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What Do Expat Spouses Do All Day?
Imagine, if you will, a world of single-income families in which one spouse of each couple does not have a full-time job. This is the bubble in which most expats live. The primary reason for this...
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In My Hometown
In my hometown, Johnny Cash welcomes you—right after you pass by the people drinking a morning beer at the airport version of Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, and the bluegrass musicians playing in the...
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Of Silk Purses and Sows’ Ears
I posted recently about how hobbies keep a lot of expat spouses sane. Since one of my hobbies is this blog, and I’ve resolved to post once a week, a bit more about that. (Also, Warsaw in late winter?...
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I Just Have One of Those Faces
After living in eight foreign countries (and traveling to many more) I have developed several theories. Here’s one of my favorites. People and cultures can be characterized as open-faced or...
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My Real Post Report on Warsaw
Real Post Reports are an awesome online resource for Foreign Service and expatriate families, with first-person reviews of life in cities all over the world. If you don’t know about the RPR website,...
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Taking The Road Less Traveled
Or How My Mid-Life Crisis Is Turning Out to Be Super Boring In a couple of months, I will turn fifty. Not sure how that happened, exactly, but there it is. Fifty. Five-oh. Half a century. Good grief. I...
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It’s All Good
We got some big news this week. My husband’s curtailment request has been approved. We’ll be moving back to DC next summer, instead of in 2018 as originally scheduled. The Diplomat needs to go home...
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Bits and Pieces
The curtailment thing has actually been in the works for a while, of course. We didn’t just wake up one day and decide to go home early! Facts were acquired, discussions were had, decisions were made....
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The Big Five-Oh
Yep, it’s here. The half-century mark. I am now vintage—halfway to antique! To my mild surprise, the AARP hasn’t found me yet. I suspect my husband may be tossing out their solicitations before he...
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Five Wishes for the Foreign Service
With less than a year to go at our final overseas post, I’ve been reflecting a bit on the past 25+ years of this difficult complicated relationship we have with the State Department. And I wonder: what...
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Znojmo Surprises Us
As soon as we knew that we were leaving Warsaw early, we started planning trips for our last year in Europe. For this summer, we debated another hiking vacation in the U.K., as well as a trip to...
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The Amazing Mosaics of Ravenna
Ravenna is just about an hour from Bologna. Located near the Adriatic beaches, it is a small, sleepy city with a glorious history. It was the capital of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century....
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Reclaiming My Name
When I first married the FSO—back when dinosaurs roamed!—I kept my own last name. I just didn’t see any pressing need to change it. My husband didn’t either, so we left things as they were: a Midura...
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Election Day Stress-Busting
Even though the polls are ever in our favor, I can’t help being stressed out on this election day. For one thing, since we are six hours ahead of Eastern time in the States, it’s going to be a really...
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Silver Linings
Early in the morning of Wednesday, November 9, my husband sent me a text from the embassy’s election night party. He had decided to retire from the Foreign Service. The FSO had already been planning...
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Season’s Greetings from The Space in Between
My three-week break from the smoking wreckage of 2016 is working pretty well. But I can’t escape the news altogether. Reality has a habit of intruding! I’m writing in an airport café, during an...
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Wrapping Up 2016
A few updates to wrap up the year that was. We spent Christmas week in Prague. That was a bit star-crossed. My daughter and I managed to miss our flight from Milan and spent the first night in an...
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Something in the Air
We are having a cold snap here. Highs in the teens (F), lows around zero. It’s Poland: this happens. We didn’t come here for the weather, after all. You would think it would be no big deal. But, over...
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In Which Twitter Suddenly Becomes a Lot More Interesting
I’ve had a Twitter account linked to this blog for some time. But the only thing I’ve ever done with it before this week is tweet new posts for people who choose to subscribe to my blog that way. I do...
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Bits and Pieces
The curtailment thing has actually been in the works for a while, of course. We didn’t just wake up one day and decide to go home early! Facts were acquired, discussions were had, decisions were made....
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