Fairfax

A few weeks before A-100 started, the mentor group for DH's class put out an email with helpful tips. On it, someone wrote that Fairfax was too far away, and that you shouldn't try doing A-100 from here. While living closer in would have been wonderful (especially in one of the Oakwoods), that wasn't an option for us, and we had already secured this apartment. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. If we lived away from the metro line and had to drive to it, it would be too far away, but right on the line, it isn't a bad commute at all. Plus, we get the advantage of having the kids in an amazing school system. I am really happy with it. Of course, it does have its ups and downs...

Driving in Fairfax can be a challenge. During non-rush hours, the only thing to watch out for is the lane size. In MN, we are used to really big lanes. Here, they are a bit smaller. I have done more "curb checks" here in the last two weeks than I have in the last 5 years. And, they don't trim trees and bushes so that a large vehicle doesn't hit them while sticking to their side of the road. There are a couple of places that I always swipe tree branches if there are cars coming in the opposite direction. But on the up side, everything we need is sooo close. I can live my life in a 3-mile radius (other than going to classes/meetings at the FSI or Main State). I suppose some day I will venture out to Costco, which is 8 miles away (still in Fairfax), but until then, I have what I need right here in my own little bubble.

During rush hour, that 3-mile radius may as well be 30 miles. The roads are full to the brim, and any amount of rain will make the whole city come to a grinding halt. Stop light cycles are approximately 5 minutes each, making every red light something to be avoided at all costs. If your light turns green, you must look both ways really carefully, because it is likely that two or three cars more than should will go through that "orange" light. But never fear that you will miss that green light by daydreaming; the car behind you will honk their horn the second that light turns green, regardless of whether you were daydreaming or not.

Parking spaces are hard to get into with our Ford E-350 if there are cars on both sides. We have learned to love the back of the grocery store parking lot.

There are an amazing number of grocery stores within my 3-mile bubble. I can go to Safeway, which is right in my neighborhood. I can go to Giant, which is north of us next to our church (and which I have decided has better prices and produce, and is a time-efficient way to kill off the grocery task while waiting for youth activities). Walmart is only a couple of miles away to our west, and Target is only a couple of miles away to our east. There are also a CVS and a Walgreens next to Safeway, and a CVS next to Giant, in case convenience is an issue. Grocery prices here are terrible. Think Mackenthun's (my Waconia friends will get this), but with double the dairy prices. Milk is $4 or more per gallon. Eggs are $2.50/dozen, and butter is $4/lb. Ouch.

I have been to Target and Walmart, but they are both inconvenient to my normal driving patterns, so I mostly go to Safeway and Giant, unless there are household things I need that I can't get from the grocery store. There are also office supply stores all over the place. If I need something I can't get from CVS or Walgreen's, Staples and Office Max are both within a mile. Hardware stores are a little farther away. I would love to get to one so that I can make copies of the apartment keys, but I never find myself in that direction, so I will have to just make a point of it soon. I believe Home Depot is right by Costco, so I'll have to plan a combined trip.

Of course, I must also compliment the weather here. It has been gorgeous every day. When it is hot, it is not as humid as MN. When it is cool, it is not too cool. It is sunny most days. I am not thinking Fall yet, and that is a wonderful thing! The landscaping here is also gorgeous. For such a busy city, it has a lot of green in it.

Church is good in Fairfax, but keeps us way too busy with our big family. Youth activities are not all on the same night of the week. Mondays at 4pm we have Wolf den meeting every other week. Wednesdays at 7:30pm is Webelos. Thursdays at 7:30pm is Mutual. I am getting worn out from all the driving. I think DS1 will be ready to do the Thursday drive soon. This week, I started having him drive whenever he is in the car. It was time to get back on the horse, and now that I know the area well, I am comfortable navigating him around. He is being much more cautious, which I appreciate. If our post assignment is one that keeps us here through the school year, then once we have the VW back from the shop (no, we don't have it back yet), we will buy him a parking pass for school and have him start driving to seminary. If it is closer in, I'll just keep doing it, since we'll be selling a vehicle and wouldn't want to pay for the parking pass. I'm exhausted, but I hope to adjust to the schedule soon. Maybe once daylight savings time ends...

Oh, did I forget to complete that sentence? I think I fell asleep.

Okay, maybe I should tell you a little about our bid list before I take a mid-morning nap. I'd love to tell you where we would like to go, but apparently we aren't allowed to mention which countries are on the bid list online. There are over 30 posts in our top picks list at the moment. Basically, if it doesn't have accredited schools for our kids, it went to the bottom of the list. If it has good schools and the housing situation is good, it went to the top of the list. There are some posts in the mid section that just didn't excite us, like one country where the commute is long and the housing is rumored to be "depressing." We really took the commute into account for both DH and the kids. There is so much on this list that looks wonderful. It was hard to decide what factors would determine between high and medium, after the posts with no decent schools were trimmed out. DH really doesn't know whether he'd rather get his Consular assignment out of the way first, learn all about the workings of the embassy as an HRO (Human Resources Officer) or get a position in his Econ cone. I think he would optimally take a combination assignment, where he gets to share or rotate Consular and Econ or Consular and Political duties. But, it matters so little, because he has to do the Consular assignment at some point, so it may as well be now. We can't wait until October 11th!