It's happening.

All of a sudden, everything is happening all at once, and fast. After lots of drafting and political infighting and two years of prospective election dates getting pushed back, Tunisia has a new constitution and an electoral law and a calendar for not one but three election dates this fall. The catch phrase in Tunisia these days is, apparently, "It's happening!"

It is super exciting - the culmination of lots of work on the part of Tunisian political players. Because my organization is supporting Tunisian groups that are observing the elections and bringing in international folks to observe as well, it also means that the pace is going to pick up at work.

Austin and I also found out recently that we're getting kicked out of our apartment because our landlord is moving back in after a few years in DC. It's a bummer because we (mostly) love the current apartment and even more of a bummer because we learned this time last year that we hate moving. We weren't totally sure that we wanted to stay in this place, but remember that little adage about wanting what you can't have? Apartment-hunting in DC is the worst. I get overwhelmed just thinking about it, and then again about moving in the midst of a busy work period.

As I can see over the peak of summer into the fall, it has also hit me that I may need to start doing some serious work if I have real intentions of going to grad school anytime soon. So at the back of my mind, I'm thinking that i need to spend some quality time with the GRE book.

And all of this amidst lots of fun summer travel plans that are going to be totally awesome but also mean time away from home. And it's the summer, so what I really want is to drink on a roof and swim in a pool. 

All told, it's going to be a busy few months, and I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about it. But it's also struck me that being overwhelmed is, on some level, a choice. It's a story you tell yourself, dwelling on the negative instead of the positive of having lots of fundamentally GOOD stuff going on, like great career opportunities and a chance to explore a new neighborhood. Just like, instead of saying you're crazy busy, you can say that you're "wildly productive and living the dream." Instead of "I'm overwhelmed" – "It's all happening!" 

So I am going to try to tell myself that story. I'm going to try to ride the wave and hold on tight. Ready, set, go.

(Fun fact: I wrote this on July 14. On July 15, our apartment got burglarized. A good reminder that no matter how crazy things seem, they can—and will—get crazier.)