician, a group of college girls, a group of counselors, 2 professional photographers, a hopeful soon to be pastor, and my 14 yr old son.

The medical team (myself and the pediatrician) saw close to 1000 kids in roughly 6 days. We treated ear infections, colds, coughs, ringworm, scabies, and any other common ailment you could imagine that we have here in the states. We saw many who were HIV positive. We also saw a couple handfuls of adults (most of who were HIV positive) and tried to treat many of the side effects from the ARV meds they take regularly. We passed out a TON of tylenol, ibuprofen, pepcid, and vitamins. We passed out antibiotics to those who needed them. Ointments and creams as a spit in the wind for the tiny scabie and or ringworm infested kiddos.
We operated in small villages, out of suitcases, with medications we brought with us.
Most were happy we were there. "Azungu!" The children would squeal as we approached the villages.
Azungu translates to "white person" in the language of Chichewa.
Cyberbones, you may hear that term occasionally! :)
We prayed with patients, worshiped, sang and danced. A LOT. I learned new songs in Chichewa.
We went to church in the Slums of Mgona. I was inspired. What an amazing worship experience.

I have tons of pictures. I have yet to sort through them. I am so jet lagged, I can't sit down on the sofa for more than a few minutes without falling asleep.
I missed reading all your blogs. I can hardly wait to catch up and see where some of you are going, see if some of you have gotten the 'call', and read about your pack-outs and all the other FS drama. My own FS drama is this: my investigators have submitted my background checks to the case manager. I called Washington to find out where I am in the process. They told me to call back in 2 weeks. The security guy said he was 'pleasantly surprised to see how far my security clearance was in such a short period of time'.  That's good, right? My husband received his worldwide medical clearance. I am still waiting on my 14 yr old's medical clearance because there was an issue with the system not recognizing him, so we had to wait for the help desk to put his information back into the system. As best I can tell, I am in a holding pattern. I feel pretty good about it. It's happening, slowly but surely. Slow and steady wins the race...
I'll post more pictures soon.

missions

I leave on Friday for Malawi. I am going with my church on a mission trip. I will be working with a pediatrician and we will be setting up a mobile medical clinic in a small village in Malawi, Africa. The goal is to provide basic health care and deworming for all the orphans in the village of Chikudzulire --just outside of Lilongwe. Depending on how much time we have, and how many medications we have leftover, we may also set up clinic in the village of Mgona. I'm taking my oldest son, Tyler (14), to help out as well. We are very excited about this opportunity.

(I borrowed this fancy picture from the web, but had no idea how to ask it's author. So, thank you in advance to whom ever took the time to upload this to the internet.)


On a FS note, I have heard back from several contacts that my background investigation is definitely underway. The Arizona agent has contacted most everyone he had on his list, I think. I'm not positive, but I think he may be wrapping things up in the next day or two--**grin** I think the Indiana one is just getting started, however.  I'm hoping that by the time I return in 2 weeks, it will be over. I'm really getting much better at this waiting thing.  At least, I think so.
My family might beg to differ.  Most every sentence begins with, "What if..." or "When we move..."
or "What can we get rid of..."
We did clean out all our closets this weekend.  We carried out 5 bags of trash and several large loads of 'stuff we no longer need.'  I hope I'm not jumping the gun, I am just soooo excited.

Getting closer!

Well, I had my security interview over the weekend. It wasn't as bad as I had thought. I dont know why I thought it may be 'bad'--it was a really nice agent, just asking a lot of the same questions I had already answered on the 86. I was just really nervous. Whew...now that that is out of the way...I wait. He didnt seem to think it would take him very long to submit his report. That was nice to hear. I also talked to a different one in Indiana that will be covering my contacts and references there. My target date of completion is mid August. We will see.
I really couldn't be any more excited...or nervous...

Livin on a Prayer

Oh! Half way there...
O-Oh! livin on a prayer...

 where I am.

Take my hand, and we'll make it, I swear!

  where I want to be.  (in my mind, anyway.)

I wonder if all this waiting pre-employment just prepares one for the long-haul with the FS. ? . ? .
It is amazing, and excruciating, and...did I mention I am not a good 'waiter'?
For the first half of the year, the time seemed to fly by. Since I have taken my OA, it has stopped.
Before the OA--"I can't believe it's May already!"
After the OA--"WHAT? IT'S ONLY JUNE?

Where is the fast forward button? Can we fast forward to --December?
All you other FS hopefuls ok with that?

Worldwide Available!

Well, Folks, I received an email today. Guess What!!??
I have a MEDICAL CLEARANCE. Yep. A Class I Clearance!
I am worldwide available.

Ironically, I am also available for them to start my security clearance.
Yes, I said...to start my security clearance.
No, they (who are they anyway?) have not started it yet.

I haven't heard anything about when it may begin. I released my e-quip in the system on the day of my OA. I got an email a few weeks later that my clearance could not be started until the equip was released in the system. I contacted HR, and it just needed to be released by them. Then, a week later, I decided to follow up, and according to the security dept, it still had not been released. I waited over the holiday weekend, then it was finally released last week. Now we are into the middle of June, and I was soooooo hoping it would be completed by the end of July. Now I guess I'm hopeful for the end of August.
I hope they call soon. I'm leaving the country for 2 weeks in July.

