Happy New Year and Happy Birthday!

It's another year and another birthday.  49.  I never in my youth could have even imagined that I would be 49, but here I am.  And it's not so bad, I guess.  The opposite is certainly worse.

Here's how my 2017 went:

January - met up with Mark in DC over my birthday.

February, March, and April - I finished up my rotations in CGFS, Charleston.  In March we went to Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.  And sold the house.  At the end of April I went to Kigali, Rwanda for a cashier monitor trip and stopped in Amsterdam on the way there.  

May - Mark and I temporarily moved to Washington, DC for my French training.

June and July - DC

August - we moved to Bamako, Mali for my second tour as an Financial Management Officer with the US Department of State.

September and October - settled into our new surroundings and routines in Bamako.

November - went on a combo work & pleasure trip to to Marrakesh, Morocco.

December - Christmas and New Years in Bamako

Right after New Years we took our first R&R trip:  Portugal and Andalusia (Spain).  That's going to be it's own post, though.

Having a small, low-key dinner with new friends for my birthday tonight (thanks, Mark, for cooking!)

Here's to 2018 and the start of my 50th year (oy).