Ugly Americans

So we are well into our third month at post, and I admit my last in-depth entry sounded pretty horrible. It really felt that dire at the time. Three months in, life in the Yucatan is still a work in progress, but for right now it's more manageable? Or at least, the problems seem to have lessened in severity? A dramatic entrance!   Our Halloween party was small, but apparently a success. Since the house was so barren, we left everything up except for the inflatables (like the one above!) until our HHE arrived. Now, with the Halloween decorations down and most of our stuff in place, the house feels less like a horrible vacation rental and more like a home. We probably looked like weirdos to people stopping by the house with all the Halloween stuff hanging up after the holiday, but who cares.  Our first visitor came by this month- which was nice. Not a long visit, but it was good to have a visitor, doubly so that it was abuela (my mom) visiting. The kids were beyond excited to

  Despite my last post, I have a general idea of how I want to spend the next three years here, in the Americas. As we have awhile here, and language is really not much of an issue, the plan    is that we are going to visit every pyramid, archaeological site, cenote, and nature reserve or park we can. And tourist traps, because who doesn't like a cheesy tourist trap?   At least, that's my plan. If I have to drag everyone else along with me, so be it. I don't think i'll have to drag anyone along. When you sell the adventure to your kids by saying, "Lets visit beaches, pyramids, and jungles and have adventures!" it pretty much guarantees a yes response. And that's true to for my husband, for most of the places I'm looking to go. Other places require a little more planning...because i'm pretty sure some of these places are going to require a plane flight, and probably making arrangements to go with a tour group. Exciting!

 If you know me personally, or you have read any or all of my previous posts you have probably figured out that I am what most people would say (if they were being polite) a terribly pessimistic, and perhaps jaded individual. Even when i'm trying to look on the bright side, it's still a very salty viewpoint. That being said, despite this outlook I am often more than willing to deal with things that affect our day to day life, and in general work to get them resolved. Some things you just can't ever find a work around for (ie: staircase from hell in last house) but for the most part smaller hiccups (like a  horribly clogged sink, for example) can get resolved to everyone's satisfaction, even if it takes a bit of work. I get that. I also tend to get my hopes up high (despite all this) before we get to our new post, every time. Especially with this post, because reasons .  Now I suppose I could lie, and just pretend for the next three years in every entry about our l

 Our kids really have it lucky. It's funny that during something so mundane, you mind can drift to an earlier time and place in your life. I was making dinner for the family (pizza), and realized that my kids basically have almost the dream childhood of an 80s kid-  or at least my interpretation of a dream 80s childhood . They play video games* (many of them educational, thankfully) at their discretion thanks to their kindle fires. They can watch cartoons whenever, wherever- not just on Saturday mornings. Pizza, popcorn, chicken nuggets, burgers, fries, and probably a few comfort foods I am forgetting are no strangers to dinner time**. Books galore, both digital and hard copy. A buffet worth of art supplies. And a sea of toys that will likely get culled again when it arrives at our next post. Almost everything, like I said. We walk to the local grocery stores, when i'm not feeling lazy. Even though my last two posts have been on the subject, it honestly isn't t

As mentioned in a previous post, I am lazy and unwilling to make multiple trips on foot or rent a vehicle in order to get my groceries. As my last two attempts ended in tragedy, I decided to forego a third order on Peapod and try a different service. Enter Amazon Fresh. I did not actually order ice cream in this order, which I immediately regretted once I received it. Unlike the Peapod order (which arrived in plastic grocery bags devoid of cold packs/dry ice pack for refrigerated items) there were plenty of ice packs (and dry ice packs) to keep the produce and frozen foods cold. They also used cold bags to further insulate anything cold.  There was only one problem with the order- and that was how they packed the chemicals: While I don't think anything leaked out onto the produce in that bag, it easily could have been the opposite. I did tell Amazon as much in the follow up email I sent them about my order. Costs for items in this order were on par (sometimes

After spending a lovely 30 days in Florida that seemed (like it always does) to go by faster than it should, we now find ourselves in D.C.. I'm not complaining, mind you. This is an extended stay in the U.S. for training before we head off to the new post. If it were a tour here, I would probably be complaining because D.C. isn't cheap. But we're not, so hooray for that. So far we've had the chance to spend time with friends from other posts since arriving, and visit the museums. As both kids enjoy walking, we are taking advantage of that fact because it is easy to walk wherever you need to go. And if it's too far to walk, there's the metro. Which the kids love to take because 'TRAIN'! The only thing which has been a bit troublesome is grocery shopping. In the before times, I used to look at grocery shopping as something easily completed in one trip, at one store. Now, after a number of years shopping for groceries on the local economy overseas,

Hi there. I actually (surprise!) have stuff to write about, but not the time at the moment. I know, sad maybe for the handful of people reading. Until the next post of substance, I leave you with this YouTube video clip which aptly conveys my feelings about being back in the USA.

