Uncertainty is Hard

Welcome to my blog!  I meant to start this earlier this year to document our journey, and well, better late than never!  As this process has unfolded, I've found that I have so much more to say than I want to publish on Facebook, and so after much procrastination (and some inspiration from my friend Kristy's blog), I finally started this online journal of sorts.  I'll start with a little bit of history on how we got to where we are today.

In early November last year, I received a late afternoon phone call asking if I'd be interested in a notionally 1-year assignment in Dubai, and by the way, I needed to express interest by the end of the day.  I called G while he was on shift and left an urgent message, and he called back almost immediately saying "Go for it!".  That was the beginning of a month of anxiety, hand-wringing, and teeth gnashing.

We knew were we wanted to go, but the path to the destination was not always clear!

We are little cogs in a big machine, and let me tell you, the gears of the machine turn slowly -- that we were able to get the bulk of our assignment sorted out in a month is actually pretty lightning fast compared to many I've spoken with.  G was beside himself because he simultaneously loves change and hates uncertainty!  We learned the assignment was actually in Abu Dhabi and not Dubai, it was really a "short term" 11-month assignment and not a full year, and I was really the only candidate on the list for the job.  Finally, the weekend after Thanksgiving, I called my new supervisor so he could formally extend the job offer and I could verbally accept it.  Shortly after, G resigned from his job so he could spend our last big holiday at home with the family and so he could get the house ready for our fabulous house-sitters (more on that in a future post).

At first we thought, "Great!  We're official!  Let's get going!"  Again, the gears of the machine turn slowly - the management approvals for me to take this position were in place, but processes and procedures around expatriating are a whole different ball game.  About a week later, I received my formal package (ironically, AFTER I accepted the assignment.  Lesson Learned for next time.)  And here is the kicker!  In the midst of passport renewals, business trip planning, and a fairly rigorous medical assessment, I learned that we were pregnant!

Pregnancy is exciting. And terrifying.  I was suddenly filled with questions, and even more uncertainty - would I still be able to go on assignment?  If so, where would I delivery my baby?  What would maternity leave look like?  How would my new supervisor react?  If this caused a cancellation in my assignment, how would my current supervisors react to having to find me a new job?  And would it be a good job, or would they just send me back to my old job for 9 months?  How am I going to keep up my A-game in a tough new assignment while dealing with morning sickness and fatigue? How am I going to MOVE halfway around the world while dealing with morning sickness and fatigue?  How will all the stress of this move and new job affect my baby?  You can see the loop of anxiety spinning through my head.

Fortunately, I have amazing supervisors.  Let me say that again.  I have amazing supervisors.  My current supervisors and managers congratulated me, hugged me, and offered any support that I needed.  They told me not to worry and that the company would make the right decision, and in any case, they would love to have me keep my old job if the new assignment didn't work out. My new supervisors and managers also congratulated me, relieved me of my worries about my assignment, and supported my transition to the new job.  There was a little concern around a decision point to either keep me for the full 11 months of the assignment or end my assignment early and send me back to Houston just before my due date...and the decision ultimately was to keep me, extend my assignment into 2018, and allow me to have a regular maternity leave in the UAE with a temporary backfill.

So back to moving.  We finally left Houston at the end of January and I started my assignment February 1.  All in all, it took 3 months from when I received the "hey would you maybe consider...." phone call to boots on the ground in the new job...not too shabby, all things considered.  One of the things I'm still learning every day is that while uncertainty is hard, I have to have faith that things will turn out the way they are supposed to.  Thankfully, we have an amazing family and wonderful friends to support us through all of this craziness!!

Finally - all expense paid one-way trip to Abu Dhabi!