Swearing In, Transporating Fat Cat and the Diminishing Chocolate Bunny

(Yey, Blogger is up again!)
It has been a while, and yes, my life has been the usual and even a bit more of a circus. And if you think I am exaggerating, here is an example: after we hosted a dinner for a few friends last night at home and went to bed at about 3 am, today we went to lunch (slightly comatose) at our fabulous friends M&M’s house only to have M go into labor right then and there and have the Diplomat drive her and her husband M, screaming, contractions, breaking waters and all, to George Washington Hospital to deliver a baby girl 15 mins after arriving there. Congratulations, M&M!!!!

The previous Friday was my last day at A-100—along with my fabulous 160th class (also known as “The Vibrants”), I swore allegiance to the country and the flag and tried to pretend that I wasn’t crying during the taking of the oath. This past week I had what is affectionately known as “Gap week”—meaning, while waiting to take some nice, meaningful classes at FSI, I had a week to fill in with something. That is when I found out the wonderful world of distance learning at FSI—should you ever find yourself with a day or two to fill with something, take an online class, it is fantastic! I now know way too much about the administration of Fullbright Programs, and am remarkably proficient at WTO history. Good times.

The Diplomat and I are facing quickly the reality that we will be leaving for post in less than 2 months. The most complicated issue turns out to be Fat Cat. He is decidedly NOT a great traveler to put it mildly. Every single time he has been in the car on the way to the vet (typically just a couple of blocks away), Fat Cat begins hyperventilating emphatically the moment he gets into the elevator and then invariably either pees, poops or barfs in his cage en route to the utter delight of the Diplomat who is usually taking him there. As if this wasn’t enough, in the past few days I have also learned all the millions restrictions and complications a 16-pound cat on its way to Bangladesh faces. In my next post, I will spend some time trying to demystify the process. All I would say for now is—if you own a fat cat and there is a loving soul out there who’s willing to take them and never make them travel, GIVE THEM THE DAMNED CAT! And then give them some more money. They deserve it.

In the chaos and circus of planning our exit to Dhaka, we have found a sudden and unexpected friend in the face of a certain chocolate bunny. A good friend of mine gave us the rather large bunny when he came for Easter lunch a month ago. Ever the obsessive dieters, the Diplomat and I placed the bunny on the kitchen counter and from time to time had dispassionate discussions what to do with it. Each day it stood there on the counter, its shiny golden Lindt wrapper glittering attractively in the kitchen light, its red ribbon making it look feisty, and we would pass by it, give it menacing, hungry looks and go away with a sigh. Until one day when I went into the kitchen and noticed that something wasn’t right. With horror, I realized the bunny had been beheaded! I quickly looked into the living room to find the Diplomat sitting primly on the couch, watching very interesting programming on polar bear mating patterns. He gave me an innocent look and with a mouth, filled with a bunny head, said, “What??” From then on, the bunny faced a very quick demise. Every time we would pass by the kitchen, we would chip a small piece of it and hurry away in guilt. Two short days later and it was gone. We miss it. Quite a lot, really. So, anyone who is interested in donating a (preferably large) chocolate (preferably Swiss) bunny to us, we will be OK with it.