Of the State Department Weekly Blog RoundUp... (and of Other Stuff, too).

This is us. The one showing lots of shoulder (in her Chengdu, China Marine Ball ball gown!) is the EFM who writes this blog. The one wearing a tux (James) is the employee who moves her (and their two sons) around all over the world. The red link, below, is how you can get in touch with me...

The time in Chengdu, China

Chengdu: city of fabulous food and beautiful Buddhist monasteries!

In Our Same Boat (with State)

Beyond the Cornfields
Brand-new State Department family in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Love their two little girls (she just recently had a baby while being posted in Dhaka), horticulture, traveling and adventure!
Email From The Embassy
State Department family formerly in Beijing, China, and recently posted to Amman, Jordan. A trailing spouse, she's also a writer, and frequently publishes articles with major news sources. A very experienced State family, this new post is something like overseas post number six or seven for them.
Just US
A beautiful family of seven - they have arrived at their new post: Jerusalem! They just finished off an unaccompanied tour to Iraq and are very much looking forward to sightseeing around the middle east.
Our Life
State Department family on their second post...Tijuana, Mexico. It's their first overseas assignment and they have two little boys. They love Tijuana so far and post pictures frequently! They also get to enjoy the best of both worlds for they can sneak over the border into San Diego when they want to!
The Dinoia Family
State Department family formerly in California, now in DC for a DC tour. Next, the husband will do a one year unaccompanied tour. A very experienced State family (formerly in Iceland and Caracas) with a blog that has been around quite a while and has great archives. Jen has a sweet heart and a lot to give!
The Perlman Update
State Department family formerly in Chennai, India, who then did a year-long unaccompanied tour in Iraq. They are now on a DC tour and after that will do another unaccompanied tour (Afghanistan). She totally tells it like it is and doesn't sugar-coat what life is really like. Witty, snarky, funny and down-to-earth. Look elsewhere if you want fake. Read if you want REAL.
Where in the World Am I?
State Department family formerly in Bujumbura, Burundi and now in Hyderabad, India. They just had their first baby this summer - a beautiful little girl- (there's a separate blog about this) and she also eats gluten-free (with a separate blog, also).

One of the most intriguing things about Chengdu is that it is a seamless blend of ancient and modern... all together, side by side.

Can't Live Without (non-State)

Crass-Pollination: An ER blog
The best ER nurse blog EVER!
Doctor Grumpy in the House
The best doctor blog EVER!
In Which...
My IRL friend, a stay-at-home, homeschooling Mama of seven. Her darling daughters are, goshdarnit, probably too young to be hoped for as my future daughters-in-law.
The Crib Chick
My IRL friend, a stay-at-home, homeschooling Mama of five. Hopefully two (Any two! I'm not picky!) of which are my future daughters-in-law.
the underwear drawer
An anesthesiologist who is possibly the most talented & entertaining writer ever. I've read her blog ever since she started medical school. No, don't know her in real life. Wish I did.
The Bloggess
This blog is both hysterically funny and hilariously irreverent. I actually let my 17 year old son read it (who loves it as much as I do!), but wouldn't even CONSIDER letting my 12 year old son read it. Which is about all the description it needs!

The grounds of Chengdu monasteries can be very, very peaceful...even though they are smack dab in the heart of a city of millions of people.

Specifics

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06/25/2010

Of the State Department Weekly Blog RoundUp... (and of Other Stuff, too).

First and foremost, I would like to talk this morning about the State Department Weekly Blog RoundUp!

Today is Friday, and that means that Valdysses at the blog You Can't Get There From Here has posted this week's Blog RoundUp on his own blog. In fact, it's been over a month since the RoundUp has gone State-Blogger-Wide, and tons of wonderful, hilarious, talented bloggers have hosted the RoundUp on their own sites.

I can't TELL you guys what a treat it has been to have this picked up and hosted far and wide across the State blogosphere. Each person brings their own voice and their own ideas to the project every week, and it's just an incredible treat!

So please, State Bloggers, take a moment to visit the RoundUp's calendar and sign up for a time to host the RoundUp! (You can even sign up for a slot as early as next week! Hint, hint!) Any and all State bloggers are welcome... whether you're a brand new applicant or a seasoned veteran... whether you've hosted the RoundUp before or not... all are welcome! Please sign up!

~ ~ ~

In personal news this morning, this previously-melted-down, homeschooling-for-ten-years, Type-A-control-freak-mother is off to register her baby (my youngest, Zachary, pictured above) in public school (for this upcoming fall) this morning. I have an appointment to register my older son, Matthew, on Tuesday. We'll see where this takes us. We'll see if I actually get into Chinese at FSI with James. We'll see if I can even cut it if I DO get there.

