As the summer break rolled into the fourth week our tiny apartment started to feel much smaller with the kids home all day long. It was apparent that even the kids craved a little individual space  - they converted their bunkbed into a three (separate) compartment fort - desperate times call for creativity and innovation. While I wholly support the idea of some personal space, I could not embrace the aesthetics of the thing. Also, nary a blanket could be found and Mummy could not get comfortable on the couch. A fort makeover was in order. Our Fort These instructions are specific to the IKEA SVÄRTA Bunkbed and SVÄRTA Pull-out Bed  but could probably be adapted to another similar style of bunk bed. This project cost me about $60 ($20 per child). You will need: Bed Tent  - $20 Curtains - $16 Curtain Rings - $2 Tablecloth - $13 Grommet Set - $6 Binder Rings - $2 Cable Ties - $0 (I had left over from a previous project; I only needed five) Inst...

Can't believe that, until A Perfect Fit , I had not written new blog post in over a year. Time flew, life was lived, and lessons were learned. Most noteworthy is that I've assumed a more relaxed posture towards housekeeping. I found that keeping up with the standard of clean and tidy I had become used to, having household help overseas, is unmanageable. I still clean thoroughly, if not as frequently, and we still endeavor to have a place for everything and everything in its place. Still, with three young children, I spend much of my day tidying. We attempted to ease the burden of cooking by enjoying takeout out a few more times a month but quickly realized that eating out more than a handful of times per month, even at inexpensive restaurants, has a significant effect on our food budget. For a family of five, the only way to stay under budget, $5 to $7 per person, per day, is to prepare the majority of meals at home. To put things into perspective, what we can reasona...

For Foreign Service families, to be unsettled is normal. The thrill of an unknown, future adventure prevails and mitigates any discontent with the present. This is how we cope. We survive, even thrive, because we look forward. We are many, but we are few. A fraction of a country's population that has chosen what can only be described as an awkward existence. We choose to jump in, family members in tow, without knowing what is on the other side. We show up at each new post and, like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that is placed in wrong spot, not where it ought to be but blending in enough, we fit in until we are uprooted again. We do not have a road map, and retirement is the only final destination. We experience the world in all its grit and glory and our lives are enriched. Friends and relatives back home imagine that we are living their wildest dreams; wandering across the globe, living in fabulous homes, and meeting the world's rich and famous. We cannot deny our glamo...