So Much Can be Accomplished in Just One Week

In the week since I blogged about joining the Biggest Loser competition at work, so much more has been accomplished.

I am now able to run 5K+ distances.
I am fitting back into my regular pants.  That don't involve elastic waistbands.
I am eating healthier.

I still enjoy chocolate.  But in moderate quantities.
I still enjoy coffee.  But probably in too large of quantities. [Note: some things are really hard to change.] Oh, but with much less sugar in each cup!

I am stronger.

But most importantly, I simply feel better.

Since the fab hubby is pretty security-conscience (duh), I decided to take it to heart when he said he's really ok with me running the Wadi by myself.  So I got past the 'it feels so desolate here!'  Twice this week I ventured out solo to the Wadi for a run.

I still feel like I'm going to be attacked by this.

 I'll admit - it's still kinda creepy.  A good part of me feels like I'm a character in Star Wars about to be attacked by Tusken Raiders.  Turns out the desert part of Star Wars was filmed in Tunisia.  Ummmm....hello!  Tunisia is totally two countries to the west of here.  No wonder it looks the same.

In any case, I rocked out a a 4.5 mile run today, and it felt good.  (And if you're wondering, I was not attacked by Tusken Raiders.)

The rest of the week's workouts were spent at the gym or on my own elliptical at home.  I've also thrown in some free weights and the fab hubby taught me some great upper arm exercises I can do with the free weights that were different from the routines I've been doing.

Things I tell myself?  Even if it's only 20 minutes on the elliptical, it's worth it.  Because it's much more than I was doing before.

If I eat too much, I'll be uncomfortable.  And I don't miss the elastic-waist pant.

If I eat too much, I'll also have to work out a lot more, and I'm already short enough on time as it is.  At work, I spend my lunch hour at the gym.  There is only one lunch hour.  Not two!

This coming week?  I'm adding more free weights.  More time on my runs (headed toward the 10K distance!).  And I'm also going to work on getting to sleep earlier.  My friend Jen recently blogged about giving up being a night owl for Lent.  I think I'm going to hop on that train as well for Lent this year.  Since I'm focused on taking better care of myself, this is definitely something I need to do.

It's been a good week!  3 weeks down in the Biggest Loser, 6.5 lbs lighter, 13 weeks to go.  I'm not going to say it's been easy - because it certainly hasn't been.  But I feel like I'm on the path to success.

Half -way through my 4.5 mile run today.
It was awesome!

Photo Journey of Cairo's Crazy Roads

I loooove driving in Cairo.  Super insane, no rules, no lanes.  Doesn't matter if you drive down a one-way street headed in the wrong direction.  Honk all the time for no purpose other than to say "I'm here!"  Don't stop at intersections (if you do, you'll get rear-ended!); just honk and keep rolling through.  No stop lights.  That's right - None.  And never turn on your lights at night.

It's all so crazy.

Especially when I look at it through my ER-RN-trained-eyes.  The streets are full of traumas-waiting-to-happen.  Death traps!  But in Cairo, well, it's just normal.

So I've spent the last week with iPhone in hand, trying to capture as many of these moments as I can.  And while sometimes I was too slow to get the "Oh-my-gawd-did-you-see-that? Only in Cairo!"moments, I did manage to click a few of the goodies.

Enjoy...

Where else would you sit in a moving truck?

Can't fit your kid inside the truck?  No worries.  He can sit
on top of your haul.

Just because I couldn't believe it, I took another photo.

This truck has a light load.  Oh, yeah.  Not tied on.
And we're on the freeway.

They will stack at least 4 - 6 more of these filled bags on top.
And then the guy will ride on top of those bags.

Free air conditioning.

This is a microbus.   It's very scary.
1. It will ALWAYS take the right-of-way.
2.  It doesn't care if it hits your car.
3.  Seating for 11?  Nope.  Seating for 50?  Yes.

This is a black taxi.  Also very scary.
1.  No meter, so you don't know how much
the driver will charge you.
2.  It doesn't care if it hits your car.
3.  It will always take the right-of-way on the road.

Look very carefully up ahead!
See the dude sitting on top of the microbus?  

The best way to enjoy the sunset over the Nile?

