Top Secret Security Clearance

I've been fighting the urge for close to three weeks to email Security to find out where my security clearance is. My target date (as I was reminded when I called on 9/10) for completion is 10/9. My medical is still in purgatory - having not been reviewed by a nurse yet - so it really doesn't matter where my security clearance is. But the urge got too much today so I emailed and found out I was granted a Top Secret Security Clearance on 9/14! How cool is that?!! How many of your friends can say they have a top secret security clearance? probably not many :) Now you can add me to the list.
Of course it still doesn't mean anything in terms of moving on because my medical has not been granted, I still have to go through the final suitability review, and the next orientation class doesn't start until 1/4/10.
In the mean time, I've been keeping busy. They had a delegation from State at the school on Tuesday (thanks to the career center) so I stuck my head in and introduced myself. Okay, okay, I tried really hard not to be the dorky girl who's all like "hey, I'm going to be your future co-worker." But it came up naturally in the conversation that I'd passed the OA and was waiting on security and medical. The career center has already sent three people to talk to me so that I can give them the "inside scoop" on the process. I hope one of my tours will be recruiting for State on college campuses... I could totally be a diplomat in residence.

Curtains

The curtains that have been an unfinished project for the past five years have moved into the done column! yay! I am rejoicing even though they didn't come out quite as polished as I would have hoped. At this point, I don't even care because they are d-o-n-e. done.

Giving up the Coke (coca-cola) Habit

I admit it... I have a coke habit. It's bad. Today I had a can and a bottle which violates my usual one a day policy. I think I may be nearing the edge. It's a good thing I never took up smoking. I would be one of those people who smoke off and on for their entire life until they finally die at the age of 54 by getting hit by a bus... you thought I was going to say lung cancer. Mom, I hope that made you laugh.

I periodically give up the coke. I've gone for months before without a sip. But it's difficult. And there are no substitutes for me. Diet Coke gives me the shakes and Coke zero is almost bearable. But really I just need to drink more water. So today I'm setting an attainable goal. No Soda for two weeks... okay one week. (remember we said attainable) I vow to not drink any soda until next Thursday. I think it's attainable. We'll set a new goal then and see how it goes. In the mean time, check out my count down:

More circle skirts

We went to a friend's daughter's 5th birthday party this weekend. I thought about going to Toys-R-Us and buying some fun kid stuff but then decided, "what the heck" every little girl needs a circle skirt. So the hem turned out a little wonky and the skirt is just the tinsiest bit too long, but oh well. She was having fun with it :) Hopefully she'll have the same fond memories that I have of my pink skirt.

Unfinished Projects

As mentioned in previous posts, I have a large assortment of unfinished projects. Some are in various states of completion and some have not left the bag from the store. I am toying with the idea of creating a count down to figure out how many projects I have to complete before the eventual "big move". Because I'm hoping for the January 4th class, I'm thinking I should list out all my projects and then prioritize based on likelihood of completion and whether I actually still want to finish the project. Let's face it, no wants my crappy beaded handbags. They were ugly seven years ago when I started the darn things and they're ugly now. Now the curtains for the bedroom, that's another story. Still like them, and still useful. hmm, something to consider.

Creating a Circle Skirt

Every month (okay, more like every other month at the current rate) Ben and I host a group of friends in a murder mystery dinner. We always have it at our place because almost everyone else still lives on campus and let's face it, there's not enough space in those places to keep both furniture and people. We do rotate who brings the food and this week it was Rebbecca and Steven's turn. We had yummy fried chicken (homemade!) with mashed potatoes, biscuits and other yummy stuff. We use the boxed "How to Host a Murder Games" and this month the theme was '50's . Past themes have included 20's yacht party, toga, and old west (my personal favorite). I decided that I needed to actually make a costume for this one because I needed a circle skirt.

