Chincoteague Island, VA

Late on Friday night, Chris mentioned that with the remainder of a consulation day and weekend, we could've headed to the beach. Kind of as in, "we should have". I took it as "we still can!!!" and jumped on the internet and started looking for a room. From a few weeks previous endeavor, I knew getting a hotel room on Assateague or Chincoteague Island area was about as good as a snowball's chance in you-know-where. We lucked out and happened to catch a nice Indian proprietor who just got stood up by a 3 day reservation maker whose deposit credit card declined, so was happy to offer us the room.

The drive basically sucked- LOTS of people with the same idea on a highway (no interstates out there) for miles. It took us about 4 hours to get to the island, but there were farmers markets, bridges and nice scenery along the way. We were happy to finally arrive... and eat :)

Many oysters sacrificed themselves last weekend! SOOOOO good- raw or fried! We ate at the Crab Shack for lunch and Captain Zack's carryout for dinner (crab poorboy, cream of crab soup, dozen raw and dozen fried oysters - our favorite place). We planned to walk to the Creamery or Mr. Whippy's for ice cream/yogurt, but there weren't enough hours... and our bellies were full... and the Saturday night lines were long.

(ABOVE- Crab Shack raw oysters, Capt. Zack's Carryout, BELOW- raw & fried from Capt. Zack's)

We played in the sand and surf Saturday afternoon until past 5PM and Sunday morning until 10AM. Ceiba skipped naps to take in the beach, but was a trooper! Amazingly, she never once fussed about saltwater stinging her eyes.
Well, until bathtime, which was shortlived.

A queen bed and a roll-away worked out just fine! Ceiba kicked me out and slept with Papa, while I got the roll-away T-boned at the end of the bed. Actually, think I got the good deal, even if my feet hung off the bed.
I slept way better than they did :)

For really great island details (spanning several years), start with a visit here to see another FS family.

Eastern Market

Up for an outing last weekend, we chose to head down to Eastern Market (http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/). It's a convenient stop along the Metro and a great way to spend your morning. We headed down early to beat the heat and decided on a Sunday visit to double dip with the flea market + the regular market. Soulard Market in STL used to be a weekly excursion for produce and season items when I worked downtown, so I had been missing the chance to peruse around in the open air markets.
 

(l to r) Pasta- we bought crayfish/lobster & mozzerella raviolis-YUM, Polish pottery, okra & maters

(l to r) fresh bouquets, indoor meat/fish section, gorgeous sunflowers

(l to r) manhole cover, berrries & veggies, patriotic art

(l to r) some heat!, pearls (I'm waiting for Dhaka!), flea market furniture

It was also a great photo opportunity... which is why we had waited so long to visit, in hopes my Minolta would be repaired... it isn't. As a matter of fact, it's pretty much in need of a R.I.P. sign. I sent it off to the warranty company today, after 6 weeks and the local company saying the part is discontinued. Ug, just what I want to buy before shipping out to Bangladesh. Actually, I do want to buy a new camera (and about 5 lenses), but the checking account is getting enough of a work out as it is. Maybe we'll just have to fly to Hong Kong or Tokyo as an excuse to camera shop!

Please pray for my Minolta until then!

Dropping the Book Weight

Chris finally bought a Nook this week! For non-techie people, it's an electronic book reader. It stores books and displays and bookmarks what you are reading. They are super cool! He's wanted one for a while, but it was something I thought he should choose. They are many brands available, all a bit different. It was something you should really feel and compare.

So far, he is really happy with it and is now rushing to finish up the couple hardcover books he has yet to read. I personally love the cool cover with the built in "blind you if you turn over in your sleep and accidently look toward it" light.

It'll be great to decrease our HHE weight from all the books we accumulate! We donated a TON to the library when we left IL and still have a lot. Not sure if it'll help avoid the below, but may be easier to juggle while juggling the kiddo.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Or so it made me think of when I went to the moving company to rework our HHE (household effects).

Our situation is a bit different than most people starting off in the Foreign Service. We were apart for 5 months while Chris was training. In March, we decided to finally join him, since he was in one state and on the last stage of training. So our house was packed out and all of our items were sent to Maryland for storage until our first assignment. We were allotted 600 lbs of airfreight to join us in Virginia. This amount would have to suffice for several months until we were reunited with the remaining 12,000ish lbs. Our apartment here is furnished, even down to the silverware, so we aren't really "roughing it". But we airfreighted out clothes, toys, a few pics, favorite linens and just a few "homey" items.