Just when I thought it couldn't get any crazier,
this dude on the Moped U-Haul pulls up beside the
packed microbus with roof rider.

Back of truck packed with people.
Hauling a cement mixer.

We can all agree this is NOT the safest way to travel.

Back packs not secured.
But I was so happy to see it was the back packs,
and not the children on top of the roof.
And to be clear - these were not my children or their backpacks.

Bon Appétit!

My friend Jill at The Perlman Update has some sort of sick obsession with puke. And since she's resurrected the Foreign Service Bloggers Round-up (!!!!), I owe her.  This edition's theme?  Puke.

Vomitting. Hurling. Bowing to the Porcelain god.  Up-Chucking.  Ralphing.  Spewing.

You get the picture.

Our family's most recent pukefest is sadly still fresh in my mind.  Three week, two days ago to be exact.  It started innocuously enough.  Abby went to bed saying her tummy hurt a little.  It was the end of Christmas break, and I figured she was just unhappy with having to go back to school the next morning.  I tucked her in and went to bed myself.

And then at 4AM (of course)...I woke up to her crying.  I went into her room...and stepped in a gigantic puddle of puke.  Plus, I noticed that she had another puddle on her bed.  Yes, she was practically swimming in puke while I was wading through puke to get to her.

My poor sweet little girl.  I felt so bad that I had ignored her earlier pleas of tummy-achiness.  I helped her change her jammies and brush her teeth and gave her some of my super-secret-stash of anti-puke meds that I brought from the States.  I helped her find a clean pillow and blanket for the couch.  And then started the massive task of cleaning up the puke.

Unlike the general population, puke doesn't faze me. It's like a super power skill I possess.  I've worked ER, I've cleaned up many a pile of disgusting body fluids.  Over lunch, I've talked puke and poop and boogers with my RN besties while eating my meal.  There's very little that grosses me out or churns my stomach.  And if it does - watch out, because it must be truly, incredibly gross.

HOWEVER, having said this.  I can also say we're not a puking-kinda family. It's not like cleaning up puke at home is a weekly or even monthly event for me.  I have girlfriends who say their kids puke so frequently that they keep ziploc bags in the car, in their rooms, in their backpacks, everywhere. And that their kids are so adept at grabbing the bag, barfing into it, and zipping it closed when done.  WHAT!?  I personally haven't puked (well, before this blog entry) since Christmas 2007.  That's right.  Four years ago.  In fact, now that I think of it, the last time I can remember any of the kids puking is like three years ago when we were in Los Angeles and Owen and Abby were hurling into buckets by their bed, down with a bad case of stomach flu.

In any case, puking is just not a common phenomenom in our family.

But of course, like any good, loving family...if one gets sick, we all get sick.  Abby was (obviously) the first to be taken down.  Followed by myself, dominoing to the baby, then Owen, and finally, the fab hubby. 

My woes started similarly to Abby's.  At work the next day, I felt 'icky'.  Grumpy tummy, odly nauseaous.  By that night I was puking my guts out.  Unlike Abby, I was able to make it to an appropriate recepticle to puke in (the toilet).  I finished my task and took a long, hot shower.  I crawled into bed and read a bit, trying to calm my angry guts.

But sadly, Kellen caught it that night as well. I heard him crying about two hours after I had tucked him in bed. I assumed it was a bad dream that had awoken him.  I managed to peel my own sad, sick body out of bed.  I went into his room and pulled him up to my chest, hugging and soothing him.  And then noted the puddle of puke.  The smell.  The texture (which was by now also smeared all over my own pajamas, my face, and my neck).  I did the only thing I could do at that point.  I cried.

Jason came in and saw me in my worst meltdown.  Kellen and I were covered in puke and I was crying.  And although Jason can hardly stand the smell, he helped me clean it up and get the dirty linens into the washer.  I bathed Kellen and gave him some medication.  I tucked him back in and took a much-needed shower (again) myself.  I crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep.

I took the next day off work to recover, sleeping nearly 15 hours straight.  That night I managed to keep a little bit of dinner down.  Abby and Kellen were downright chipper, happily eating their entire meals.  I thought the worst was over.

