Backpacks and lunchboxes get washed on the last day of school. Three weeks ago, we started stockpiling non-perishables. Why? Coronavirus. We are a family of five and we consume a lot; a little extra, just in case, is probably not a bad idea. We are concerned, not so much about getting COVID-19, but about the inevitable disruptions. We want to prepare, not panic. I grew up in Guyana in a time when scarcity was commonplace. I remember the lines for everything - food, cooking gas, toilet paper! I have vague memories of sitting for hours at a clinic, waiting for vaccinations and, I think, powdered milk, or maybe it was another place, another queue. The run on grocery stores that we are experiencing now in the U.S. gives me flashbacks. I presume that the majority of shoppers have never seen anything as widespread as this in their lives, not here in the U.S. anyway. As it happens, we were living in Lagos, Nigeria during the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Social distancing, increased...

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...