So. One of my favorite sayings is "bloom where you're planted." To me it means wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, try to make the very best of it. I am a firm believer in this and it's how I try to live my life. I don't like to focus on the negative because I feel like that makes it grow in your mind.
Today, I am grumpy Melissa. So, I am going to make a list of the things I hate about being here, and then I will be done with them and back to focusing on the good of being here. Here is my mental dump, in no particular order:
1. Dust, sand, more dust, more sand. OOOH how sick I am of how dirty it is here. If the boys so much a step foot outside, they look like dirty orphan children. Anything that is left outside for any period of time is COVERED in superfine sand. I'm so sick of the feeling of sand on my hands and feet. I am sick of mopping the floor constantly.
2. Drivers. I have never seen anything like the drivers here. Just absolute madness. Seriously every time I get where I am going safely I offer a little prayer of thanks. And every time I go through a big, three-lane roundabout, where no one even remotely follows the rules, I get a surge of adrenaline and then a huge sense of relief when I exit the roundabout.
3. The house provided by the company. It's way too big. I never want a house this big again.
4. All of the appliances in this house. We are back to a "wash the dishes before you wash them" dishwasher, a clothes dryer that tears up clothes and takes a couple cycles to get them dry, a glass top electric stove, and oven that is about 30-50 degrees off temperature.
5. Most of the furniture provided with the house. Don't get me wrong, it was nice not to have to worry about furnishing the house, but they seriously got the cheapest, most impractical furniture for these houses. I could go on and on about this one....
6. Living in a compound with workers EVERYWHERE. We live just a few houses down from the management office, and that's where a lot of the workers congregate. I seriously can't step outside my house without seeing one of the compound workers. I try really hard to smile and greet them because I want to treat them kindly, but it wears on me and I have a hard time feeling completely at home. They literally stare at me and the boys if we so much as walk by, and if we are outside playing a game of baseball or basketball in the street, we literally draw a crowd. It's so strange. If we go on a bike ride or walk, we encounter so many of them and I just get sick of it. It makes me sad knowing they are all far away from their families and lonely and looking at my kids and missing their own.
7. Water coolers. So sick of having to keep up with a water cooler. I miss my fridge where I could just get water out of the dispenser, or even just being confident that the tap water was ok. I am constantly running out of water cooler jugs and forgetting to get more, and I hate always having to hoist the 5 gallon jug up to the cooler. And I swear it always runs out on me when I don't have time for it to run out.
8. Being SO far away from home. It's just hard.
That's all for now. Now to get back to having a good attitude. Right..... now.....
Today, I am grumpy Melissa. So, I am going to make a list of the things I hate about being here, and then I will be done with them and back to focusing on the good of being here. Here is my mental dump, in no particular order:
1. Dust, sand, more dust, more sand. OOOH how sick I am of how dirty it is here. If the boys so much a step foot outside, they look like dirty orphan children. Anything that is left outside for any period of time is COVERED in superfine sand. I'm so sick of the feeling of sand on my hands and feet. I am sick of mopping the floor constantly.
2. Drivers. I have never seen anything like the drivers here. Just absolute madness. Seriously every time I get where I am going safely I offer a little prayer of thanks. And every time I go through a big, three-lane roundabout, where no one even remotely follows the rules, I get a surge of adrenaline and then a huge sense of relief when I exit the roundabout.
3. The house provided by the company. It's way too big. I never want a house this big again.
4. All of the appliances in this house. We are back to a "wash the dishes before you wash them" dishwasher, a clothes dryer that tears up clothes and takes a couple cycles to get them dry, a glass top electric stove, and oven that is about 30-50 degrees off temperature.
5. Most of the furniture provided with the house. Don't get me wrong, it was nice not to have to worry about furnishing the house, but they seriously got the cheapest, most impractical furniture for these houses. I could go on and on about this one....
6. Living in a compound with workers EVERYWHERE. We live just a few houses down from the management office, and that's where a lot of the workers congregate. I seriously can't step outside my house without seeing one of the compound workers. I try really hard to smile and greet them because I want to treat them kindly, but it wears on me and I have a hard time feeling completely at home. They literally stare at me and the boys if we so much as walk by, and if we are outside playing a game of baseball or basketball in the street, we literally draw a crowd. It's so strange. If we go on a bike ride or walk, we encounter so many of them and I just get sick of it. It makes me sad knowing they are all far away from their families and lonely and looking at my kids and missing their own.
7. Water coolers. So sick of having to keep up with a water cooler. I miss my fridge where I could just get water out of the dispenser, or even just being confident that the tap water was ok. I am constantly running out of water cooler jugs and forgetting to get more, and I hate always having to hoist the 5 gallon jug up to the cooler. And I swear it always runs out on me when I don't have time for it to run out.
8. Being SO far away from home. It's just hard.
That's all for now. Now to get back to having a good attitude. Right..... now.....
WE pray for you.... Just think...... soon, if its only 3 yrs, you will be 1/3 done. Think of if as if an hour away from home and now its 15 minutes after and by summer it will be 20 after. When you wait in a dr office, 20 min. is a big chunk. You will make it. AND, as you said, you usually are happy and upbeat and having fun. You are amazing. Because you really are happy, upbeat and having fun. It shows in the boys' faces.
ReplyDeleteThis gives us a better idea of what you are facing there. One thing I have found is how fast time passes. This will be the stuff you talk about in church someday or to your grandkids. It's nice to have stories to tell, just not so nice getting the stories!
ReplyDelete...and having the stories in your family lore will be priceless.
ReplyDeleteI get it..that's why last winter I started a gratitude journal to focus on what I love here and now my time is fading into just a few months and I am VERY sad to be leaving
ReplyDelete