But of course, it wasn't.

This time is was 2AM.  I awoke to Owen yelling "MOM!" I ran into the hall, and slid through yet another pile of puke.  This time, it was Owen who said "I couldn't make it to the toilet, but I made it to the hall!" (He was proud.)  ::sigh:: The clean-up was monstrous.  Our hallway is hard wood floors, and so it had splattered all over the floors, onto the walls, and onto the doors.  It was practically dripping off the ceiling.  I got Owen cleaned up and back into bed and began yet another chore of puke clean-up.

But wait, there's even more! During all of this, I had called for Jason to help me, but he had responded with "My stomach is killing me!"  He was doubled over in bed, fighting a lost cause against the viral infection that had systematically taken down the rest of us.  I had no choice but to clean it all myself.

The fab hubby actually managed not to ralph his guts out, but he did end up spending the next day in bed.  He was miserable.  We were miserable.

When we packed for Luxor the next night, I took an arsenal of medications.  Anti-nausea, anti-vomit, anti-diarrhea.  We would not be taken down by this!  We were going on vacation one way or another.  Mostly because the airline tickets were non-refundable.  That and the fab hubby had little-to-no chance of getting time off anywhere in the near future.  Nor would I be able to for that matter.  We. Were. Going.

But this puke story DOES have a mostly happy ending.  Our flight to Luxor was pretty anti-climactic considering how sick we had all felt.  Not one of us barfed.  When we arrived in Luxor, we opted to spend the entire first day at the resort, resting and recovering from the viral attack.  And then the rest of our vacation sightseeing.  And a little bit more relaxing.

At breakfast the next morning, Owen said he was feeling a bit queasy.  He was still making a great attempt to eat though, because he said he was hungry.  But near the end of our meal, I looked over at him and noticed he had *THAT LOOK* -- closed mouth, puffed-out cheeks, eyes wide open in terror.  I grabbed a napkin and held it under his chin.  And he puked.  Amazingly I was able to catch it all.  Jason looked at me in awe.  Yes, I am that awesome.

The next two days were uneventful, at least in terms of puking.

On the last day of our trip, we spent lunch at a pool-side restaurant.  Having made it this far through our vacay, I relaxed.  We were all feeing better, laughing, and enjoying lunch.  We ate our meals and appreciated the view of the infinity pool and the Nile River. I looked over at Owen across the table, who had just finished most of his pizza.  He had *that* oddly green look.  His mouth was closed. His eyes were bulging.  His cheeks puffed out.  "NO!!!" I said and scrambled to reach across the table with a napkin.  But it was too late.  He leaned over his plate and ralphed out his entire meal.  WE HAD TO GET OUT OF THERE.

Just as Jason and I had made eye contact and were about to scramble to grab the kids and make a run for it, the waiter came up and said "BON APPÈTIT! Can I get you anything?" and then looked at the puked-upon plate.

*Awkward Pause*  *Uncomfortable Silence*

"Can I get him...another pizza?" he asked.  Jason and I screwed our faces up and managed not to howl in laughter.  We paid and left as fast as we could, thankful that we were returning home in just a few hours.   Because there was no way we ever could eat there again.

Sorry, no pics for this blog entry!  Puke never photographs well.

Viva La Packout! FS Blog Round-Up Week-ending 7/29/11

UAB, HHE...OMG.  It's summer, and while for many in the FS, that means vacations and home leave, for others it means PACKOUT.  If you're like us, no matter how excited you are about the next post, you dread the deadly PACKOUT.  Because you know that despite the best of planning, many things will be lost, broken, eaten, forgotten.  You will ship the wrong things and store the items you need the most.   What you think should get there quickly (UAB) will end up being NOT AT ALL WHAT YOU NEED.  Four months later, the stuff you really wanted and needed...will end up arriving with your HHE.

Or how about the $$$ you unload out-of-pocket before packout getting all the stuff you need for your next post?  Target, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco.  We've all been there and we've all spent Way. Too. Much.  And then thought of more of what we'd need after leaving the store.  Now, I'll admit - we're newbies to the overseas packout.  We have, however, made two domestic moves in 1 year, and it was...painful.  The first move, we got our orders a mere three days before the moving company arrived to pack our stuff from Ohio to Los Angeles.  I, personally, was PSYCHOTIC.  The fact that my husband still speaks to me to this day after the way I reacted to the first moving cluster circus really speaks of his awesomeness.

