Faster and Furious-er

That's right - it's time for Dhaka: The Sequel...

To spare all of you, I will sum up.  On December 19th of last year, we found out - to our happiness - that we would be expanding our family by one in August.  On December 20th of last year, the assignments were released and we got another surprise.  We were heading back to Dhaka!  In August!  Naturally, we had a bit of a conflict, but with some creative rearrangement and a short delay, everything fell into place.  The kids and I packed out the house while Josh finished up some training out of state.  After that, we all loaded up into the van and drove to Virginia where we would stay until after Mr. T was born.  He surprised us by arriving 2 weeks early, but it was all for the best as it gave us more time to work through all the paperwork requirements of getting a newborn ready to go overseas.

The kids started school and shortly after, Josh left us to start work.  Many phone calls and e-mails later, we managed to get passports and tickets for all of us.  Josh was even able to fly home and help us get back.  The flights were fairly uneventful - 5 people, 10 suitcases, 5 carry-on bags, and 2 cat carriers - and relatively short.  Total travel time once we were en-route was only about 20 hours.  By a stroke of luck, we were temporarily placed in the same house we lived in the last time we were here.  This made the transition fairly easy for the whole family.

B got a week off to adjust and get his sleep back on schedule and then he headed to school where he has been enjoying meeting lots of new friends - and some old ones as well.  K has been home helping out with Mr. T and being a pretty good "big sister".

There have been a few changes for the better while we were gone.  First, traffic has improved at least in the local area.  I haven't ventured down near my tailor's shop yet, but I can get to things in the neighborhood faster than I used to be able to.  Second, the commissary has made a lot of improvements and we now have more of a variety of foods available.  Also in the food department, there is a new-ish grocery store that carries bread, fresh produce, meat, and luxury items (at a cost of course).  The Lindt dark chocolate and hazelnut bar I was looking at yesterday was just over $10.  So.... I didn't buy that, but I definitely thought about it. 

Many things have remain unchanged, and that's mostly a good thing.  There is real goodness in Dhaka.  Life here, however hectic work might be, is still slow and family-intensive.  The office is all of a half mile away, and while the tether of the Blackberry follows us everywhere, it has a vibrate mode so at least we don't have to listen to it.  There's plenty of time for relaxation, games, puzzles, movies, and more.  I have realized that in the busy-ness that pervades US life, I have sadly neglected to pass on my love of board games and card games to my children.  It's now a work in progress.

My bread baking is going well again, and I find that I really missed it when we were stateside.  How often did I really have a three hour block to mix the dough, wait for it to rise, and bake it?  Probably never.  Here, I can bake any day I want.  There is such freedom that comes when we eliminate so much of the unnecessary "stuff".  Freedom to really spend time with your family and do the things you truly enjoy.  And laundry.  Don't forget to do the laundry :) 

We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast...

If you caught my post on Facebook a while back, you'll know we are returning to Dhaka.  Depending on the day, little people in our house are either really looking forward to this move, or really NOT looking forward to the move.  It's difficult to sort out the basis for these feelings, but they're generally related to things like friends, family, and school.  In my mind, these are all valid reasons to feel ambivalent or even upset about moving.  But that doesn't stop the wheel from turning.

On that note, we got our RFO while I was off gallivanting with the kids on Spring Break.  We've had a few unexpected changes to our timeline.  We originally planned for Josh to finish up the summer cycle at Florida State, then do some additional Army training, and finally take some leave before we all headed back overseas.  Our landlord is only letting us stay through the end of July (graduation is the first week of August), so we already knew we'd be packing out while Josh was still in school.  As it happens however, he needs to finish up early because he needs to get overseas faster.  And so he will be away training while the kids and I supervise the packing.  This could go really well, or not.

The second piece of this ever-changing puzzle is that we will not be able to accompany him when he flies.  We're all a little bit sad about this (mostly me, because I'll be traveling with the kids).  But because we always like to have a bit of drama in our lives, we have some news.  While we left Dhaka last summer as a family of four, we will be returning as a family of five!  What aspect of international move planning doesn't become even more fun when you incorporate a newborn??

From packing up and shipping baby clothes in July for a baby who won't even be born for another month, to figuring out how to purchase plane tickets and apply for a passport for an as yet unnamed child, or trying to figure out how to pack a suitcase that has space for maternity, nursing, and normal clothes, our lives have taken on a new level of complexity.  And we couldn't be happier.