Loyal readers of this blog (all three or four of you) may recall that we blogged incessantly about my second tour bidding last summer, and then when assignments came out, silence. When we finally posted it was to tell you that the news was not what we’d hoped.

Now, you may have noticed something similar happening — lots of blogging about Andy starting A100 and our bidding preference. And then, Flag Day came and went, and nothing from us here on the blog.

But fear not, dear readers. Our silence is not because we got bad news. It’s simply because being a geographically separated tandem couple is a little more challenging than either of us bargained for. Plus, immediately from Flag Day Andy headed off to the airport to meet Flynn and me in London for a long weekend. (More about that to come.)

So, we’ve been a little busy.

My apologies that this announcement is over a week overdue, but let me finally share with you our good news. On Flag Day Andy received…

Yes, that’s a DC flag. Andy will be doing a one-year management job in Foggy Bottom. And we’re thrilled.

It’s funny how time changes things. When I was bidding we were so excited about being scattered off to some exotic faraway place. We really would have been fine with going anywhere… except DC. I mean, who joins the Foreign Service to be posted in DC? Or so we thought then.

But after two years abroad we actually welcome some time in the land of Targets and Trader Joe’s and toddler playgroups. More importantly, Andy accepting a one-year DC job is our best bet for keeping our family together in the long run.

What happens next?

Well, he starts work on Monday. In the meantime, Flynn and I will stay in Benin through the summer to finish my tour. Then I’ll work in DC for a little while before we head off somewhere new in early 2014. My current onward assignment will be cancelled, and sometime in the fairly near future we’ll be bidding on our next post together off of a new list.

Clearly there are still some hurdles to clear in getting us posted together, but this is a big step in the right direction.