On arrival to L.A., our UAB arrived just a few days after us.  The moving company (only one guy) arrived with our TV (65 lbs) and our two boxes of clothing that we thought we'd need.  The clothing boxes were encased in a metal cage.  Not to mention the moving dude refused to haul the TV up the stairs to our second floor condo.  I told him I wouldn't sign for delivery until it was in my living room.  Needless to say, he figured out a way to get it up the stairs.  As for the boxes encaged in a weird metal-basket-weave thing (why I didn't take a photo, I'll never know), I used a crowbar to cut into the open spaces and dug our items out.  One by one.  Ah. Memories.  Thankfully, our move back to Ohio just one year later was uneventful and easy.  Although 1 1/2 years later we still have many things still in boxes.

So here we are.  Just 5 weeks out from our first overseas packout.  I thought this week, the theme for the FS blog round-up could be packout, since my mind is certainly on it, and so are so many other's...

The McDaniel Family is a good seven months from packout, but already losing sleep over it.  I feel your pain!  However, Juliana is much smarter than I - she's got her lists in an excel spreadsheet.

Nomadic Dan at 110to220 has a great archive of blogs, beginning from May when he arrived back in the States but his unaccompanied luggage did not.  My favorite?  The adventures of his car going mudding. But don't giggle too quickly, because here's what happens when things go wrong.  Thankfully, every State Department fairy tale has a happy ending, and shortly he will be reunited with his vehicle and scooter.

Rebecca at S as in Smylie pulled an archived feed for packout shopping/retail therapy support!

The Benily Family has had some difficulty in the past with their packout's transit when some much-loved items never arrived.  Sadly, later when they went to inspect some items in storage, they were moldy and ruined.

As for suggestions for packout success, the Kern Family provides visual aids! Lists! And tips!  I will be using their system for sure next month.

Becky at Small Bits pulled an archive for us, from recent organizing and downgrading and sorting in prep for their packout.  They're in transit from post to in-between-post to post.  I also love the ideas and suggestions she has for keeping kids busy with minimal stuff while waiting for transit!

Special thanks to Sadie for taking the time to put into words her emotional experiences with packout.  Her 1-year anniversary in Saudi Arabia is coming up very soon.  Sadly, her very sweet pooch, Hattie, passed away this time last year.  Here is her touching tribute to her wonderful pet.

What about pack-in?  Hello Talaly has received their UAB!  Merry Christmas!

Well, That Was Different is currently in 'recovery' from their packout and arrival to post.  As they like to point out, things happen in three's.  And here they are, coming up for air!  I like how this blog points out that nowadays it's so easy to keep in touch that goodbyes are different than they used to be.

Got kids?  (We do!)  Here's 3rdCultureChildren's post on dealing with packout and suggestions on how to let your munchkins be involved.  Really really good stuff!

And lest you start to think packout is all work and no play, There is Fun to Be Done's poetry about the 'Night Before Packout' reminds you to stay sane.  And happy.

In other non-packout related news...

I've received a couple of recommendations on this post.  Hannah at Young Millimania Across the Globe writes a great piece about how she is feeling right now with her Dad in Iraq while she's in Amman.  I love this blog.  She touches on some really great points about what's 'home'.  Thanks, Hannah!

Ok, I'm outta here.  Thanks for all the submissions, FS Bloggers.  You make this Round-Up thing easy!

If you would like your blog to be added to this submission or if you have a recommendation for an add-on, please email me! I will happily add it to the feed.

My hubby's UAB from Baghdad.
Obviously still in the living room nearly a week after
he's home. But why unpack what's just going to be re-packed
in a mere 5 weeks? Besides, it's an awesome shelf for keeping
stuff away from sticky baby fingers.  Obviously.

Bring It On! FS Blog Round-Up Shout-Out for Week Ending 7/29/11

Feeling crazy over here at the Wandering Drays.  My hubby just got back from Baghdad on Friday [insert happy dance here] and his UAB arrived a mere three days later.  No kidding.  Something crazier? It could have been delivered LAST week, but I simply wasn't available to accept to such delivery.  I got to dictate delivery date and (sorta) time. Sweetness.

