See what had happened was: the day after Memorial Day while I was still in Florida getting ready to move Mom into her new house, I got a phone call telling me the Ambassador had decided to reduce personnel numbers at the US Embassy in Cairo and that she was looking to rescind my position. Let that sink in for a minute: everything I had been working towards for the last 3 years was on the verge of disappearing.
Alternatives were discussed, including relocating me to somewhere else in the region (like Dubai, which certainly would not have been awful). But my family isn't in Dubai, they're in Cairo, and Cairo is what I signed up for. Not to mention the 5 months of Egyptian colloquial Arabic lessons I've been taking. Needless to say I was pretty torn up about it.
Fast forward 2 1/2 weeks to this past Friday (which, by the way, felt like the longest 2 1/2 weeks of my life): the Director of the USPTO somehow managed to convince the Ambassador to change her mind about me. I was waiting outside the Director's office during the call, and when everyone came out with their thumbs up it felt like I had gotten the job all over again. Sadly the final deal isn't in ink yet so I'm keeping my promise to the Universe to not count my chickens until I'm on Egyptian soil (and then again on American soil inside the embassy walls). But to everyone who had started pricing out flights to Dubai (Lillian), we're back to the original plan...for now.
I still don't have a departure date, naturally, so I'm in that unfortunate state of limbo again. But I would take this limbo of not-knowing-when-I'm-leaving over not-knowing-whether-I'm-going-at-all any day. Deep breaths, one thing at a time, everything is as it should be.
p.s. happy Father's Day :)
