MEDICALLY CLEARED!!!!

I am a little behind on updating and announcing this- its been a busy weekend with my birthday and all, but on Thursday, I received notice that I have been medically cleared and....even bigger news- I received a call from Placement. They had a placement for me leaving in late April. Ahhh.....so soon!

The whole conversation and the rest of Thursday was quite a blur. I didn't expect to hear from Placement so soon and to have them want me to leave so soon. I told the PO I needed the night to think things over. I wasn't able, at that moment, to tell him if I could leave in April or not. I had been planning on August/September/October. April was a lot sooner than even August.

I immediately called my mom and tried to explain to her what was going on, but I was in kind of a fog. Everything had happened so quickly.

To make a long story short, after much deliberating with family and friends, including a friend currently serving in the region where I was going to be placed, I decided 1) the placement maybe wasn't the best fit for me, and 2) I am not ready to leave so soon. I have would like to finish out the school year with my kids and I really would like to spend my last summer in the US working at the Rec Dept- a place that is quite special to me for many reasons.

Anyway, I emailed my PO early Friday morning and said my preference would be to wait, however, I realize the importance of finding a good fitting placement for each volunteer and so, if a placement arose sooner than August that was a good fit for me, I would be ready to go.

While I still don't know location or departure time, or when I will find those things out, it was a wonderful birthday present to receive medical clearance and hear from the PO at the same time.

Next update will hopefully contain even more information, however, this update is huge for me!

Mr. Mailman, Please Come Quick

Complete. A decision has been reached regarding your medical review. Please look for a letter in the mail.

I thought they would make me have one more doctor's appointment in March before I received this news. There is no reason it should be bad news, but I am very anxious for the mail.

One step closer!

Lots of people on Peace Corps Journals talk about RAS (Restless Applicant Syndrome). I definitely have it- even more so now after getting through a medical hold up yesterday- one that has taken months to figure out- and from that, I can say, good doctors make all the difference! Anyway, hopefully I will be receiving medical clearance shortly. Because of this, I am becoming more and more restless.

At this point, I don't plan on leaving until the end of August at the earliest so that I can be at Heidi and Dale's wedding, however, I would love to have an invitation sooner rather than later so that I know what my future holds. I have decided though, I think if/when I hear from placement, if they tell me an invitation will be in the mail, I kinda don't want to know the region. I have concluded that I am fine with anywhere. Every location would be an adventure. I want to know approximate departure date, but if I know location too, I will be on Peace Corps Wiki immediately trying to figure out where. The more I have thought about it, the more I kind of want that element of surprise.

Hopefully next time I update, the title will be MEDICAL CLEARANCE!!