Eid Break

Went on a cabin camping trip with the family to Ajloun Forest Reserve.  Just one night, but with a group from the Embassy, a billion kids (though ours were the oldest overall), and a gorgeous sunset.

At the marshmallow roasting.

Pictionary!  Girls rule!

Katherine, Ian, and I played.  The board
got a bit messed up before I snapped the photo.

Jonathon and Katherine actually did sleep out in a tent.  Real camping!  They came in at 5 a.m. due to cold.

On our way to Ajloun Castle we passed a Christian cemetery.  It stood out.

 And then I tried to get a photo of the kids.  Ancient ruins, cute kids, how easy.  Until dad starts throwing ancient rocks at the kids sitting on the ancient ruins.

I guess we didn't really need to go all the way to Ajloun Castle for ruins though... as the excavation/construction continues at the bottom of our wadi more access doorways reveal themselves.  I really wish they weren't putting up an apartment building.

With that... Eid Mubarak :)

Furloughed, laid off...

I still have a job that I'm working and getting paid for.  Ian does as well.  Our Embassy, like many others is running fumes, but fumes we still have.  So many in our government are not so lucky.

There's a brilliant blog post written by one of our own in the FS, Life After Jerusalem titled "Stop Saying We're Furloughed."

Because once our money runs out we'll be joining the ranks of the government employees our Congress deems, basically, unnecessary.

Like the fact the federal parks and monuments are closed.  A lot of people have commented on that because it has interrupted their vacations.  That's sad, but to say I don't care is putting it lightly.  I don't care that the monuments are closed and folks are annoyed.  I care that the folks who run those places aren't working.

My biggest beef is that this isn't a government shutdown.  If it was, I wouldn't be working and neither would Ian.  On October 3rd both he and I, and every other person at our Embassy would have stayed home.  The Consular section would be shut and no visas or passports processed.  No child abduction cases or abuse of Americans would be managed, no transport home for the Americans who have died. ICE and DHS would close their doors. There would be no morale building activities, no reports submitted, no more transfers to post.  There would be no more interactions with our Jordanian host leaders.  Funding for every USAID program would freeze and kids would no longer see progress on the schools getting built, and the water programs would cease.  Our military presence would no longer support the Jordanian forces.

If this was a government shutdown, this would happen in all our 290+ Embassies and Consulates around the world.

If this was a government shutdown, the airports would close as the TSA would be off-line, as would the FTA and the Federal Marshals.

If this was a government shutdown, federally run power suppliers would shut down.  Oil subsidies would end.  Farm subsidies would stop.

If this was a government shut down, the Congress and President and every senior and junior official would no longer receive a paycheck.  Every VA paycheck recipient would get nothing.

If this was a real government shut down, the Economy would crumble, our security would evaporate, our borders would be Swiss cheese.

But this isn't a real government shutdown.  This is a stand by a minority to make a point that is even unclear to them anymore.   This is a push by a minority to make those who do not matter to them (they think) suffer, while they themselves feel nothing with their continued paychecks and healthcare and security.

Maybe a day of a REAL government shutdown would ensure that this choice of activity never happened again.

Been a long, tiring, emotionally draining, couple of weeks.

There's the stuff in the news, and then there's the stuff that happens because of the news.  When it appeared strikes were imminent on our neighbor Syria, our Embassy went into overdrive, our little CLO office included.  Not that you could see it, really, it was all in the back rooms.  Much like the making of sausage, you really don't want to know. It went on for 2 weeks and every day was another day of planning and prepping and doing stuff that needs to be done anyway but done triple-time and NOW.

So there was that.

Then there was September 11th.  Nothing happened, thank God, but again, with the anniversary there's a lot of prepping and ramping up of security and everything on edge.  It's draining.

And there was the passing of my cousin a week ago.  His funeral was yesterday and of course I wasn't there, like I miss every other funeral.  His obituary is a touching one and can be found here: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/09/08/obituaries/daniel-rhoda/

I'm the oldest cousin on both sides of my family.  To see folks younger than me pass stops me in my tracks.  More than Syria, more than 9/11, it puts my mortality right in front of me.  It's exhausting.

And now I'm fervently working to avoid this cold turning full-blown.  I'm tired all the time.  My head is stuffed.  My eyes are worn out.  I've added the physical exhaustion on top of the emotional exhaustion and this means that anything and everything drives me to tears.

Yeah.  I'm a mess.

I don't need pity, I need understanding.  I don't need counseling, I need cooperation.  And I don't need help, I need sleep.

It'll all come in due time.

But until then, I'll be under the covers. 

Jerash Trip

The CLO hosted a trip to Jerash today, since the Embassy was closed for Labor Day and the kids were in school because ACS is mean.  Jerash was hot and deserted, and we went with 34 of our friends on a tour bus with a tour guide, followed by a family style middle eastern lunch. Obviously, no pictures with our people in them, sorry.  

Contingency Planning

In Manila we had a Go Bag packed.  There were enough bus bombings and military uprisings to warrant one.  In Togo we had a Go Bag packed.  There was enough barely contained political and economic tension threatening to bubble over to warrant one.  In India we got lazy, Chennai was sleepy.  Until the recent mob attack on the Consulate there of course.  If I were there now I'd have a Go Bag packed.

Now here in Jordan, we're definitely back to the Go Bag.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/27/20209022-military-strikes-on-syria-as-early-as-thursday-us-officials-say?lite

Happy Parent Freedom Day!

7th grade

8th grade

10th grade

12th grade

The crew on 26 August 2013

The last "baby" has one more year before becoming a teen.

Jonathon turned 12 on Sunday, but in all respects is still a little kid.  He loves to play video games and watch TV, wash the car and do crafts.  He's helpful and strong-willed and can be quite loud, especially when fighting with his brother.  He likes to cook and come up with his own recipes, swim, and work on his Warhammer characters.  He's going into 7th grade and needs to be reminded to shower and that his shirt can't be worn for 3 days in a row, or his pants for that matter. He remembers absolutely everything whether he's seen it, heard it, or thought it.  Right now he's playing a game called "Prison Architect" where the goal is to design a prison from the ground up, cells to jobs to shakedowns to plumbing.  I'm sure he'll come up with something no one else has thought of and even if it makes no sense it just might work.  His brain is definitely quicker than mine.

Birthdays in our house tend to take up more than a day.  While gifts and cake are always on the Big Day, we try to spread the fun around.  On his Big Day we went bowling at Mecca Mall, had milk shakes, and brought him to dinner at PF Changs. The following day we Skyped with the grandparents (or tried to, the connection was miserable). Yesterday we took our family and the neighbors to Climbat for indoor wall climbing.  I still plan to take him to see Despicable Me 2 although I'd better hurry since movies don't linger long in Jordan.

It's not every day you turn 12, right?