So, I'm up for the Round-Up again, and this week's optional theme is:  PACKOUT!  That's right.  It's packout season for many of us, and I want your stories.  The good (ha ha! right.), the bad (more likely), and the ugliest (most likely).

*Submissions are due this Friday, 7/29/2011 by noon EST.  I'll post the entry late afternoon on Friday.  If you miss the deadline - no worries.  Drop me an email because chances are, I'll still be working on it!

*Packout is an optional theme.  I'd also love some archived feeds if you got 'em.

*Post your submission at the bottom of this blog entry (preferred method) or you can email me directly!

Happy blogging!

UAB from Baghdad.
Not sure the hubby will even unpack this.
We're outta here to Cairo in less than 6 weeks!

Growth and Baseball

Swimming and baseball and popsicles, and bike riding and running and playing with friends.  That's summer for the kids at our house.  And while I complain incessantly about Ohio and it's weather, this summer so far has been good for the kids.  With that one little exception of course - Jason's not here. He gets to enjoy the lovely weather in Baghdad [yes, sarcasm]. But I won't dwell!  I won't sulk (too much)!  I won't get all giddy when I realize he's just 21 days out from being home and enjoying the end of summer with us.  [Lies!  I will get all giddy!]  Six glorious weeks of home leave and pack-out.  Really, I can get excited about pack-out (*shudder*) if it means time with my hubby.

This is the last summer for the kids that will be what they "know."  After this summer, life is going to be dramatically different.  This is the summer where they open the front door every morning and hop on their bikes and ride down the street to the friends' houses they've known for years.  We lived here long before the year we spent in Los Angeles, and returned home to friends and a school that they knew when that year was over.  Truly, Los Angeles probably felt more like a vacation to them than a year away.  Although Owen told me yesterday he really felt like Los Angeles was more his 'home' since he loves the sun and the ocean and the outdoors and the Dodgers so much.  I had to giggle, because I've always said Los Angeles always felt more like 'home' to me since I love the sun and the ocean and the outdoors and an overabundance of Starbucks so much.  I really miss the on-every-corner Starbucks.

And Baseball.  Yes, baseball.  Before May, Owen didn't even know the rules to baseball.  He's 8 years old and we've moved two of the last three years - each time in the Spring during  baseball season.  This year was his last chance to learn to play before it would become (sadly) more competitive and difficult to get into.  He wanted to play so badly!  I didn't know if I'd be able to get him to the practices and the games, but my fab in-laws helped out all season, as did the parents of one of Owen's best buds.  Plus, the ball fields are only 1/2 mile down the road, near the park, and he was able to ride his bike there for practice.  Backpack filled with his glove, hat, a snack, and a bottled water.  It was pure Americana.  A little slice of what life should be.

I'm not going to lie and say it was easy for him.  We're not a sports-oriented family and he's never watched games on TV.  He likes the Dodgers mostly because they're from L.A.  He struggled to learn the rules and had difficulty batting.  But every day he'd put on that backpack and head to the fields with a "Goodbye, Mom!  See ya after practice!"  The games started and he was in the outfield, doing his best to pay attention but still having trouble keeping up with what was going on.  He got up to bat and struck out, and then again, and again.  It was heartbreaking watching him struggle, but profound watching him grow and mature and pull himself up and try it again.  All the parents watched him and cheered for him each time he got up to bat.  His buddies patted him on the back and told him he'd get it.

And then, his practice starting paying off.  He got pulled infield to play catcher, and loved it.  He'd call out plays as the team threw out runners at first base.  He got up to bat and hit a single.  He got up to bat and hit again.  He'd strike out another time but get out there the next and hit.  He was so proud one night when he had two RBIs and made it to home base himself.

But no matter what, he loved the game.  And he was excited to be part of the team.  On Sunday night I had to tell him that I couldn't take him to his game on Monday since I had to work.  He was so upset!  He said "MOM!  I'm the CATCHER!  The team has to have their catcher!  I can't let them down."  Thankfully, our friends were able to help out and got him to the game.  It was the first time he'd played a team sport and really 'got it' about what it means to be a part of the team.