Okay, okay, need doesn't really cover the actual relationship I have with circle skirts. I suspect that there is an innate need in every small child to wear a garment that one can twirl in. Case in point, my sister has some friends whose young son Samuel's favorite activity is wearing a circle skirt and spinning around in circles while carrying his sword. My wedding dress (which, I might add, I designed) included a double circle skirt, when I was little my favorite thing to wear when playing dress up was a pink circle skirt that my Mom made me, and my all time favorite movie costume was Lisel's pink dress (with circle skirt) from the Sound of Music. Also, I purchased quite a bit of white and black linen years ago to make a black skirt and a white skirt which meant that I could knock out at least one of my unfinished projects.


Making a circle skirt is actually pretty easy. This site and this site both have some very good tips for making circle skirts. I didn't just want a plain skirt, though, so I sketched out some possible designs using the black and white fabric. I felt very project runway-y (very make it work).



It took two evenings to make although it should only have taken one because my sewing machine finally pooped out on me. I spent a couple of hours trying to fix it but alas my abilities were no match for the tension spring and I finally gave up and borrowed my Mom's ancient but far more reliable machine.



I'm not going through step by step instructions because those would be covered better and far more thoroughly by other blogs, but everybody loves pictures so here's the assembly process. There were eight panels which meant eight of these triangle shapes and eight of the rounded bit at the bottom.

The pieces when put together looked like this:

I used a grosgrain ribbon for the waist band which made the whole thing really easy. Then to finish the hem, I used plastic horse hair which gives the hem more shape. I also made a petticoat of sorts out of some really cheap curtain material and a belt out of the black linen.

Final results, not bad.

This is me standing with Ben. His character was the school jock and mine was an FBI agent and former homecoming queen (a title which I may or may not have earned fairly). The best part about this costume, however, was the twirling factor.

But still...

My favorite argument is "But still...". It's such a clever and succinct way to sum up all of the arguments that you've already made and then essentially restated as if the sum of the whole was a new and more compelling argument than was made thus far. By it's nature it defies answering arguments.

20 places left for the October class

I found out today that the A-100 class (which I'm sure you all remember from my earlier post is the orientation class for the State department) scheduled for October 26 still has 20 consular slots left and they are having a hard time filling the spots. Apparently they will continue to make offers for another two weeks. Because all of the investigators' paperwork was due today and my target Security Clearance date isn't until 10/9, it is highly unlikely that I will make it in time to get one of those 20 offers. Not to mention the fact that apparently they are not even scheduled to start reviewing my medical Clearance until 9/16. But today was rather hellish, so I'm going to persist in dreaming of the October class. In actual fact, the January class would be far more convenient because it would mean more time with family (yay Kimie and Daniel back in the big D) one more Christmas, more time to pack and purge, more time for Ben to finish studying for (and hopefully pass the CPA) and more time to get through some of the bigger sewing projects I probably should either complete or give up on. Ben and I have talked about it and I would definitely take it if offered but if it's not a choice I have to make, all the better.

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

The title of this entry is a direct reference to an eponymous named book about a holistic detective who has a refrigerator which plays at the center of an epic battle that he's having with his cleaning lady. Neither one will open the fridge because it has now gotten so dirty that if either one of them opens it, they will have to then clean it. At the end of the book (which is actually about Norse mythology not about the fridge) a fully formed War God springs from the bowels of the refrigerator. I won't say that our fridge had quite gotten to that point although I swear I saw that old container of sour cream move, but it was pretty bad. So this weekend, armed with a garbage disposal, industrial strength garbage bags, and a pair of rubber gloves, I cleaned out the fridge. Here is the end result:

I'm very sad that I did not take a before picture as it would make this after picture look really amazing. That being said, it's probably best for all of you that have eaten at my house to not see the before pictures. Ignorance is bliss.

Blog Titles

I sent out an email requesting blog name suggestions. I got some very nice ones from everyone including "Carrie... THE BURNINATOR". This name has appeal partly because it's a reference to Homestar Runner, one of my all time favorite internet cartoons and partly because it just sounds cool. To see video reference, click here. However, I'm not sure it's descriptive of the blog itself.

Another suggestion was Carpe Vive (Latin for Seize Life) submitted by someone who knows I took Latin for far longer than I care to admit. I'm pretty sure that Carpe Vive would translate roughly into seize live: both Carpe and Vive being verbs. Embarrassing admission here: I don't actually know how you would say "seize life" in Latin. This does not bode well for my future language learning requirements. Vivo is to live which makes it a verb. I think the noun for life is Vita which makes it first declension (?). Oh no... this is going to turn into a search for old school books... joy. Or perhaps I will make use of the fabulous internet.