The WAY last minute change from Miami to Bangladesh put a bit of a wrench in the works. Though we called Transportation Dept. right away to give a head's up, Chris's official orders weren't cut for several weeks. So though we tried to be proactive and helpful, our HHE got pulled from MD and shipped down to Miami. And then sat for a month before anyone happened to contact us again...

I've been on the phone with a slew of people. I did the "I'm trying to be proactive and supply information. We don't know anyone here, so please try to give me a day or two notice, as we need to find childcare for our 3 year old. I can't do anything at the drop of a hat. I can meet the truck when it arrives, to save everyone rehandling the freight a 6th, 7th, 8th time. My husband is the employee, but I'm the contact. You can call his number, but you will never get him. Just please take my cell number and be in touch."

So the phone rang... at 1730 Tuesday...when we were in the car.

"The truck will be here in the morning. Can you be here at 0900 to meet it?"

That's notice, right? Arg! I talked to this guy 3 weeks ago, on Thursday (the eta), on Monday (to follow up) - each time made to feel like I was an inconvenience and didn't "understand the process, mam".

A little backround, my first job was with a household moving company. I drove trucks, packed houses, did paperwork and understand much more than most everyday people the ins and outs of transportation. Thereafter, for 12 years, I worked in international transportation for the steamshiplines/ocean freighters.

Buddy... I get it...honestly, I get it very well.

So hoops jumped, hurdles passed, the next morning we were busy bees and on our way. We were able to get Ceiba into the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) drop in childcare. It was beautiful, clean, new and gave Ceiba and I both a happy, fuzzy feeling when we walked in. She was happy to be at "school" and barely kissed me goodbye before she went to have fun with the teacher and some playdo.

Love you FSI Drop In Center (where we'll also be again next week while Mama's in training).

So woman on a mission, I advised them I was wheel's up from childcare and enroute for Maryland.

Text back, "Great. You can plan on coming after 1000."

Jerk.

I was early. And spent 0930-1900 in the trenches with a dozen beyond helpful warehouse guys.

The scenery was a little like this. Oh, our 2 sofas, they are in Miami. Ooops.

Of course, one is for storage and one for overseas. But at least they found them, and they'll be here in a week or two. Everyone was GREAT, except Mr. "I'm an Inconvenience" Jerk :)

And the grand total.... 6,027 lbs of HHE. We are allowed 7,200 lbs, so we are golden!

We still have to pull items out of our car and some misc from our apartment. 

Might be a little overpacked for our first post, but we can purge once we get there.

Odds and Ends Catch Up

Some random pics to catch up on what we've been up to.

Another new park - Long Branch Nature Center - where we found yet an even more spectacular creek.

There is a nice paved path all the way around, so if you need a stoller, this is a convenient park.

If you ever there and wonder if we are too, just look for the family with a kid in swimwear,

acting like it's their own backyard. Yep, that'd be us.

But, we always go back to good old Bon Aire park too. Last time we were there, Ceiba

took a spill 2 minutes into our arrival. So we put her top on a rock to dry and warm up.

Had a nice week of playing in the frog tent! Papa and Ceiba pretended it was an igloo.

They used pillows to close off the front from polar bears.

And we spend our usual time at local parks; they are all around us!

Had a cool snap last week, but are back in the 90s this week. So the pool it is!

On a drive last weekend, we went into Maryland and found Glen Echo Park.
It was the premier amusement park in the early 1900s for the DC area.

It's free and just a nice area to tool around with kids. Lots of art gallery areas,

an old Spanish Ballroom & a great restored carousel.

And a few weeks ago, we had a date for our 15th anniversary. Had a great babysitter, by recommendation

from another State Dept family, and we went to dinner and a concert. The Gipsy Kings were awesome!

Well, that about catches us up for news to our fam and friends in IL! Ut um.... reciprocate :)

Thunder Wonder

I used to LOVE the rain.

Since Ceiba has recently contracted a crazy fear of thunder, once therapeutic rain is now just a real pain in the rearend. Especially since lately, it happens to thunder only at naptime or bedtime. Last night she woke up at 2AM and called for us about another 12 times over the next 2 hours.  The previous post about loving being a stay-at-home-mom... well, one drawback is the full-time-night-child's-attendant part of my new job.

It would be WAY easier to put her in our bed or just crawl into her bed. But I'll continue to take one for the team. We've heard too many stories of 4-5-6 year olds in their parents bed. No thanks. Ixnay on the kiddo being a permanent fixture in our bed. I'll just be a zombie during the rainy season.

Did I mention we're moving to Bangladesh?!?! Ug.