myretroperspective

Well as you may have heard it's election day.  I'm expecting less people to read this post than any other post because social media is FLOODED with everyone's personal accounts of their voting experience.  I'm not sure if it's because I was out of the country living in a dorm in a remote part of Asia last election season, the fact that we're living in such a politically charged area, or just the uptick in social media in the last 4 years, but I am sooooo over it.  So you will not find my account of voting here.  I'm not even going to tell you whether I voted, let alone who for.   The increased focus on politics that happens every 4 years seems to be just another platform for people to feel good about themselves and tell everyone about it. I voted! I voted for so & so! I voted against such & such! I'm so informed! I'm so progressive! I'm so conservative! Look at me!  It did my heart well to advise a friend yesterday who was stressing about...

This is not Washington's Mei Xiang but another panda in China. As we're pretty big panda fans, having lived near the panda capital of the world for 3 years, I was delighted to read that Mei Xiang, the panda LEASED by China to the National Zoo here in Washington (is it not crazy that the pandas are leased?), gave birth to a baby cub last night! This article in the Washington Post describes how difficult it is to tell whether pandas are really pregnant or not and how Mei Xiang has had FIVE false pregnancies.  Talk about disappointment.  I am really excited about getting to go see the cub while we are here! The National Zoo is free and was already on our to-do list.  Since R's brother J has a special love for all things cuddly and cute, we will probably go see them when he comes up to visit. In honor of this new birth I thought I would post some pictures from my last Panda visits in Chengdu, China.  This was Spring of 2010 actually 3 weeks after R and I got engaged and...

On the shuttle to the Foreign Service Institute with R yesterday, as I was checking twitter, I started to see some of the reports of the attacks on the consulate in Benghazi & anti-American protests in Cairo.  As my spouses' orientation class started the coordinators acknowledged that the Ambassador to Libya & 3 other diplomats gave their lives in the attacks, but not much was really said about the situation.  Not sure if it was just too early to really talk about it or if they didn't want to unsettle us even more as we were a group of newbie foreign service spouses. It was obvious throughout the presentations of the day that different officers personally knew those involved and were impacted by this tragedy. We went throughout the day learning about life as an eligible family member in the foreign service- everything from how to think about different posts on our bid list to medical services to ways that the FS helps provide support in this strange but exciting lifest...

Well since we have no inkling of our next international flight, what better time to sit on the couch and watch the nations compete in a myriad of sports?  Yes, even-numbered years are better because of the Olympics! We received an Opening Ceremonies party invite today and let me tell you, I can't wait!  I'm best at sporting events that take little beforehand research and where the sports anchors fill you in on what it actually means to perform well in a particular competition.  Who doesn't love little Bob Costas narrating the finer points are archery or taekwondo? And swimwear has definitely evolved, hasn't it?  As of right now, I am most looking forward to the Olympics! Hopefully there will be more to look forward to soon.  Happy Games!

The last week has been FULL. Starting with the devastating storms that ripped through the south. I was captivated by the coverage and heartbroken to hear that our new friends Justin and Alana Karl who serve with Campus Crusade in Tuscaloosa at the university of alabama lost nearly everything but their lives surviving the tornado. If you haven't seen their interview on fox news here's the link: http://video.foxnews.com/?playlist_id=86856#/v/4669130/tornado-survivors-speak/?playlist_id=86856 If the Lord puts it on your heart to give to meet their immediate needs here is a link that goes directly to an emergency fund for the Karls: https://give.ccci.org/give/2732127 Also Alana writes a blog so if you're interested in keeping up with the recovery progress Alana's is: http://justinandalanakarl.blogspot.com Friday I flew down to Destin for our first ever regional women's staff retreat. I did not know what to expect (other than that I'd be missing R intensely, bein...