Things on the job front are still more or less the same. The final candidate is finished today, which means that they will likely meet to decide later this week. Then, the decision goes up the chain before an offer can be made. This means that I’m likely going to be waiting another week at minimum. C’est la vie. By a stroke of good luck, I found that a local institution (near to Red State University, that is) is hiring two people to do exactly what Spouse did for 9 years. This means that if I got an offer, Spouse would have a good chance of also having a well-paying job that takes advantage of his skill set. I almost can’t fathom what life would be like for us to have good jobs in the same location.
In other news, I took the Foreign Services Officer Exam on Friday afternoon. While I won’t know anything for at least another 3 weeks, I feel pretty good about my performance. Time will tell, of course, but I will remain hopeful. If things went well, I advance to the next stage. The whole process can take a year, so I’m holding out hope that something pans out for us in the meantime.
After contending with a lot of pain and intestinal issues and having a battery of tests (including a colonoscopy…yay), my doctor has confirmed that indeed have IBS. I’ve been put on a highly restrictive diet that is supposed to eliminate my symptoms, but it’s quite difficult. Most of the things I really like are now verboten, so I anticipate losing a lot of weight. This might not be such a bad thing, but on the other hand, it sure would be nice to eat some bread or pasta here and there. To get some perspective on what I’ve been limited to, here’s a handy-dandy chart that separates the good from the bad.
Yeah. This will be interesting.
Look on the bright side: you’ve still got wine and cheese on your side!
But no bread or crackers.
IBS is not a diagnosis. It is a “we’ve ruled out everything else so we’re going to pretend we know what’s wrong.” A close friend of mine has a very bad case of IBS that goes away every time he goes on vacation, and is clearly stress-induced. When you get out of the current job uncertainty, it might be worth trying to reintroduce those “bad” foods and see if you can handle them better once the rest of your life is more settled. Just a thought from a non-professional…
I wouldn’t say that it isn’t a diagnosis. It is a functional disorder of the gut that has a number of causes/triggers. Good for your friend that he doesn’t symptoms on vacation. The rest of us are not always so lucky.
This list is not tons of fun…but a good natural-foods store will have gluten-free pasta, rice-based pasta, and various other offerings that may allow you to have some of your favorites. And anything that helps you feel better has got to be a plus! Can’t wait to hear how things begin to settle out. Really pulling for you!
I am blessed with a great local grocery store that has a huge selection of wheat-free items that will take the place of my beloved crackers, bread, and pasta. It is also a wonderful excuse for me to eat more Asian food (sans onions and garlic)!