Thanksgiving and 3 More Weeks

Thanksgiving is a time for family, no matter how dysfunctional, now matter how far apart, it is a time to be together and celebrate. But what do you do when you are 3000 miles from home? Or 5000? What about when you are half-way around the world? This is the world that our military members live in when they are deployed. It is also the world that our diplomats live in as they serve in remote posts around the world.

And then there are those of us who are here in D.C., training to go to our first posts. It is kind of hard to go home when you have to work the day after Thanksgiving. Not impossible, but prohibitively expensive. So, what do you do? Well, I'll tell you. You make your own family with all your friends, and have Thanksgiving pot-luck. 40 of us from the 163rd, plus some visiting family and friends, got together and had a wonderful night. We brought way too much food, too much drink, had a food drive for a local homeless shelter, and basically had a dinner to remember.

I missed being with my family.
I missed being with friends.
But I tell you, the only way it would have been a better night, was if my family had been here with me.

So yes, I am very thankful that I had so many friends to spend this Thanksgiving with, and it is also a good reminder that family isn't always blood. Often it is the people you are with. And they might be more dysfunctional than your Uncle Theo.

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That's right, three weeks to go until we are supposed to touch down in Jakarta. Looking at the weather there on my iPhone, I think I am seeing a trend. Monday, thunderstorms, 91 deg, 80% humidity. Tuesday, the same. Wednesday, the same. Thursday, same. Fri...same. Well, you get the picture.


Things left to do before leaving:
Get visas
pack out my apartment
pack out the house in Oregon
get schools finalized
breathe
ship the cats
get tickets
finalize housing
sell the car in Oregon
buy a car in Jakarta
rent the house
breathe again

The list goes on, as does the outlay of cash. I know that those readers who are part of the Foreign Service, with kids, understand just how many suitcases you need, but I never really considered it before joining the ranks. I mean really, who actually owns two full-sized suitcases for every member of the family, plus a carry-on, and a personal bag? With three kids and my wife, that comes to 20 bags.

20!

I'm going to need a Greyhound bus to pick us up from the airport! Or a fleet of vans. Something bigger than a taxi, that's for sure.