The Last Few Weeks

I was surprised to see that my last post was over a month ago in February. Time flies when you're having fun and not doing much that is noteworthy. Unfortunately, we have not been to any more exotic destinations lately. Most of our focus as of late has revolved around Caterpillar and it's recent reactions to the worldwide economic recession and a pessimistic sales forecast for 2009. Caterpillar's reaction to a dismal outlook has been to cut every penny possible in every nook and cranny of the company. Sadly, this has meant indefinite layoffs for many Cat employees. As an expat family, we are definitely a target for cost cutting measures because it is very expensive to cover our children's tuition, very high rent and utilities, cost of living adjustment, home leave trips, etc. As a result, Cat has pulled as many expat families (not just in Singapore) back to the US as possible. Many Cat families in Singapore just recently learned they would be relocating back to Peoria. So, we were holding our breath for the past few weeks, but it would appear fairly certain now that we are staying put for at least the short term as the deposit for our girls' tuition next year has been paid by the company. Obviously, there are no guarantees and the situation could change at any time. Due to this uncertainty, as well as taking a pay cut (another cost cutting measure) we did not plan a trip for the girls' upcoming spring break. Instead we will be exploring Singapore some more (there's plenty we haven't seen or done yet) and letting the girls take some extra riding lessons at the polo club. But I have good intentions to start planning some more expeditions very soon. Unfortunately, the planning is not nearly as fun as the trip itself!