Latin grammar warning.

There are a surprisingly large number of on-line translators to turn English into Latin. One can only assume that this an industry used almost exclusively to cheat on homework assignments. What other possible purpose would there be to translate to and from Latin. If that's your job and you're using the internet to translate for you, no offense, but you kind of suck at your job. And if this is what you do for fun on a Sunday night... man what a loser... oh wait... Anyway, moving on, here is how one service would translate "seize life:" occupo vita. Hmm, how does it translate "Seize the Day"... Occupo Dies. Have we all been using that phrase incorrectly for the last 2000 years? What happens when I translate Carpe Diem? ahh, it means "to pluck the day". The problem with on-line translators is that you can't tell it that you want to translate pluck into the imperative. If you replace the "o" in Carpo with an "e" you get the present active imperative (which is how Romans ordered people around). Since I am assuming based on its "a" ending, that vita is a first declension noun, the correct translation is Carpe Vitam. "Vitam" of course being in the accusative as it is the direct object of Carpo. If you're still reading this post, all I can say is "wow" you must really feel cheated at this point although to be fair, I gave you a Latin grammar warning. You didn't have to keep reading.

Carpe Vitam... not a bad ring to it. I suppose it might have a bit of a Grim Reaperish feel to it. Maybe I'll try it out for a few days and see if anyone else submits something I like better.

The Adventure has begun... and it's really long

So I've been reading my siblings' and friends' blogs for a while now and discovered that I do in fact have voyeuristic tendencies. I like to know what's going on in their lives and I especially like pictures. I've also decided that since the process to join the foreign service has begun, I really should have a way (besides facebook) to keep family and friends updated on the current happenings of the C clan. This blog will attempt to do just that. But I feel that I must be honest. I am a terrible writer, an even worse speller (sorry Mom, those mornings at the kitchen table may have been wasted), I have no idea how to use commas (coma no I think it's comma) correctly, and I have so many unfinished projects, I had to promise the DH that I would not start any more projects until I finished at least one. (sigh) Some day I will learn how to make my own soap.

I fully expect that this blog will neither be amusing nor informative. It will probably only be updated occasionally and since I always forget to take pictures, it won't even have the added benefit of pictorial representations to make it interesting. But for those of you who love me, it should at least be a place to let you know what we've been up to.

I'll begin with an update on the Foreign Service (FS from here on out) process.

Step 1: Register for the FSOT (Foreign Service Officer Test) sometime in late November.

Step 2. Took and passed the FSOT February 14, 2009. It was my third attempt but I made it.

Step 3. Submitted answers to five Personal Narrative Questions (like short college admission essays only you also have to submit names of people who can confirm the essay is true).

Step 4. Found out sometime in May (?) I think that I had apparently passed the PNQ part and that I would now be able to take the Oral Assessment (OA).

Step 5. Sometime in June I finally got to schedule the assessment which occurs mostly in DC but sometimes in other parts of the country.

Step 6. Complete a 10 year history of employment and life including references for each place that you worked, lived, or went to school.

Step 7. July 20th I took and passed the OA with a very meager 5.3. 5.25 is passing but no one gets a 5.25 so a 5.3 is the lowest you can get and still pass. On the flip side, the assessment is out of 7.0 and I've never heard of anyone getting higher than a 6.0.

Step 8. After finding out I passed, I submitted 86 pages of life history to Diplomatic Security so that they could start the 10 year back ground check.

Step 9. Was poked, prodded, x-rayd and other indignities to determine if I am medically able to live in places where the local doctor also treats goats.

Step 10. Wait

Step 11. Wait some more

Step 12. Start obsessing over how fast other's security clearances are going.

Step 13. Try to stop obsessing and pretend that I don't care what's happening with security clearance.

Step 14. Get email from investigator in Beijing asking for my supervisor contact from my 2 week internship. Rejoice! I have not been forgotten. Immediately return investigator's email about Beijing. I did not have supervisor or they were possibly out of town. In fact, mostly watched old episodes of CSI and edited letters in English. Hope this is sufficient.

