Ugly Americans

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,