I'm a columnist!

Ok, well that sounds perhaps more exciting than it is, but it is in some sense true. One of the sites that my big brother Pete manages in his new swanky job is called Dark Reading. They are all about security stuff. He put me in touch with the editors there, and I'm doing a few columns for them to see how it goes. I have one column up now, and will have a new one appearing at the rate of roughly one per week for the next few weeks. It has so far been really fun! But please, only comments on Immingpool, not Dark Reading, unless you would care to comment on the content of the column...

Christmas in Cambodia

This Christmas we hosted a big crowd--Grandma Phyllis, Grandpa John, Aunt Liz, and Liz's boyfriend David. Less than 24 hours after they landed in Cambodia, we whisked them off to an unusual Christmas Eve--a Khmer wedding!

Somany's mother, Somany (our housekeeper), Senin (our cook), me, and Natalie (Somany's daughter)

The bride, Somaly (sister of our housekeeper, Somany) works in a copy shop and met the groom, an architect, when he kept coming in to make more copies. The wedding party goes through lots of clothing changes during a Khmer wedding. This was one of the 12 dresses that the bride wore for different parts of her multi-day ceremony. The smart bit is that all of the clothes they wear are rentals.

After the dinner, we all tried our hand at Khmer dancing, and several of us even learned what can only be described as the Khmer version of the Electric Slide. Wedding line dances are universal! Here David and Dad get in to another wedding dance, which was basically shuffling in a big circle with lots of apsara-style hand movements. (And yes, that is a silly inebriated grin on Dad's face. He was having a really good time!)

The next day was Christmas morning, and we opened gifts...

Santa Phyllis and Santa Liz

The surprise hits of Christmas were bike helmets (the kids liked wearing them so much we had to make a new rule--no bike helmets at the dinner table) and that perennial favorite, cardboard boxes.

Nathan proves that the best part of parenthood is having an excuse to play with their toys.

...and made a gingerbread house.
Grandma Phyllis and Ellie start decorating the house...

...and get some help from Ben, David, and Aunt Liz.

December Snuggles

Keeping with our theme of catching up with the blog, here are some "aaaawwww" moments from December.

Early morning snuggles

Storytime with Aunt Liz

Ben gets some lovin'

Jen's trip to DC

Just after Jess and Andy's visit--or more precisely, about 12 hours before they left--I headed back to DC to pick up my Labor Officer of the Year award, meet with colleagues in Washington, and enjoy a weekend back home. It was great to be back in the US, and even better to be in Washington! I could walk down the street (wide sidewalks not impeded by street vendors or roaming dogs), understand everything everyone said, go browse at a bookstore (as opposed to shopping online and waiting 3 weeks for my books to show up), drink a gingerbread latte, and enjoy cool weather.

The Awards Ceremony itself was really cool. The State Department really knows how to do these things right. It was held in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms--the 8th floor wing of the State Department where foreign dignitaries are entertained. There was a full military color guard and both the Director General, George Staples, and the Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, gave good speeches. The Department of Labor even sent one of their top dogs, James Carter, to help present my award (which was given jointly by the Depts of State and Labor). It was a bummer that Condi wasn't there. She was originally supposed to be the one handing out the awards, but the original date in October was scrapped due to her urgent travel following the North Korea nuclear test, and they could never find a time on her calendar after that.

Me with James Carter, Labor Department Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs and Nicholas Burns, State Department Undersecretary for Political Affairs.

Highlights of my time in DC include:

• A private tour of the West Wing courtesy of my State Department Colleague Richard Miles, who is currently working there as the Executive Assistant to Deputy National Security Advisor J.D. Crouch. Sadly, no photos are allowed inside, so you'll just have to imagine. This was the coolest part of a very cool trip--definitely something we'll remember.
• Reuniting with my uncle and cousins to fill out the McIntire Clan contingent during Alexandria's Scottish Clan Walk.

• Catching up with lots of friends!

I met Geoff, Michael and Maryanne's newly adopted son, for the first time

Dumbarton friends Mike, Barby, me, Howard, Melinda, Greg, and Pam

Gustavus friends Scott and Michelle

Jess and Andy Come for Turkey and Tots

OK...we have a lull in visitors, both official and personal, and we are using this time to get caught up with our friends in Phnom Penh and get caught up with life at home...including getting some more photos to all of you. So, going way back to November, here are some highlights from Aunt Jess and Uncle Andy's trip to see us in Cambodia.

Jess and Andy were here for about 10 days or so, and stopped off in Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat before they came. During their time here, they spent lots of time just hanging out with the kids and enjoying aunt- and unclehood.

Storyteller Uncle Andy reads to a captivated audience

Aunt Jess helped with one of our favorite activities--naked painting--but decided she wasn't ready to strip down just yet.

Jess helps the kids decorate for Thanksgiving with window clings

Then we had the big event--Thanksgiving. We managed to get most traditional Thanksgiving foods, including a turkey, though we had to used canned cranberries and skipped the sweet potatoes. Senin's pumpkin pie was terrific and Andy showed us that making gravy from scratch isn't as hard as we thought.

The Thanksgiving gang.
(Don't adjust your computer screen...Ben is blurry in the original. That little guy does not like to hold still!)

The weekend after Thanksgiving Aunt Liz joined us for a lovely day trip to the Takmao Animal Rescue Center, a USAID-funded project that rehabilitates animals that have been illegally captured and releases most into the wild and houses the ones that can't be released. It's the closest thing we have to a zoo here, and it's pretty neat. Unlike most zoos in Asia, because this one is run by an environmental group, the animals have big cages and are well cared for.

Whenever you go to a touristy area, you are swarmed with kids wanting to be your tour guide (and expecting some riel in exchange at the end of your visit). While we had several kids tagging around with us at the beginning, this little fellow was by far the best guide eventhough he was mute. The other kids new a few words of English, but this kid could communicate far more through hand motions and expressions and had a great personality to boot.

Siamese fireback

Ellie and Aunt Liz

One of the highlights of a trip to the zoo is buying coconuts to feed to the sunbears. Little kids sell the coconuts for about 50 cents each, and then toss them into the zoo enclosure. Remarkably, the bears tear through the very thick and tough coconut shells with just their paws and teeth.

Ben and Uncle Andy