Too much information = too much to do

I spent three days this week in a class called “Regulations, Allowances, and Finances in the Foreign Service Context.” Going in, I expected to be bored out of my mind by piles of useful information. Instead, I was mildly interested and completely overwhelmed by the piles of useful information. My main concern now is: Is it bad that my To Do list consists mostly of other To Do lists?

The bottom line of the class seemed to be that we, as Foreign Service employees and EFMs (that’s Eligible Family Members for those of you that don’t speak Foreign Service) are eligible for many different allowances. However, no one in the government is going to remind us to apply for this “free” money, so we had better know what’s what so we can take care of ourselves. I’m currently thinking that this is easier said than done. I guess I’ll just have to start keeping receipts for anything that seems even vaguely reimbursible. And I’m not even going to try to explain the impact that being in the Foreign Service has on income taxes. It’s enough to make you want to cry. Or scream. Or both.

This is the last class I’m enrolled in at FSI until the end of August. Now that I have a pile of information the size of Mt. Everest, I decided that it was time to take all the advice I’ve been given and prepare a month-by-month To Do list from now until we leave in April. Those of you that know me well know how much I love a good To Do list. But this one is terrifying. There are currently 40-ish line items, most of which have at least three steps required to complete them.

I’m going to pause here to take a deep breath.

In other news, my parents successfully survived their first trip to visit us here in DC. They seemed a little overwhelmed by the traffic and crowds, but I think that’s a fairly normal reaction to our nation’s capitol. Even more impressive, they made it through their first Foreign Service meet-and-greet before the swearing-in ceremony. It’s an overwhelming event for those of us that have been trained for it, so they did well for a couple of “newbies.” Now if I can just convince them that a trip to Kiev is the next logical step in the expansion of their comfort zones.