Free time! Yay! lol. I’m actually outside by the pool right now. Not swimming, though, because I cut two of my fingers this morning dicing onions for Troy’s breakfast tomorrow, so I can’t get in the water. One cut is bad enough that I can see down inside to different layers of skin. It’s kinda gross. I’m thinking I probably should have gotten stitches. I cut it around 8 this morning and as of right now, 1:42pm, it is still bleeding a bit. It stops if I apply pressure and keep it on there for a few minutes, but if I move it too much or bump against something, it starts up again. I’ve gone through four band aids, several sheets of toilet paper and three paper towels already. Oh well.
Anyways, I haven’t had a ton of free time since I got here, which sounds weird, considering I don’t have a job. But I still have responsibilities, most of which I have chosen to take on. I think I’ve finally found a rhythm, though, and am getting a routine down. We’ll see how long this one sticks. I had a routine for a week and a half, but it ended up driving me nuts, so I’m revamping. Starting today, my life consists of:
- 6:00-6:50
- Wake up, make breakfast for Troy, get Troy’s lunch ready and start boiling water for dishes
- 6:50
- Go down to the gym and work out for a while
- 8:00ish
- Head back to apartment to shower, do physical therapy exercises, read scriptures and do household stuff (dishes, laundry, make beds, clean, research grocery places or where to buy other things we are looking for)
- Afternoon
- Do something fun for an hour or so
- 5:00
- Start dinner
This one seems a bit more likeable than my last routine where I was doing all the household stuff right after Troy left for work and then being too tired and worn out to want to work out before making dinner. There was actually one day where I hurt too much to even think about dinner. I had been ironing Troy’s work clothes all day and the ironing board seems to have been made for midgets (Malaysian people are very short………………….Patty, you’d fit right in hehe) and it really hurt to be bending at that angle all day long. So I emailed him and told him I just couldn’t make dinner because I hurt too much, but that I would pay for us to go out to dinner. I took a pain pill and when Troy got home, he was very sweet. He rubbed my back a little and then let me rest for a bit before running out to do our errands. And he wouldn’t let me pay for dinner. lol. He’s pretty particular about that. He told me a long time ago that he was raised that the gentleman pays for the lady and every time it as been a situation where the girl tries to pay, he feels uncomfortable and like he’s being a jerk. So, he wouldn’t let me pay for dinner.
Actually, any time a money thing comes up, he prefers to pay the whole way. A few times, when the expense was excessive and because of me, I have been able to sneak him money to help. He always tries to give it back, though, but I won’t take it. Most of the time it’s in a taxi or somewhere that he can’t just drop it on the floor, like he used to do at my apartment in Oklahoma. lol. So, it works out. We’re both a bit prideful in regards to being financially independent, so this situation is a learning experience for both of us. Mostly me. I’m not used to guys paying for stuff all the time. Sometimes, yes, but Troy pays for stuff 99.9% of the time, so it’s very different.
I’ve been working since I was 5 years old, so it’s strange to not have a job. Part of me likes it and part of me feels a little useless. If I had kids, it wouldn’t be so bad because I’d feel more productive, but it’s not like I’m just sitting around all day every day. A couple of days last week I was, but I didn’t really have a choice. We’ve been having people coming in to fix things in our apartment and they’re not very good about saying when they’ll be here or showing up on time, so I spent several days just waiting for people to arrive. That whole thing has been a challenge for me. The sitting around waiting for people and the whole thing about how Malaysians don’t care so much about being on time anywhere. That was very frustrating when Troy and I were looking for apartments. The realtors were always about 10-15 minutes late. There were quite a few times Troy and I were late, but those times were not entirely in our control. They were usually because I got lost or stranded somewhere……….which I still need to write about. haha. I also need to write about my 5-hour ride around Kuala Lumpur with a stranger. That was fun. Troy was NOT happy about that. lol.
Anyways, back to the topic. I’m trying to make each of these blogs about one specific thing instead of being all rambly like usual. We’ll see how long that lasts.
So, yeah, this is a new experience for me, being intentionally unemployed long-term. I was unemployed in Virginia once, but that was only for three months. My ex-husband didn’t want me to get a job because we were only going to be there for three months after he got back from deployment, so I just sat at home all day and did nothing. Literally. We moved where we did so he could get a ride to work with his coworker and I could have the car to go run errands and do stuff, but he decided at the last minute that he didn’t want to ride to work with that guy, so I ended up being stuck at home all day. I couldn’t even do laundry because we didn’t have a washer or dyer. It was frustrating.
Now, though, things are a bit different. There is public transportation nearby and there are plenty of places I can go. I’m still not entirely comfortable enough to go wandering around on my own, so I haven’t gone too many places. Usually just the train station or the mall. I haven’t done that since we moved into our apartment two weeks ago, though. There have been way too many things to do at home.
Of all the things I do here, I think dishes and laundry take up most of my time. Dishes take so long!!!! I have to boil the water so I can wash the dishes in hot water because the kitchen sinks aren’t set up for hot water. Kinda lame, but oh well. When in Rome, right? So, I boil water. I was actually using three pots on the electric stove to boil water (we have an electric stove top and a gas stove top), but that took FOREVER because two of the pots are pretty small and the sink is pretty big. So it was taking me about two hours to get enough water to fill the washing sink and a rinsing sink. Ugh. Crazy. But then, I realized I have this awesome little electric kettle that boils water pretty quickly. It’s about the size of the large pot, so now I just use that and I get the sinks full in about 30 minutes. That is a LOT better.
I do have to say, though, Troy has been really great about helping me with the dishes when I ask. Usually it’s just to pour water from either the pots or the kettle into the sink, but he gets right on it and helps out. He also helps with other thing around the house when I ask. I’ve been really happy with how willing he is to help out with stuff. It really is wonderful. Here he is helping with the dishes. Isn’t he handsome?