(I've heard that spouses often... um... choose to pursue other endeavors rather than finish those super long, super-hard language classes. And that those super-hard, super-long language classes are sometimes a something-that-rhymes-with-WITCH (Worldwide Available).)

Possibly leaving behind homeschooling forever...makes me cry. I've devoted my entire life to it for ten years. I've hung out with Stunning, Famous Homeschool Glitterati... I've written for Awesome Homeschooling Magazines... I've interacted with International Educational Giants to try to make them more homeschool friendly. I tend to believe that I can speak intelligently about every form of homeschooling curriculum out there (yes, seriously), and I want to vomit at the idea of putting my boys into a spiral math program. (Seriously. Spiral math programs are Satan.)

So I'll keep you posted on how this works out. I may chicken out at the last minute. I'm allowed to do that, you know.

In the meantime, we're still tutoring with our (LOVE HER LOVE HER LOVE HER) Chinese tutor that I snagged from FSI's Mandarin Chinese Instructor rolls. In fact, we recently went to her home for a couple of sessions of Chinese, and her beautiful outdoor flower garden called to my camera:

There is so much beauty in the world.

Posted on 06/25/2010 at 05:17 AM in FSI, Homeschooling, Hosting the Weekly Blog RoundUp, Learning Mandarin Chinese, Me, Our Awesome Chinese Tutor, Photos of Flowers/Foliage, Photos of Which I am Proud, Posts referencing fellow State bloggers, Zachary | Permalink

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I can imagine worrying about switching from homeschool to public, but it is doable. No, I have not had our kids in US schools, so I can't comment on that, but we have been happy with the international schools they attend. Are they perfect? No. But the kids enjoy going, the schools have resources we do not, and they love their teachers and being with their classmates. We still supplement at home... mine are, at this very moment, sitting down with some workbooks for math, spelling and handwriting, and we always push reading. I had worried about their schooling, and had considered homeschooling, but I needed to use daycare when they were very little and they LOVED it. As soon as we reached our first post with them (18mos and 3yo) they were begging for school as soon as we landed. It's worked well for them. Of course, if they were not happy and thriving, they'd be out... in a heartbeat.. but so far so good. You know your kids and have good instincts. You, and the kids, will be fine :)

Posted by: Connie | 06/25/2010 at 05:33 AM

Echinacea! I heart Echinacea! Or in plain English purple cone flower! I had some in my garden and it was alawys swarming with bees and butterflies.

I may be hitting you up for your expertise in hs-ing curriculum. My heart is telling that one of mine would do better with homeschooling. After much talk we decided it was best to let him start school there so he can make friends and we will monitor his progress. We have already decided if we are not 110% happy with his progress we will be pulling him. The nice thing is the school there starts really early in the morning and the the kids are home by around 2:30 so I can supplement or tutor in the subject areas I am worried about.

Posted by: shannon | 06/25/2010 at 06:25 AM

Hey Kolbi! Just wanted to say I've been following your blog for a while now, and your slight fiasco earlier this year inspired me own:-) Can't wait to hear more about your daring adventures!

Posted by: Destination Unknown | 06/25/2010 at 07:28 AM

What amazing pictures- simply stunning!
I hope everything went well with registering Zachary, and that it will go well on Tuesday. I am definitely thinking of you.

Posted by: Emily | 06/26/2010 at 09:00 PM

Sorry, you're stuck forever as a "Homeschool Mom" just as your kids will always be "Homeschoolers" at heart. Bummer, I know.

I'll always have the fondest of memories from my time as a homeschooler. And I'll always bristle a little when people unfairly ridicule it as an education system.

I wish you all luck with the public school adventure. I LOVED my time in public school. I may not have learned much academically during my years there, but I quickly learned what clubs/sports would minimize the amount of time I was sitting in an actual classroom.

Posted by: Brian | 06/26/2010 at 11:20 PM

Thought you might find this amusing...

http://mlab555.wordpress.com/2010/06/29/a-random-assortment/

:) Hope you enjoyed your day in DC!

Posted by: Kitty Non Grata | 06/29/2010 at 06:18 PM

Best of luck on getting into your Chinese class... the waiting is such a hard part!

And I know that you'll do what is right for you and your family when it comes down to the decision on whether or not to homeschool...

Posted by: Jill | 06/30/2010 at 07:29 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

James loves me. And our sons. And his job. But not having his picture taken. In 2011 he finished up over a year and half of training, and in the fall of 2011 we got to our first overseas post - Chengdu, China!