A clear day. Pack out. It is part time capsule, and part  'this is your life '. It's a weird thing, and I don't think you ever get used to it. Mainly because our default response (when sedentary) is to just keep all these things you accumulate. The things we keep settle like layers of sediment around us, in our living environment. We don't address this accumulated stuff - and if we do, we put off for another day .  When you enter the FSLife, you can no longer do that. You have a finite amount of total weight, split between your storage, your HHE, and your UAB. Every pound counts.  Keep or toss. Store or send onward. Nothing escapes review. When they came to do the pre-packout survey, they told us we were either at, or over our maximum*. Two weekends ago we were sifting through the last bits of junk before the packers arrived. Bye bye old Christmas tree, toddler bed, crib, clothes, and all manner of junk we haven't used or looked at for the last two years.

Do you have a pet or small child that has trashed the underside of your Drexel or bed? Are you nearing your PCS and looking to fix the damage before somebody comes by to inspect your furniture for damage and bill you accordingly? Then today's tutorial is for you! This is a pretty easy repair to perform on your furniture, and the materials you will be using are inexpensive. All you need are the supplies, time and patience. Let's begin. What you will need: staple gun and staples scissors flat head screwdriver Sharpie or similar permanent marker needle nosed pliers material for the dust cover - you can use the internet and get yourself Cambric Uphol Fabric , or you can use black landscaping fabric , which gardeners use to line their flower bed (and protect plants from weeds) if you have a local supplier at post. . As you can see from the photo above, this ottoman's dust cover has met with an unfortunate fate. In this shot I have already removed two o

As we near the end of our time here in Sarajevo, the urgency of 'getting stuff done before packout'  has increased. One of those things would be the furniture we don't own, but have to take care of while we're at post. The Drexel. So, if you are getting ready for you first post, already at your first post, or an old hand at this but looking for other ideas to make your life easier (and take less of a hit on your pocketbook at the end of a tour), keep reading.  I like saving money, and I don't like to spend it on things I don't have to (like damages to furniture I don't own), so I try to keep embassy furniture as clean as possible over the course of a tour. This is no easy feat because the furniture has a tendency to wear easily (poor fabric, weak seams, poorly designed casters, etc.). But when you add kids, you are pretty much guaranteed stains, all the time. That you will need to clean, all the time. So, this week has been solely focused on fixing

 As mentioned in an earlier post, we went home on R&R to Florida for the holidays. It was awesome, and the weather was pretty amazing our entire time there. We did it for the usual reasons (family, friends...holiday at home!). Getting a break from the air pollution ( which was horrible our first year at post in the winter ) was a goal as well. We also went back for medical checkups. You might be saying to yourself, "Why would anybody go home on R&R and get routine medical exams done?"   Maybe you've never run into this problem before at a post during your FSLife, yet. I know how it sounds. I have thought the exact same thing, word for word , in response to someone else saying it to me. It's ok if you think i'm just a crazy crank who is never happy and or paranoid after reading that. I have some days when I think that, too. But for those of you who don't know or have not guessed it yet, the answer is because post does not have local providers on t

  There are a lot of things I could be writing about. Right now I have three other halfway-written posts on less inflammatory topics- but to be honest, the current political climate back home has my undivided attention for the moment. President Trump's executive order “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States”   does not represent in any way the country my parents fled to in order to start a new life for themselves. So consider this post my PSA for those of you who maybe don't know where to start, feel a little helpless, or have trouble coming up with the words to say as a private citizen when contacting your representatives in the Senate concerning this order.    The big master list of U.S. Senators, their current stance on the order, and contact information is available  here .   As I know that some people (like me) have a hard time working off form letters as a basis for their own personalized letter, I include my letters to Senator Rub