BTW, my kids also received their clearances today. The time from my email of the forms to my notification of worldwide available was 3 weeks. Wow. That's impressive. Lets just hope the security folks move that fast!

i want, i want, i want

My kids are out of school for summer. I have one day off during the week that happens to be on Wednesdays. Wednesdays are for relaxing, getting errands done, doctor's appts, etc...
Not when the kids are home. Wednesdays are now filled with, "I want..."
From the time we get up,
I want to go to my friend's house.
I want to have a friend over.
I want to go to the movies.
I want to swim.
I want to play xbox.
I want to stay up all night.
I [dont] want to do chores.
I [dont] want to eat that.


It inspired me to make a list of my own.

I want my clearance to go FASTER.
I want pack-outs.
I want to live at Oakwood.
I want a bid list.
I want TRAVEL ORDERS.
I want a black passport.
I want to move overseas.
I [dont] want to wait.

Why are 'I want' lists more acceptable when you're a kid? Still annoying? yes, but more acceptable.

Anticipation

The waiting process for the foreign service is somewhat like a scary movie. The music is playing louder and louder, you grip the armrests so hard your fingers are turning white, as you wait...wait...wait for the next step. Like waiting for the pretty screaming girl to be killed by the bad guy...

This is a long movie. Several more months of waiting....waiting...waiting....trying to continue life as normal. Trying to not obsess over where I hope to be in 6 months or a year.  Who lives that way?

Those of us who want to work for the FS, that's who.

Hopefully my security clearance will start soon. I'm headed to Malawi, Africa for a medical mission trip in July. That will be a 2 week trip. Something to take my mind off this wait.

Not what we expected...

Hubby and I went hiking on Sunday afternoon. Wasn't planning on a long hike, just a couple of hours. Maybe a short little hike in the San Tan Mountains would be fun. We should take the dogs. There's a cool breeze blowing, not too far from home. We'll be back in time for dinner. Or so we thought.

We arrived at the San Tan Mtn Park and looked at the large map of trails and picked one based on the length we wanted. 2.5 miles. Perfect. What we didn't note is where the trail ended. We assumed it ended where it started. Oops.

I was feeling motivated after Kolbi's Virginia Flower Experience, and thought I may post some Arizona Cactus. Lots of Cactus

                                                              Tall skinny ones

                                             Short hairy ones

                                            flowering ones

                                            cactus trees


lots of cactus. and lots of desert. We hiked and hiked, til we finally came to the top of GoldMine Trail.

and this is where we shoulda turned around. But we didn't. Isn't part of the evaluation to join the FS 'good judgement'? Well, we just so happened to leave our good judgement at home on Sunday. We continued because the sign said

so we followed the sign. Isn't that what any good hiker should do? No. Good hikers take a map.
We continued over the mountain until we came to the end. More than the quoted 2.5 miles later, we found ourselves in an empty parking lot. One that our car was not in. We discovered we were a mere 6.5 miles away from our car via major highways, and unfortunately, it was much too late to attempt to go back through the mountain.
Arizona's noted wildlife: Coyotes, Rattlesnakes, and Havalinas
Oops.
So we walked to the nearest restaurant and called a good friend to rescue us.
And we made it home in time for dinner.
Barely.

Next time, we'll take a map. And maybe a flashlight.
I thought about this in terms of the foreign service...I think about everything in terms of the foreign service now.
Hiking is like the foreign service because you never know where you'll end up.

Anxiety

I sent in my med forms last week via email. Almost right away, I get a return email that one of my kids is not in the system, so they cannot process his med forms. Oh no! What? I know I gave them all the names and ssn's...Frantically, I made contact with customer service, who confirmed that yes, Tyler was infact in the system and she would forward the information on.  Wheeeeew!.
The next day, I was contacted by investigation unit via email, that they could not proceed until they received my E-quip in the system.  Oh no! What? I know I released that when I was there with the initial fingerprint person.  They had all the signature forms.  Frantically, I made contact with the investigation's customer service, and apparently the equip form had to be released by human resources. Wheeeew! After calming down a bit, I contacted the hr person, and vooooiiilllaaa! Taken care of.

This is pins and needles, people! pins and needles. Everyday is more and more about the FS--will I get my clearance? Will they call? Will I get invited to a class? Each step takes you further toward the goal, yet the stakes continue to get higher--as your personal investment, time thinking about the possibilities, and what if's and if onlys continue to increase.

The top secret clearance is probably the worst, at least it is for me. I know I am a good worker, I should get good references. But to look backwards throughout your life for 10 LONG YEARS--what all happened? Who did I piss off? Did they really like me? The clearance is the one thing you have absolutely no control over. You cannot go back and change the past. Does everyone have some kind  of baggage? What all could possibly happen from this point forward that could completely ruin my chances of the clearance?
Perhaps my boss finding out about my interview.  Perhaps.

The foreign service

So, I haven't posted in awhile. I've been busy.

The newest thing we've got going---The Foreign Service.

