Has it really been a month?

Wow, time flies.

I really thought it'd only been a week or two since we last posted. How much has happened in the last month? The easy answer: A lot.

In terms of home goods, we got our first shipment of stuff. That's the 450 pounds of stuff that we wanted here before the rest of our stuff gets here. We had packed our clothes, towels, sheets, and shoes, and some kitchen stuff. We're excited to have it, but, almost every night look at each other as we realize we can't really cook the stuff we want to cook and say, "I can't wait for our stuff to get here." When will it be here, you ask? Well, it's supposed to arrive in country on Dec. 25 at about 9 pm. We're hoping we have it in hand the first or second week of January. That'll be good.

Work? Work's good, but really busy. I actually made the paper - once in a picture about somebody else, and once as the "Embassy officer responsible for the annual human rights report." Hey, it's something! Some of our recent visitors included Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Homeland Security secretary Robert Chertoff, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert Kimmitt (anybody else noticing a pattern or am I just screwing up the first names? Mom just pointed out I screwed up Chertoff's name, it's Michael. Sorry Mr. Chertoff!), and several congressmen, none of whom were named Robert.

Katie's started working at the embassy part time, although it doesn't seem to be part time anymore. We drive in together, and, more often than not, leave together, too. The unfortunate part is that she's working in the basement and therefore doesn't get a signal from her cell phone, so if any of the private sector jobs call her, she doesn't even find out about it.

Which brings up another point - voicemail. They don't seem to have it on their cell phones here. I don't get it. how the heck are you supposed to know who called you and about what without voicemail?

In the interest of keeping this entry short I'll just add two more paragraphs - one about Thanksgiving and one about Chanukah.

We had Thanksgiving at my boss' house with some other of my boss' friends. He and his wife (Steve and Stephanie) are both from Kentucky, and turkey day showed it! We had dressing, turkey, oyster dressing, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese! What a great day! Our next door neighbor, who also works at the embassy, was going to come, but her daughter got sick. So, on the way back, we stopped by with a box of leftover desserts and two unfinished bottles of wine. While it didn't compare with being home with our friends and family, it was still a good Thanksgiving!

I forgot about the first night of Chanukah amidst the SecDef's visit. I remembered on the second night, and every night thereafter we lit candles. On the eighth night of Chanukah, Katie surprised me with a Chanukah dinner - including her first Kugel and Latkes! It was really good, and I had no idea it was coming!

Told you it'd only be 2 more paragraphs! We hope everybody's well!