Nope, This Wasn't Our Panel, Either

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).

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!

03/08/2013

Nope, This Wasn't Our Panel, Either

There was another panel today for summer bidders who are still left over from last year (which is what we are- we've been bidding since last August, and this is maybe the 10th/11th/something like that panel we've been through), and no... we didn't get anything today, either.

This would be us right now. Except we don't really drink. And I'm a girl. And James doesn't wear wife beaters. And has more hair. And is cuter and younger. Etcetera.

But really - it's okay. Truly. We didn't really expect to get anything this panel, so we weren't surprised. And what's nice is that our #1 choice wasn't given away to someone else today - it's still there!! - so that's nice. Very nice. We still have hope. And hope is always good to have.

My even-keeled, awesome DS girlfriends (for basically no one in the FS can understand what it's like to bid DS except for other DS folks) do their best to try to comfort and encourage little raw-nerved, freak-out-cow me during this...this...extended time of uncertainty...

There, there. We've all been through this. It will all be okay in the end. You'll see!

I love ALL you ladies. For real. I couldn't do this crazy DS-lifestyle-thing without you.

Because, wait - how long have James and I been bidding now? Let me think...

(KIDDING.)

(Sort of.)

So anyway, the next panel is scheduled for the end of March, and this is the first time (I think?) that I'm going to come out on my blog and say... that I am hoping that the next panel is our panel. In fact, PLEASE let the next panel be our panel. Please. The timing is right. We have a bid on a job that would fit us well, we've been patient, my insanely awesome husband is insanely awesome, and we are literally the last leftover summer bidders that I know of or that my friends know of.

[Now, I know that there are many other leftover summer bidders out there, to be sure, but I don't personally know of any and neither do any of my girlfriends. The summer bidding pool of folks I know and that my girlfriends know has gone from very large at the beginning of the cycle to JUST US now. The very last other leftover summer bidders that I knew of (I don't personally know them, really, but I knew OF them through other friends) got paneled today, leaving just James and me in our very extended circle. That HAS to mean that the bidding field has narrowed. Right? RIGHT?!?!]

Sure.