It all started when I attended a conference a few years ago, stopped at one of the vendor tables, and met a FS Nurse Practitioner. Long story short: I held on to the paperwork, found it last fall, and decided to apply. It was a long shot.

I have a great job here in AZ. I work in a wonderful family practice office, with some fantastic providers and staff, 4 day workweeks, why on earth would I apply for a different job?

I have always dreamed of working, living internationally. Here is my opportunity.

I gathered all the required information for the specialist position, sent it in and forgot about it.

That was back in December. I was really excited at first, but the process is long, so by the time they called--I hadn't thought about it in a couple of months. Late March, my phone rang.

"This is so & so from the state dept. We've reviewed your packet of information and would like to invite you out for an interview"

Me: really?

I booked my airline ticket immediately, called back to confirm the date, and my Oral Assessment/interview was scheduled for May 10th.

Then came the hard part--research. I researched everything I could find on the FS. FS specialists. FS officers. Oral Assessments. Security Clearances. Blogs. Blogs. BLOGS.

I started out searching blogs about healthcare in the FS which retrieved only one. Then I found a great blog A Daring Adventure. This one not only was about the FS, but it had a link, with descriptions, of lots of other FS blogs. Then I became addicted. An addicted blog lurker.

I check them, most of them, my favorite ones. Every. Day. Sometimes multiple times a day. I love them. Its almost like being in the FS already. Reading about bid lists, posts, and waiting--for awhile, it was all I could think about. I can really identify with a few, especially I'll take mine to go ..

Ok, so on with the story.

I went to the interview, as prepared as I could possibly be after many many hours of research, studying, and preparation. And blog reading.

I passed. OMG. I passed.

Moving on to the next step. Most interviews, for most jobs, when they tell you congratulations, it means you HAVE the job. Not so with the FS. After the interview comes more steps in the process, the long process. We just finished the medical clearance paperwork, and will be hitting the send button tomorrow. Now it seems real. I have been lurking and reading blogs, and have reluctantly commented on a few. But now I finally feel like I am far enough along in the process that I am actually one of the 'waiting'. Maybe similar to The B Files. From what I can tell, she is still waiting on her clearance to finalize.

I wonder how many people get to this clearance to finalize stage and do not make it. Worry sets in, but I guess I have zero control over what happens now. Just waiting. I am not a good waiter. I am trying to learn to be a better waiter. Patience is a virtue.

I still have not heard from the security people. Maybe they call after you submit your medical paperwork. We will see.

more pool pics

more pool pictures...

I took this week off. It is spring break here. Lucky little devils, my kids get 2 weeks off! 2 full weeks! I can remember being in school and longing for that far in the distance one week...Its hard for parents, though...what do you do with them for 2 full weeks? So I took a week off. It has been fun. We didnt go anywhere. Just stayed home and enjoyed each other.

Tyler has worn out the x-box controllers. He is on the Call of Duty game pretty much from the time he arises (a little after 10-11a), til as late as we will let him stay up. Audrey and Owen have kept themselves busy chasing me around asking, "what are we gonna do today?"

On Mon. and Wed. we went swimming. I took them to a small waterpark in Chandler. It was awesome, warm weather, sunny, heated pool, and the kids loved it! On Wed, I let both of them take friends to the pool with us. I must say, the sun was a little warmer and brighter than I thought, and unfortunately, it left a little mark on me, so I imagine I will be sore tomorrow. My two little brown bunnies have rosy cheeks now, but quick as a wink, have become as brown as they are in the middle of summer.

As my time off winds down, I wonder what we will do those last few days. I would like to go hiking one day, if I can drag them that far. Their idea of a great day of spring break is likely not hiking. It may give me a chance to use my new camera though.

On Sunday I will be in Tucson for Tyler's last soccer tourny this year. Maybe if I am lucky, I may get a date night with my husband before the week comes to an end. Then it's back to work...

Running...

Tyler and I ran in a 10k race a couple of weeks ago. Tyler did amazing! It was his first race ever, and he placed 3rd in his age group and 83rd overall out of over 600 runners.

Brian and I ran again, on Valentines day in a 1/2 marathon. I'd like to say we placed 3rd, or even 83rd, but at least we finished. :) It was harder than I thought it would be, but a great sense of accomplishment.

This was Audrey's first trip to the Grand Canyon. We went in October with my mom. It was vast and beautiful. Amazing, we have lived in Arizona for 2 years now, and just recently made it to the GC!

So the page is finally coming together, now that I had some help in figuring out how to make it work! I love the picture of our family as we knew it last year. We really miss our babies, Calvin and Justice. I am sad, but excited about what 2010 holds in store for us as a family. Hopefully new exciting things. 2009 was busy, and was packed full of fun, laughter, puppies, babies, diapers, travel, and sadness. I am hopeful that this year will be better for all of us.

Audrey is loving gymnastics. She goes every Saturday, and has almost mastered her back handspring. You go, girl!

Owen became Snake eyes for Christmas. He loves GI Joe and this seemed to be "the present" this year. He and Tyler also got an xbox with Call of Duty and some football games.

Audrey was very pleased with clothes, and even won $50 from a scratch off lottery ticket! Who says 10 yr olds cant play the lottery??