Well, then, here we go…

Way back when we joined the Foreign Service, before blogs were a thing, I used to do something like this on a free website program.  In an effort to keep sane during our temporary training assignment to DC with 2 small children, I used the website to air frustrations and to find some levity in a situation that was less than ideal for us.  After moving to Haiti (and consequencely inadequate internet service when such service could be located), I stopped posting and the website eventually ceased to be.

For the past 13 years we have consistently chosen posts in developing countries, where only the independently wealthy could hope to have a decent (barely) internet speed and I found myself going from being the “go to girl” for technology questions to a complete and utter luddite.  I still haven’t mastered my IPod Nano and it’s now so many generations old that it seems like ancient stuff to my girls.  So during this hiatus from the world of progress, blogs came into being.  And more and more people have blogs and I think, “Do I really want to keep a diary online that anyone can read? ” and “Do I really care that you had chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes for dinner and have a step by step blog about how you ate said dinner?” (turns out that, actually, I do because I have a craving for chicken fried steak that is bordering on ridiculous – I really need a visit home…)  “Would anyone actually care to read what I have to say about whatever random thing comes to mind while I navigate this crazy world?”

Well, maybe, maybe not.  But then again this is about me, not “them.” While I hope that some of the things I may write about have some resonnance with others, in the end, this blog is a way for me to try to make sense of my crazy life, my crazy brain, and to help me on my journey to create peace in my inner life.  It is a way for me to soften the more harsher edges of my personality that have risen to the surface over the past few years and to provide me with an indicator of where my mood is taking me and what I need to stop and work on at the moment.  Along the way I hope this blog is helpful to those who may be going through some of the same things and to find that they aren’t alone (and hence don’t need to feel guilty for feeling what they are feeling). Whether we are in the Foreign Service, constantly moving to this country or that, or living in the same country, state, or even city that we grew up in, many of the challenges we face are the same.  In the months to come, let’s find those issues we can relate on, overcome the ones that need overcoming, and with luck, once again find the humor that can turn the negatives into joy.

I said to a girlfriend yesterday that it was time for me to put my inner redneck back in its box (along with her tourettes) and to let the diplomat take back over.  She disagreed with me.  Turns out people like to have someone around that will say what no one else will (and probably shouldn’t, lol).  OK, so maybe I’ll put the redneck in a box with holes.  That way her voice isn’t completely stiffled, just muffled a bit – let’s just hope the part that’s muffled is the part that cusses like a sailor…

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