One Year Later

One year ago, we had already started making preparations for our "big trip".  We spent the weekend in and around Sacramento (after a quick trip to the ER to remove popcorn kernels from B's ears).  It's strange that while that trip seems so familiar to me and I can recall many of the things we did, it was also a long, long time ago.  So many new things have happened!  We've been here in Dhaka for nine months now.  Sadly, I've had relatively few opportunities to travel even though we'd hoped to be able to travel together.  We're all very happy that B is in school now, but given his issues getting adjusted to that new schedule, we've been loathe to pull him out.  So, Josh has traveled alone most of the time.  I look back and I'm a bit jealous of our ability to just make hotel reservations and take off for the weekend.  With Josh's school, this is often totally impossible between social events, after-hours work, and "field trips".  So my primary job is keeping the kids on a schedule.

I've successfully completed my first semester of grad school and I'm happy to report that while my grades aren't officially posted, I'm pretty sure I got an A in both classes.  I've registered for my next set of classes and I only hope we're here in Dhaka through the end of the next semester so I can continue to focus on that instead of trying to squeeze class into the middle of an international move.

We celebrated K's third birthday on Friday - she's is such a big girl!  Josh took her out to pick out a cake and she was so excited about it that rather than waiting until lunch, we had cake in the middle of the morning followed by presents.  That evening, Josh and I attended the 237th birthday day of the United States Marine Corps.  At embassies, this is often one of the largest social functions of the year, and if our experience was any indication, I can see why.  If you've been to a few military balls before, I'm sure you remember the format:  mediocre dinner, so-so guest speaker, 5 minutes of grown-up dancing followed by...  Well, to spare my albeit limited audience, I'll just say we usually leave to avoid the embarrassing "dancing" of the younger crowd.  Anyway, this is clearly a different sort of group here.  I'm not sure I can really guess the average age of the people at our event, but we were definitely not the oldest or youngest.  And the dance floor was beyond crowded late into the evening.  I even got Josh to dance!  So add some free alcohol into the equation and you have a recipe for success.  Too bad Josh had to get up early the next morning to go on an all-day boat cruise for school.  

And today, Veterans Day, B is at school, K is on a playdate, Josh is at school, and I'm enjoying the Masterchef Australia/How I Met Your Mother marathon and thinking about all of my friends, past and present, who have served this fine country in any capacity.