Last night was his team's last game.  They were tied 7-7 in the last inning.  If they'd won, they would have gone on to the championship games.  Sadly, the other team batted in a run, winning the game and eliminating Owen's team from progressing to the final games.  Heartbreaking.  But they'd had a great season, and we managed to celebrate - DQ style (DQ in McDonald sponsored the team) with ice cream of course.

The team enjoyed their success today, participating in our town's 4th of July Festival parade.  It was the last thing they'd get to do as a team together this summer.  Owen had quite the roller coaster of night, enjoying the parade but barfing in a friend's car when he didn't feel well. (Sorry, Dave.) Too much candy?  Honest-to-goodness sick?  We'll never know, because I gave him some 'tummy medicine' (I always keep anti-puke medicine on hand) and tucked him in bed.  As I kissed his suntanned cheek and ruffed his sandy brown hair, I realized he's grown quite a bit this summer already.  Maybe not so much in height, but certainly in maturity.  I look forward to seeing the person he will become.  Who knew that baseball would bring such great qualities out in him?

Week Ending 6/24/11: FS Rodeo/Round-Up/Relaying the Blogs! In One Concise(ish) Entry

Summer.  Brings vacations.  Brings home leaves.  Brings a much needed break from the day-to-day.  Brings...exhaustion?  Brings...awesome yet scary family reunions?  Brings...stress?   Brings...mega monstrous money-sucking excursions?

This week's State Department Round-Up is dedicated to those vacations and home leaves we love (hate/love/hate/love) to take with our families.  To visit our families.  Back in the States or elsewhere.  Our family hasn't yet been out-of-country, but we do know vacations.  We know how to create a budget and blow it the first day we travel.  We know how to plan the entire trip but not double check that the  Amusement Park we're planning the entire vacation around is indeed open on our days of travel.  But, honestly, mostly, we know how to have fun.

I know I'm worried about a few things coming up just for our initial trip to Cairo.  Can you say 12-hour flight with three kids (age 8 years, 6 years , and 10 months) and a dog?  Nomads by Nature wrote a great piece this week outlining a crappy heinous flight with kids and cats in tow.  I can't say it made me feel any less nervous about our upcoming travel, but it does make me realize that we're not the only ones attempting travel insanity.

Speaking of travel insanity, Shannon over at Cyberbones writes about traveling alone with her three boys and her worries surrounding her travel.  I hear ya, sister!  On the flip side, Dave ALSO at posted at Cyberbones this week, detailing a lovely excursion to Kumbali while the family was away.  I wonder what he bought for Shannon...

How about Disney?  I don't think I've ever met a family who didn't attempt at least ONE trek to the World's Happiest Place!  Spectrummy Mummy pulled out an archived blog on a past vacation for us!  And Whale Ears and Other Wanderings is currently enjoying some time in Disney.  Disney Magic indeed.

But if you're looking for some more 'homey' home time, check out Bryant Blogger this week - they've opted to enjoy life at home for a vacation this summer.  Sara at Wife Mommy Woman mentions she's already thinking and planning their first home leave from Costa Rica for later in the year.  Makes me realize I should start stashing cash away in a special savings account for home leave.  Sara also pulled an archived blog entry, hashing out the harrowing tale of their most infamous trip! I. HATE. MOUNTAIN. DRIVING.

Kate at Pulling Stakes was able to take a moment from shoe shopping and Facebooking to let us know they're headed back home for the rest of the summer.  They'll be enjoying Spokane, WA before heading off to assignment in Brasilia.  Stephanie of Where in the World Am I? is staying put in India this summer.  But she's got a great tale about purchasing rugs.  Part One and Part Two.  I would need a vacation after the headache.

Nomadic Dan at 110to220 has a tale about his HHE's solo vacation off-roading in Russia.  Once it gets a bath, he'll have it back in one piece.  Too bad a camera wasn't mounted on it.  Heather at Way Off Base has no plans for vacation as of yet, but she does have a rockin' set of shoes for vacationing/traveling in.  Perhaps she and Kate at Pulling Stakes should get together!  Heather also has a GIVEAWAY! celebrating BFFs.  Go there now and enter!  No, wait.  Don't.  I plan on winning it!

