FSO: Fantastic Send Off

We aren't leaving for another three weeks, but we had our official farewell-to-D.C. party last night.

We had food (check out that awesome cake...it was like we were getting married again), and a fridge full of Mexican beer. Though as I pointed out, this would have been a good time to stock up on American microbrews or something that will be less readily available than Corona and Dos Equis. At least there wasn't any Tecate.


And there was fraternizing with friends and family.


Of course there was dancing, or at least something resembling it.


And a bit of mischief as well.


And this morning, there were hangovers, but we don't need any images of that.

Even though this was our farewell party, as noted we still have a significant chunk of time before leaving. And most people at the party jumped on the opportunity to try and schedule something else with us before we go. We'll do what we can to visit with our friends as much as possible before leaving, but I fear there aren't enough hours remaining to be accommodating.

This marked our second-to-last-stop on the farewell tour, which will reach its conclusion while en route to Hermosillo when we have a blowout in Kentucky with my friends and family, and then finally the farewells, see-you-laters, etc. will be done.

Then we get to look forward to all of the return parties in two years between posts.

It's Sure To Be an Adventure

Over the weekend, our great farewell tour continued as we visited Natalie's friends and family in Canton, Ohio, (home of the NFL Hall of Fame and William McKinley).

This was our first mass farewell, and many of the people we visited with, we hadn't seen in nearly a year. As a result, we had a lot of explaining of what lies in store down the road.

After delivering our over-rehearsed, or over-practiced, schpeel, invariably, there were two responses, but they both had one thing in common - the word "adventure."

I thought I knew what adventure meant, but after getting two entirely different meanings of the word over the weekend, I decided I had better brush up on my vocab. So I turned to my trusted Webster.

ad ven ture (ad ven'cher) n. 1 a daring, hazardous undertaking

OK, that meaning definitely makes sense in context. With a look of concern bordering on despair, I've heard this expression several times, "Well, it will be an adventure."

This is the pre-dominant use of adventure when we are in Ohio or Kentucky. You can tell this is a lifestyle they don't comprehend and definitely do not desire. Some have mixed feelings as they think it is a great opportunity to see parts of the world, but the thought of living overseas for years at a time (and in our case, Mexico), is out of the question.

But go back and look at the definition. See it started with a number "1." That means we have a second entry:

2 an unusual, stirring, often romantic experience

Once again, I have definitely picked up on this sentiment from others. "Wow! I'm so jealous. That is going to be an awesome adventure."

While I appreciate the support, this response catches me more off guard than the first. And I think the key is the part of the definition that says "often romantic." I can't help but think they have romanticized our situation too much.

Yeah, they do ask about what Natalie will be doing, but I feel as though they think we are going to be worldwide tourists. Which is definitely not the case; well, at least not for Natalie. She will have a demanding and high stress job while working at the consulate, though for Natalie, there isn't much that doesn't fall into the category of "high stress."

And not to belabor the point, but Hermosillo is not exactly a tourism hot spot.

Like all things, the reality of our adventure falls somewhere in the middle. It definitely has characteristics of a "hazardous undertaking." There is no shortage of recent news articles and television reports proving it. And there is an element of "romanticism" as we set up shop in various countries and get to experience numerous cultures.

I'm just kind of curious what a response in this vein would sound like, because I haven't heard it, yet.

First Farewells

When outside stresses mount too high and the blogging community gets too weird, it is time to internalize, move along and get back to writing blog posts like nothing is wrong.

Our move to our first post is quickly arriving despite my best efforts to live in denial. This past weekend did a little to make the realization set in some.

I had my first "farewell."

I decorated the farewell with quotation marks because of course, it isn't real. I'll see my little sister again, but the next time I see her will either be in Mexico or while I'm visiting from Mexico.

Such faux farewells elicit recollections of saying good-bye to high school friends as we moved off to our separate campuses. Yes, we'll see each other again during breaks, but there is the acknowledgement that when we do meet again, we are going to be different people. Other than newly found book knowledge, we also gain new life experiences which changed our sophomoric high-school view of the world.

This summer, I'll have another life-changing experience, obviously, as me move southwest. The next time I see my little sister, I'll be different. I'll likely be tanner and balder, but I'll also have new life experiences from which to draw that probably will change my opinions and way of thinking.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention why my sister came to D.C. over the weekend in the first place.

Because we are moving to Hermosillo this summer, I'll be in a foreign place far from family and my closest friends when I turn 30.

So between that little fact and that I got Natalie with a surprise party for her A-100 swearing-in ceremony, Natalie threw me a surprise 30th birthday party.

Given my birthday is still a ways off, I definitely did not see this coming, and as I climbed into the party bus, it took me a few seconds as the word "surprise" registered and I saw a motley group of familiar faces. And then I proceeded to drink myself stupid and behave in a manner I don't care to recount, so thank you to all who encouraged this ghastly performance, and to my little sister for coming down from Boston and, of course, to my loving wife for putting it altogether.