Gammy here.  With Baboo’s permission, I am hijacking this blog to bring it up to date.  (I will continue his semi-anonymous style, if I can, by not including any real names.)

Since his last entry in September 2010, wow, has our life changed!   We did sell our house in NC.  We enjoyed one last family hoopla Thanksgiving of 2010.  Sad to leave, but it was time.  Twenty years of happy memories made there. 

And Baboo started his new career.  And perhaps his choice for this blog title was an omen because completely coincidentally he was assigned to a French-speaking post, Algeria.  Of course, for nearly a year before arriving there in October 2011, he was stuck at FSI trying to learn French.  (After being there so long, he dubbed it “The Bastille.”)








As for me, I totally loved my time in Arlington and am now convinced I am meant to live an urban lifestyle.  Maybe partly because I don’t like driving, and loathe parking hassles, I was happy to be able to walk to nearly everything I needed.  And to get into town, Metro was only two blocks away.  I loved it.  Best of all, we lived a short 12 minute drive from my new BFF, our darling granddaughter, now 4 years old. 


As an aside, I should mention that I retired from federal service in July 2008 and am now living the luxurious life of a pensioner.  I don’t mean “luxurious” in the sense of expensive lifestyle but rather with regard to having time of my own, quite a “luxury” in my book.   And it has been a joy beyond my expectations to spend so much time with my granddaughter.  I supposed I have a nurturing side of me that was much stronger than I knew because I have found spending the last year helping and taking care of our daughter (our only child) and her children (more on the plural used here later) very fulfilling and satisfying, much more than I ever would have admitted even to myself some years ago.   

So at the beginning of 2011, we found out we would be grandparents again – to twins.  It was obvious that our daughter would need some help and so I stayed with her as much as I could during the final weeks of her pregnancy and moved in with her, her husband, and my little BFF in August when a tiny little boy and girl joined our family.




Baboo and I agreed that I would be much more useful to the growing family than in far-off Algiers and so I stayed behind when he left in October.  Our plan was that I would join him shortly after the holidays; but once again, fate kind of got in the way.  Our daughter and her husband decided to buy a new house and move.  After a long, heartfelt discussion, Baboo and I again agreed to postpone my arrival so that I could help with this major project.  In the meantime, our new little baby girl had serious medical issues requiring 24-7 care.  We hired additional help and I took responsibility for our baby boy. 

Well, to get to today, everything worked out.  Baby girl is well on the mend, new house is settled in, au pair was hired to take my place; and I am now finally with Baboo in Algeria.  Let the adventures begin!