Questions and doubts

Ken and I have been dealing with a lot of doubt about the entire process lately. Sometimes I have moments where I'm so excited and can't wait to go, but a lot of the time I just want to say Screw it! and ditch the entire thing. We have such mixed feelings, but I really don't think we should fly half-way around the Earth not sure. I would feel awful to have the tax payer's hard earned money fly us all the way over there, and have us go "Oh, sorry! Tee hee! I kind of want to go home now". Sadly, there is a huge portion of PC volunteers that don't make it all the way through the service. Only about 2/3 of people last through the entire 27 months, and that portion is a lot higher in certain more "stressful" areas like Africa. If we are going to go all the way over there, I don't want to come home early, that would just be lame. I know that the Peace Corps would be great, but it is just such a long period of time to be away from home. Ken and I are super close with our families, and being away for 27 months is going to be freakishly hard. In some ways I think that doing just regular traveling (spending a month here and there) would be much more up our alley. On the other hand, so much of what I liked about Peace Corps was that it was totally different from our regular routine, and would really test us as people. Ken and I are just such home-based people and are really excited for Ken to go to grad school, get his teaching license, buy a house and have babies. No matter what we do, the house and babies will be a few years off, so the yelps from my uterus wont be appeased either way for quite a while, but neither of us is sure we want to tack on three additional years to the figure. I don't know what we are going to do, and neither of us are wishy-washy people. I hate being indecisive, and would really like to just make a decision already, but I guess we are going to have to think and pray on it a little more.
At this point, Ken and I are still moving forward with our applications. We've actually made distinct progress in the last two days. Ken was able to get ahold of his therapist who found his paperwork that we sent him months ago in a random box somewhere, and was going to fill it out right away. Once we get that done, it's just the statements, which wont be horribly difficult.
On other fronts, because we are unsure about Peace Corps as a whole right now, Ken is also planning to apply to the UofO teaching program that starts in June. The application is due in February, so he needs to move on it, but should be able to get it done. At this point we are moving ahead with both options, and hoping that it becomes crystal clear which way we are supposed to go. Obviously, if Ken doesn't get into the program Peace Corps it is, and vice versa. I royally doubt it will be that simple, and we will just have to decide at some point, but I would be nice if the decision was very cut and dry and basically made for us. Either way, it is a HUGE decision, and we're not taking it lightly.
Wish us luck.

Liver Panel Update

The liver panel came back normal. I know you guys were all chomping at the bit, so you can relax and breathe. My liver isn't dying yet from my TB meds. ;)

Progress after the break.

Call us slackers, call us lame, or whatever you want, but we needed a break. So we took one. Between moving, and all the crazy medical stuff going on, our Peace Corps application was put on the back burner. However, this last week we've been feeling more jazzed about the entire process and had some energy to get the ball rolling again.
Ken called his therapist to find out where that part of the application was, (as we hadn't gotten it back after two months) and come to find out, Ken had sent it to the wrong place. So his therapist never received it, and we have no idea where the paperwork went. So he had to call the DC office and request a replacement set be sent to us. So between getting it, getting it to the therapist, and getting it back, it will be a bit longer before we can send in anything.
TB update: I started the medication on December 1st (which means I can have my first drink post-INH on my birthday!) and things are going fine. I'm not having any weird side effects (beige colored stool anyone?). The biggest hurdle is remembering to take it, which really isn't that big of a deal. I saw the Infectious Disease specialist today to check up after starting the meds. He's very nice and excited for our travels in Africa. He filled out my special "I have TB paperwork" in the office which was really great, so I don't have to go back to pick it up. After my appointment with him, I had another liver panel drawn, which is never fun, but apparently necessary. I'd rather not have my liver tank out on me without my knowledge. I'll find out if things are still looking rosy tomorrow, in case any of you are panicked about it. I for one am not.
Dr Ruscheinsky finished all of the basic medical paperwork yesterday, so that is ready to go. The dental and eye exams are ready to go too. So our current to do list is we need to write our "how we deal with stress and not go crazy" statements, and get Ken's paperwork back from his therapist. Five thousand down, three to go.
Wish us luck.

Life crazines

Sorry for the post hiatus, it's been nuts around here. First it was our anniversary (Yay!) and the PC physicals (Yay!) but then everything turned to shit. TB came back positive, the doctor thought I had an enlarged thyroid, our car got smashed (it was parked, we weren't in it, and the other guy's insurance is paying for everything, so no need to worry, but it was more crap to deal with), we moved out of our apartment and had to figure out how to pack a two bedroom apartment worth of stuff into a single room, and get used to having house-mates again (GIANT HEADACHE), I had ultrasound that showed a normal sized thyroid but one with oodles of nodules (further stress ensues, doctor eventually thinks they're fine and just part of my unique Tyan-ness, but takes a couple of days to decide), my sinus infection got so horrible I thought my face was going to explode so I went to the doctor for that, had to see the disease control specialist who made me have a chest x-ray and liver panel (both were normal), started on TB antibiotics that I have to take for 9 (NINE, grrrr) months, that come to find out react poorly not only to alcohol (pout) but also to certain staple-foods like aged cheeses, sausage, soy sauce, avocados, tuna, sour cream, and lots of other delicious things (double pout) all of which I now have to avoid, then my beloved childhood kitty Jasper died unexpectedly, work has been completely insane and I've been working overtime, and then to top it off Ken's Grandma who lives in a nursing home went into a coma, and is not expected to recover.

To say the least, I've wanted to either scream, lash out at innocent bystanders, or curl up in a ball and cry for the greater part of the last two weeks.

As far as Peace Corps news, things are moving, but not horribly exciting. All of our medical stuff is nearly done, all we have left to do is for me to take my positive-TB paperwork to my disease-control-specialist doctor, and for us to write our "how we handle stress and not go off the deep-end" statements (the past few weeks have certainly been a testament to that!). Luckily, in the end, everything was normal except the TB (which is being taken care of). So I don't think the Peace Corps has anything to reject us about. I'm assuming that they will make us jump through a few more hoops regarding the medical stuff, but at least its moving and looking fine thus far.
Wish us luck