As far as I'm concerned, Jill at The Perlman Update has topped my awesome car-packing skillz.  She's embarking on a long trek east to the new family home in NoVA.  For the past two week's she had one very long vacation (haha) with her three kids in a single hotel room.  More. Wine. Please.

Jen at the Dinoia Family just celebrated the last day of school.  She's taking the kiddos to museums, parks, and the library. Yes!  A perfect, relaxing summer.  Becky and her family at Small Bits just completed pack-out.  They've done so much traveling lately and are now about to embark on a journey back to the US to prep for their next overseas assignment.  I'm sure they could use some down-time right about now.

Ashley at Sherwood Family Nonsense pulled some archives for us on their fab vacations/home leaves.  They are currently in Cairo, and I wish our paths would cross.  But they'll be leaving just before we arrive.  Luckily, they managed to make time to see the pyramids!

In other news, Lisa at What Were We Thinking? will be spending her summer with her three boys learning Spanish.  So fun!  Jacqueline at Pryor Adventures enjoyed a day-trip with the family.  They're in Laos on their first assignment.  Sadie at Sadie Abroard just finished up her first much-deserved R&R.  Her musing are beautiful to read.  And don't forget about Kolbi at A Daring Adventure!  She and her husband spent his birthday studying Chinese.  Jealous?  She's got a mind-boggling test this Monday.  More. Coffee. Please.

If you're a Kindle user, you can now get your Diplopundit fix via your Kindle!

And celebrations are in order!  Denise and her husband at Beyond the Cornfield welcomed the newest FS baby.  We've all been waiting for the news!  Welcome, Avocet!

Finally, since this is still a part of my blog, I'm entitled to flagrantly show off the cuteness of my kids.  I've pulled some photos from some of our favorite past vacations, including Great Falls (VA), Sequoia National Forest (CA), and Long Beach (CA).

Thanks to everyone who submitted a posting.  If you have one and would like me to add on, please email me.  It's really that easy.  Enjoy your week, FS bloggers!

*UPDATE* I can't believe I forgot two of my favorite postings this week!  3rdculturechildren has a lovely photo blog of a beach in Brazil that must must MUST be added to my bucket list.  And earlier this week, I adored their posting on all the excuses to dress up in Brazil.  It's like a never-ending vacation!

First day of summer 2011.  Off to the pool!

Big brother is off to the pool as well!

Kellen's first vacation!

FS Rodeo...err...Round-Up!

Well, thewanderingdrays.blogspot.com is hosting this upcoming week's State Department Round-Up.  As I've never done a weekly Round-Up, I am a weensy bit nervous it might end up being more of a Rodeo.  And I don't want to end up feeling like I got kicked by a bull.  So, I'm putting the world out early.

Here's the nitty gritty for the upcoming week's submissions.

*Submissions are due to me no later than 11:59PM EST Thursday, June 23rd. (And dude, if you're late, it's ok.  Send it anyway.)

*Email me or you can post your link on this blog entry below in the 'comments' section (preferred method!).  You can also contact me through Facebook if we're FB friends.  If we're not FB friends, why aren't we?

*This week's optional theme is:  Vacations/Home Leave.  Nice and broad/vague/open, eh?  It's summer and that means it's also travel season!  I know lots of FS folks are traveling or in the process of planning a vacation or home leave.  Where are you going this summer?  Where have you been in the past?  Any suggestions on planning a great vacation?  It's a broad theme.  Take it and run with it, should you choose to accept this assignment.

We just recently celebrated my husband's last home leave from Baghdad in early June with a family mini-vacation in Pennsylvania.  And while we thoroughly enjoyed it, a little bit more planning would have gone a long way (see photo below).  Maybe you have suggestions that will help to avoid National Lampoon's Vacation moments like these!

*Of course, as always, should you choose not to write on the optional theme, no worries.  That is the nature of optional.  Please submit any blog post on any topic.  We love FS Blogs!

A National Lampoon's Vacation kinda moment.  Don't let this happen to you!