Well let me tell you, I could have used a consular officer this weekend. You see, I was all set to enjoy a relaxing long weekend with my owners when, without doing anything wrong, I was sent to jail! They called it a “kennel” but it seemed like jail to me. There was a phone there for dogs to talk to their owners, but I wasn’t allowed to use it. I don’t think I could have heard anything anyway because all the other prisoners were barking so loud.

One time I heard my owners say that a consular officer will usually visit a prisoner within 24 hours, but nobody came to visit me at all! I had to wait three days before I was rescued. I was treated well, by prison standards. And they did give me that wet food I love so much. (They even told my owners I “gobbled it all up.”) But I was still in prison and I didn’t even know why.

I came to find out later that my owners went to New York City to visit friends and see their old neighborhood one last time before something called a “baby” arrives. They even saw the old dog park where I used to go every day! I loved it there, except when other dogs would try to come in. I hated those guys.

I’m glad everyone is back and it sounds like there won’t be any more trips for a long time. But I’m worried about what this baby thing is. I wonder if a consular officer can help me with that too…

Some lazy weekends when we didn’t know what to do, we would take off for a random faraway neighborhood just to earn another push-pin. (And, you know, to explore and stuff.)

We lugged the map along with us to DC, where it’s been living in our closet for the past seven months… until… yesterday! Andy surprised me by unveiling a framed version!

Admittedly, I suggested we get it framed about six and a half months ago, back before Andy was in French and when he was desperately looking for things to fill his days. And yet back then he whined about how he had far better things to do and just couldn’t possibly find the time. So, let’s keep that in mind when trying to decide how many husband-of-the-year points he gets. =) Nevertheless, a nice gesture.

Hopefully this map will eventually be joined by many others. You see, shortly after we signed on for this Foreign Service lifestyle we decided that to remember each country we called home for two or three years, we would invest in a nice, preferably old-timey map.

We like the idea of having a physical reminder of each post. Some people collect paintings, others masks, and others jewelry. But for us, maps just make the most sense. As a kid I had a dorky habit of spending hours hunched over a Rand McNally atlas, strictly for fun. And I’ve often caught Andy in the living room staring at the giant West Africa map I picked up at Main State. (Yes, it’s true. There’s a map room in the library where they just give out free maps. Go! Now!)

Even though we’re pretty settled on our new tradition, I’d still love to know how others remember — or plan to remember — where you’ve been.

It’s strange to think that by next year I’ll be far away in Benin and couldn’t participate in the NYC Tri even if I wanted to. Not that I want to. My old man knees are crying out for retirement.

Alex and I are eyeing the Marathon de Paris, however. It would be a great way to see the city, although I think my knee just gave me a dirty look.

Living in NYC, I was a regular on real estate and restoration blogs. I sometimes even went to open houses for fun. Of course, seeing as how I neither have a trust fund nor work in finance, I could never afford to buy property there. Well, that’s not entirely true. Right before the Foreign Service became a reality Andy and I were toying with the idea of becoming NYC homeowners, but our budget would put us in, at best, a 700-square-foot two-bedroom in a less than desirable neighborhood probably an hour from work. And we’d be paying that off for 30 years. Hardly ideal.

So, fast-forward to the present. We’re currently living in Rosslyn, an area that’s convenient and safe and totally fine, but also a little soul-crushing for someone who gets so much pleasure from old, quirky architecture. (Andy’s description of Rosslyn in a previous post is spot on: “The dominant architectural style appears to be 1990s Corporate Apartment.”)

One day when I was feeling a little sorry for myself and wishing I’d done more research before committing to our DC digs, we decided to venture out to explore neighborhoods that seemed more our speed.

These pictures were taken around Logan Circle. Love it! Upon returning home we promptly hopped on some real estate sites. Prices aren’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re also not in the it’s-never-in-your-wildest-dreams-going-to-happen range we grew accustomed to in NYC.

Interesting.

But just because we can own, should we? I realize real estate is a much smarter place to stash our money than in the low-yield savings account it’s mostly now all in. (I know, I know. I keep meaning to get on this.) I also of course love the idea of having a house to decorate and restore however I like. And the potential to get some rental income while we’re overseas doesn’t hurt either.

At the same time, not having a trust fund or finance job isn’t actually the biggest reason I’ve made it to age 28 without buying property. Truth be told, there’s something very appealing to me about being untethered.

What about other FSOs out there? Why did you decide to become a homeowner, or why are you holding out?

So what is it like moving from NYC to Arlington? In a later post Alex or I will extol the virtues (and curse the hardships) of living in Oakwood. For now, I will concentrate on our new neighborhood.

The Pros:

• The Safeway – which is perfectly fine despite the poor reviews on Yelp – is only a three minute walk away.
• You’re not far from DC proper.
• There are some restaurants and bars within walking distance.
• The subway (or “metro” as they call it here) lists the wait times for the next few trains.
• The Rosslyn metro station hosts both the blue and the orange lines.
• The daily shuttle to FSI stops about three blocks away.
• Bus drivers often smile and say hello when you board; in NYC you’re lucky to escape with an unfriendly glare.
• Everything is cheaper than in NYC.
• Free refills on pop (aka soda) almost everywhere!

