Bidding

It's bidding season.  And for the first time, S is bidding at the mid-level.  That means no more lists ranking his preferences and then crossing his fingers, hoping he gets assigned something great. Instead, S gets the privilege of applying to and interviewing for the jobs that he wants. And THEN he gets to cross his fingers and hope he gets something great.  

This year, apparently, they are doing things a little differently in the hopes of expediting the process. The final list of available jobs went live last Monday and handshakes (when officers are finally offered a job) are expected to go out by Halloween.  So for the next 6 weeks, S (and every other officer who is bidding) will be emailing, submitting their employee reviews and hopefully interviewing for the jobs they want.  There are several mores steps involved, but needless to say, it is nerve racking  and stressful.

After several long discussions, S and I have narrowed it down to more than a handful of overseas posts, with two of those posts (in two different bureaus) being our top choices.  We would be happy with any of our choices, but we are trying to be hopeful and optimistic that we get one of our top two choices.

I use the word "we" because even though S is the only one applying, the whole family is involved in making this decision.  As they say, this is a lifestyle, not a career.  A lot of factors go into this.  What is the right job for S and his career?  What places have strong and reliable Internet so I can continue to do my job?  Are there good international schools?  Can the kids continue to learn Spanish?  Can we bring our dog?  Are there houses or is it all apartment living? (Full disclosure: I would LOVE to have a house with a backyard.  After 15 years of apartment living, I am ready for a house and the access to an enclosed yard right outside my back door).  

So, even before the list went live, S and I sat down and looked at the projected jobs and tried to narrow down our choices.  We wanted a place we knew our family would not only enjoy living, but a place where we thought our kids would thrive, where I could work and where S would have a fantastic and rewarding job.  We Googled.  We watched YouTube videos.  We read personal expat accounts of what its like to live in each place.  We looked up the schools and watched the videos on their websites.  S researched the job's responsibilities.  We researched what languages were taught at the schools, hoping that if we go to a non-Spanish speaking county, at least Spanish will be taught and our oldest son (and hopefully our younger kids) could continue learning the language.  We looked to see if the Vet care was good and if there were kenneling/boarding services for when we go out of town.  And because we like to have fun, we looked up what regional travel would be like, and overall family life---were there movie theaters and parks?  Could we still find decent places to run outdoors? And the list goes on...

Once we had our top choices narrowed down, S took it and ran with it.  He reached out, he submitted his bids and emailed his resume.  But now?  Now we wait.  We wait to see if he gets contacted for interviews.  We wait while the behind-the-scenes bureaucracy takes place. We basically wait to see what the next 2 to 3 or 4 years of our life holds.  And hopefully, in the end, we get to go where we are all going to be happy.

But right now we continue to sit on pins and needles and...speculate...

So stay tuned...because like I said, we hope to know our next destination by Halloween.  

More Than Halfway

It is nearing the end of September and we are more than halfway done with our assignment here in Bogota.  We have roughly nine months left in this amazing city, and it has truly become a great place to live.  There were a few road bumps in the beginning--likely due to pregnancy and hormones, adding a third kid to the mix and the fact that I didn't speak ANY Spanish when we arrived--but we have come out of the other side and we absolutely love it here.  

E started Kindergarten at the American international school last month and he is really enjoying himself. When most parents are asking their kids "how was school" and getting a shrug or reluctant "fine" in response, my kid is hopping off the bus and happy to chat about all the fun things he did that day.  I love it.  I hope he stays chatty forever, no matter how exhausting it can be at times.  He is taking Karate at his new school and a Lego building class that he is not that thrilled about.  According to him, he likes building Legos by himself at home, but not in a class with a bunch of other people.  Fair enough.  And he is still taking swimming at a great gym/pool in our neighborhood, which he loves.  He has become a little fish these days and we literally have to drag him out of the water.  Bogota is a great city for smaller kids because there is so much to do.  There are so many activities and indoor play places and parks and mall and movies that we have no trouble finding things to do.  

D is still at the same jardin since we arrived, and he is getting to be such a big boy. He is also taking swimming lessons, which he loves, and he is blowing bubbles and kicking his legs like a pro.  And he's potty trained!  Doing number 2 on the potty is still a work in progress, but he is no longer wearing diapers which is a blessing to our wallets.  We're down to one baby in diapers--whoohoo!

And R will be one year old soon.  I don't even know where the time has gone. We are planning our family Halloween costumes for this year and I feel like it was just yesterday that I was putting her in a tiny little newborn strawberry onesie for her "costume."  She is almost walking and she is pretty much on the go non-stop. She doesn't EVER sit still, but that is just the way she needs to be if she wants to keep up with her brothers and parents.  This family doesn't stop, so she fits in perfectly.  

The summer here in Bogota has been great.  The weather has been a bit cool and rainy, but that hasn't stopped us from getting out and enjoying life.  Ciclovia is still a weekend favorite and we usually put E on his scooter, the babies in the double jogger and run through the streets or in the park.  

A few weekends ago we rented a house in La Mesa with a couple other families for the long Labor Day weekend.  La Mesa is "down the mountain" (about a three hour drive from Bogota) and the weather is warm and humid compared to Bogota's year-round cool and rainy weather. The house had a pool so all the kids spent their time jumping and swimming and riding scooters and bikes through the calm streets of the house's neighborhood.  We, the parents, spent our days relaxing by the pool with the kids (I use the term "relaxing" loosely because we all know kids and pools does not equal relaxing) and chatting and otherwise just enjoying the sunshine. Once the kids were all in bed it was time for more wine and one mean game of Scrabble, which S and I won with a triple word score using all seven tiles to spell UNMENDED.  It was awesome. 

Our family also went back to the states earlier this summer to spend some time with family and friends. Our first stop was New York, which E has grown obsessed with because he was born there.  We even walked by the hospital where he was born and he beamed with pride, pointing it out to his brother with delight.  The second stop was DC, followed by Las Vegas where S's dad and step-mom live.  We don't do Vegas like most people.  Our Vegas experience consists of a resort with a pool and lazy river where the kids can play, eating family dinners with S's parents and hike out in Red Rock Canyon. We love hiking and now that the boys are getting bigger and it's easy to strap R to me, we hope to do it a lot more.  

My family also came to visit back in August, which was a blast. My sister, her husband and their twin girls came with my mom.  My mom ended up staying an extra week after my sister left and it was actually perfect timing since S had to leave for a month-long TDY assignment to Istanbul.  Me and three kids for a month = a lot of stress.  The kids weren't actually that stressful, it was our dog!  Having to walk a dog three times a day with three kids in tow (holding one's hand, strapping one in the Ergo to my chest and the third on his scooter) was just a LOT to deal with.  Hindsight is 20/20, but I think we will hire a dog walker next time.  

So, that's what the McGuires have been up to lately!  Stay tuned for more adventures...S is in the process of bidding on our next post, so we hope to have some news on that pretty soon.