Step 15. Wait some more.

Step 16. Email DS to find out if they need anything else. (Clever ploy to find out what if anything is going on with case)

Step 17. Get call from investigator in D who wants to set up interview for next day.

Step 18. Asked a bunch of questions about my loyalty to the US, alcohol and drug use (or lack thereof) and my sexual activities (Have I ever been paid for sex?!!!) Who answers yes to these questions?!!

Step 19. Get phone calls from friends and acquaintances asking if the guy calling them from the "State Department" is real. Assure them that yes, it is real. Get phone calls from friends and family telling me that they're sure to hire me because they gave me such a great reference. (sigh) Finally gave up on trying to explain to people that this is not a reference check for a job. Already have a conditional job offer. This is a top secret security clearance. I think I'm okay as long as you don't tell them that I worked as a prostitute to put myself through college or that I was the president of the local communist chapter. If my investigator reads this, I did neither of these things. Although I did recently hear about a prostitution ring being run out of one of the residence halls at Baylor.

Step 20. Talk to investigator in College Station who needs people who still live in College Station who can vouch that I was an RA there.... Six years later? They've graduated and moved on. No one stays in College Station, TX. Call the Executive Director of housing program. That's an awkward conversation to have. "umm, I worked for you around seven or eight years ago, I was one of about 150 undergraduate students. Not to put you on the spot, but do you remember me?" Luckily I have run into Ron at some housing conferences since my undergraduate years and he does in fact remember me (at least he says he does - he and his wife are very nice). The only other two people still down there are people that I didn't exactly see eye to eye with on a number of issues. I'm kind of shuddering to think what my old advisor for Staff Council will have to say about me but at least I know it can't be anything bad about my loyalty to the US and I guess that's all that's important.

Step 21. Waiting......

The next thing that should happen is that my top secret security clearance will be granted, then my medical clearance, then my file will go to a final suitability review (to make sure that I don't have anything in my file that might make me unsuitable for foreign service life). If you're wondering what sorts of things will keep you from passing the final suitability review but that don't prevent a top secret security clearance from being granted, some examples I've seen are males who said that they had not registered for the draft at 18 and someone who may or may not have had a gambling problem. It's hard to say, he was kind of vague about the whole thing.

Then my name goes on a list of other candidates who are also in the Consular cone. There are five tracks and the Consular and Management cones are the shortest lists to be on (good for me). I'll be ranked by my score (remember that 5.3) and by the date that I entered the register. So if someone enters the list with the same score as me but a later date, they would be ranked lower than me.

Next, I will get called up to join an orientation class called the A-100. These classes are in Arlington VA. After a couple of weeks I'll find out where we're being posted. (this is called the bid process and I'll probably write more about that in the coming months if I haven't lost interest in this blog). We could go anywhere in the world that has an embassy, consulate, or mission or we could even be stationed right in DC. I'll then go through more training and possibly language training and then we'll ship out.

About Ben.

I know, I know, everyone always asks, "Is your husband okay with all this; what is he going to do?". Ben is studying for the CPA exam currently. Because I'm hoping to join the January 4th class of the A-100, he should be done with the CPA by then. However, even if he is, he'll probably still stay in D a little bit longer so that he can continue working for H&B. Especially with a CPA we're anticipating (really more like hoping) that he'll be able to find a job somewhere even if it means telecommuting. The joy of being an accountant is that you can do that anywhere. My current career in a University being slightly less portable, we've always considered that we would eventually have to move for my job.

About Jamaica.

The other question everyone wants to know is where we'll go. Who knows? The only place that we don't want to go is Jamaica. They won't allow us to bring Lucy and Tunzil and they have one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world. Also, I'm not a fan of Jamaican table tennis and soccer players (long story - but ask me some day about "fine red wine").

Hope that answers some questions. I'll sign off for now but I'll leave you with a great blog from an actual Consul http://theconsulsfiles.blogspot.com/. Read a few posts if you're asking what on earth I'm going to be doing in those far off places.