The Cons:

• The dominant architectural style appears to be “1990′s Corporate Apartment.”
• Georgetown is within walking distance only if it isn’t too hot, too cold, too rainy or too dark.
• The metro doesn’t run 24 hours a day.
• No dog parks close by so it’s hard for Abbey to get her fill of avoiding other dogs while off-leash.
• In NYC it would be possible though difficult to own a car; in Arlington it is possible though difficult to get by without one.
• I’ve never been to another “hip” neighborhood that included a Cheesecake Factory.

So, like all posts, Arlington has both its good and bad points. Over the next few months we hope to discover more of what it has to offer, and maybe even figure out the bus schedule once and for all.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I think it bears repeating, we had a tiny apartment.  We measured it at less than 300 sq ft.  The coat closet in our new apartment is twice as large as the only closet we had in Brooklyn.  Because of the size of our apartment, we figured our pack out would be a snap.  We gave ourselves an entire day to get organized before the movers arrived but thought we’d be done in two hours, tops.

And that’s when we ran into problems.  Ironically, it was the size of our apartment that made organizing and packing harder than we thought.  You see, when you have a small apartment, it becomes very difficult to organize your belongings into the appropriate groups.  There was just no room for piles.  Sure, we wanted all of our UAB in one room with our HHE in the other, but it just didn’t work out that way.

When the movers did arrive – four of them – it was difficult to navigate through the maze of boxes and furniture.  All the advice we read about removing your UAB first went out the window when we realized there was no way for anyone to actually get to our UAB pile.  So things were carried out of our apartment in groups.  A little HHE here, some permanent storage there, then a dash of UAB.

The next challenge was squeezing everything we could into our UAB.  I’m proud to say we used every last pound.  Since we were renting a car to drive down to DC we thought we would have plenty of space, but it was used up surprisingly fast.  Some last minute decisions had to be made about what would be in our UAB, what would be HHE and what we could take in our car.  Crock pot?  UAB.  Bread maker?  HHE.  Dog?  Depended on how well she behaved the rest of the afternoon.

If we were to give advice to future A-100 packers, we’d tell them to organize as much as possible so the movers can do their work without stopping to confirm what went where.  Putting your UAB in a separate room as your HHE would be ideal.  Also, since our UAB took two weeks to travel 250 miles, don’t assume things will be delivered promptly.

When all was said and done, the movers were at the apartment for a little over four hours.  We’re happy to say they were nice and, despite the amount of time it took, seemed to work quickly.  We were able to pack everything we really needed into our car and the secondary necessities went into UAB with no problems.  Sure there were a few items that were packed up accidentally, but you can’t win them all.

Then we said goodbye to the first apartment we ever had together and began looking forward to telling our future kids that if they thought their bedrooms were small, they should have seen the 300 sq ft apartment their parents shared with a dog in Brooklyn, New York.

Now that we’ve been on our road trip for two and a half weeks, we’ve had a chance to rest.  Of course there have been a few things to take care of, even from the road, such as finalizing our sublet and finally finding someone to fix a zipper on our couch cover that has been broken for about four months (both tasks have somehow proven way more difficult than we could have imagined).  But mostly we’ve been relaxing.  It feels like the calm before the storm.

When we get back to NYC, we’ll have one full day before the movers arrive, and then four more days spent in a hotel before finally heading to DC.  During that time we’re going to be much busier than we expected because of an ever-growing list of tasks that we’ll need to take care of.  It includes things like taking our cable box back to Time Warner, picking up a month’s worth of mail from the post office, renewing my drivers license and eating at about ten restaurants we promised ourselves we’d hit once more before leaving town.

But right now all we can do is look at our list, then push it aside in favor of a few more days of relaxation.  The calm before the storm.

Our NYC days are numbered, and the number is seven.

Today is #1. I’ll be spending it tying up things at work; Andy with be picking up the rental car and getting ready for tomorrow’s drive. We’re headed to the Midwest to spend a month visiting family. When we get back at the end of March, we have a day to arrange our stuff (#2), a day to supervise the movers (#3 — see Andy’s post) and then four days (#4 through #7) at a hotel before heading down to DC. I’m especially excited for those four hotel days, although the list of things we want to do and people we want to see then is growing exponentially…

What I’ll Miss Most About NYC

• Easy access to any kind of food I could possibly want
• Very few of the chain stores and restaurants that make most other American cities feel like any other American city
• People-watching on the subway
• Walking, rather than driving, to run errands
• Cobblestone streets lined with brownstones
• Dog parks
• Clothing swaps
• Exploring new neighborhoods — and knowing I’ll never run out of new places to see (because by the time I get through everywhere and start over, that first place will be completely different)

What won’t I miss? Well, having so little space that kids have to resort to things like this. (Although I will miss the city’s innovative spirit, perfectly demonstrated by this kid!)