Bangladesh!

On Friday we learned that we will be going to Bangladesh in June. I have let the knowledge sink in, and process a little. Hot, humid, and wet. I can handle that. We bid it high, because it has a great school for the kids, R can start third grade there, and B will enter kindergarten. It is very close to many other countries where we can travel and explore, Thailand, Bali, India, and Nepal. Our scheduled vacation will be in Sydney, Australia, so watch out you Aussies, I'll be wanting to visit!

Much to my delight, when we got our post, I turned to O, a new friend here in Arlington, and said "You have to come too" and her husband R, also got posted there. It's very exciting to know people in the country, and to actually know you like them as well.

I guess I can pack away the winter clothes after this winter in DC, and prepare with some wet weather gear. Rain coats, umbrellas, and gum boots here we come. I heard Bangladesh has two seasons, wet underwear season and dry underwear season. I am not sure what the underwear part means except that maybe it's really hot, but I also heard that the dry season lasted for 2 weeks last year. Wonderful news! Maybe I should buy 12 umbrellas!

Missing you all, excited for our new adventures, and so happy with where we are now! Couldn't be better!

Well life here is settling in well. For the first time since I can remember I am unemployed and I thought this would bug me. I love it, so far. Being a mommy, playing with my kids and even feeding the family is a fun job for me. Thank goodness the apt is small and the cleaning up doesn't take long.

Ballston, where we live is great. I love the apt building, everyone is friendly and talkative. I mostly love that everyone seems to really enjoy children. Almost everyone talks to the kids in the elevators and makes them feel welcome. The pool is great, and most afternoons are spent splashing around. We have been to the library across the street, and the parks and malls. The kids love the metro and we go to DC to museums quite often. It's amazing how easy it is to talk to people here, and how interested in you they are. Met another mom on the metro with her two kids and found out we were going to the same place, so we all just went together, like old friends. Meet another couple at the park, who were foreign service people too. We spent an hour in the park with their little girl, just talking about FS life.

Last sunday, we went with another family to a petting zoo, the kids adored feeding the goats and sheep, and bottle feeding the babies. Yesterday, we went to the mall for school clothes shopping. I think they enjoyed that. B keeps asking if he can put his jeans on. He normally hates jeans.

Last night, O, another spouse of an FSO, organized a happy hour for spouses. It was nice to get out and enjoy some company. The men have happy hours all the time, so it was our turn. The men even had a night away at a resort, to learn 'teambuilding' skills. On the agenda was 'Follies' So glad they scheduled that, I'm sure they would have forgotten all about having some fun, if it wasn't scheduled.

Can't wait for Friday! That is when we find out where in the world we are going! Very exciting!

My Lovelies from the PNW

After spending much of the morning recycling the cardboard boxes that housed our belongs for the past month, the kids and I headed to our trusted Target store. What are we going to do without Target? What might one need at Target, since our shipment of stuff had just arrived? Well on our list, we had five boxes, and we got five boxes here. Box no. 1 was suppose to have a fan, hangers and clothes, Box no 1 did NOT contain said fan, nor hangers. We did get our clothes, and one hanger. Also, so fortunately, we got a trash can, so nicely wrapped in paper and placed in a separate box, along with a $2 ikea light, inside the trash can, was our trash. I am so lucky. I really was missing that capri sun pouch, used tissues and fred meyer bag. So, today I bought 80 hangers. Pretty teal blue one, for $8. Gotta love target.

The kids and I are frequent users of the apt. pool. B with his bright orange floaties and R with her cute little bikinis. They are getting pretty good. B practiced diving for dive sticks today and much to his surprise, he didn't drowned. When we got back up stairs to the apt to change back into regular clothes, B barges into my bathroom, as any four year does, to exclaim..."R has a line on her, and it's brown, you have to see it!" He grabs her shirt and lifts it joyfully to show me his new discovery. "Wow, B, yes she does have a brown line on her. Its called a tan, and you have one too." I showed him his tan, and he giggled with glee.

I found this too funny, since my children have never really had a tan before. We have lived in the Pacific Northwest their entire life, and have satisfied our daily Vitamin D need with the trusted Flintstone vitamin. Now we actually see enough sun, we don't need the extra vitamin D. Maybe I should ship my supply back to the PNW.

Virginia, not homesick yet... still Honeymooning

Well after a crazy world wind trip we are here in Arlington, VA. The kids spent 4-5 days with cousins in Locust Grove, and I went back to work for a couple of days in Washington. It was good to hang out with my friend K. Today is the first day we are all together in the apartment. It feels so good to unpack and organize a little bit. Yesterday I went to the FSI spouse orientation, which was very informative, but even better than that, J got his bid list. It was really good, or so we think. WE had fun trying to picture ourselves as a family in one of the many posts.

I am sure I am going to start missing Washington state soon and all my friends but so far I have been so busy, I haven't even sat down to think. Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the Zoo and I think that will make me sad for Seattle. I am glad to be done with work for a bit, but I am sure I'll miss those darling babies sooner than later.