Limbo la-la-la

We're back in Bergen, finally, woohoo! And I am loving it. Except for the fact that hubby went back to Korea to close up shop, so I'm a single mom for a few weeks, and of course the kids are starting nursery school so they're both little germ collectors...last night I had to ask my mom to come spend the night, the youngest woke up with croup (again), and I was worried we'd have to take her to the ER (again)...

The adventures of motherhood eh.

But other than that I'm loving it. Being in the same city as my family and friends is simply wonderful, after over three years on the other side of the world!

I am still at loggerheads with work, no resolution there yet. My union still says I have a good case, so the result will depend on whether or not work comes up with sufficient reason to deny me a reduction in hours. My fingers are crossed that everything will turn out OK, and that afterwards, I can go to work without feeling guilty, and without feeling like the boss is giving me hairy eyeballs behind my back...

As for the housework, don't get me started...trying to empty the apartment to make room for all our cr@p from Korea is hard, hard work, phew.

More on that later...

Doomed??

Well there's a twist I wasn't expecting.

My employer back in the old country is trying to keep me chained to the washing machine/kitchen counter/household appliances...

HOW IRRITATING!

True, I asked to come back part-time, but not because I like being a housewife. I asked to be allowed to work part-time because if I don't have time to do my 'chores' during the day, I'll have to do them during the evening, when the kids are in bed and hubby's sleeping on the couch; and I couldn't bear the thought. I'm pooped once the kids are out, there's no way I'm going to be able to do all the housework alone ('cause you know I'll have to do it alone) after a full day's work AND an afternoon with the kids.

Not able, and definitely not willing. Therein lies the point. I refuse!

Then I get a letter from my employer saying it's all or nothin', babe. Full-time or no time.

HOW FRUSTRATING!

I've contacted my union rep and she seems to think I have a good case. My fingers are crossed for an amicable solution.

One of the biggest advantages to having been abroad these past 3+ years is that we can afford me working part-time while the kids are small. So if my union and I don't 'win', I'm stuck in housewifehood until I can find another job...whoah.

Terrifying.

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The best part

This housewife just had a girls' weekend in Pusan with her good friend K...we had a really great time, and despite the extra-firm Korean hotel bed I got some uninterrupted sleep - which was heeeeeavenly!

Of course I woke up at 6:30 AM. Maybe it was the loud bedspread? Or maybe it was the sound of the bedspread clashing with the wallpaper. Whatever the reason, I turned over and went back to sleep, and slept til 8:30 - which I haven't done in a lohohong time.

I got home to a total disaster area; but the husband and offspring were all alive and in one piece (each), so I was willing to overlook the wreckage that was my kitchen/dining/living room. I didn't even take pics; since I have already posted messy-apartment-pictures on this blog once before...

It has taken me until today, but I'm on top of it now; or as on top of it as I'm likely to get. I will never be completely on top of things, and the sooner I realize that, the happier I will be! (No school today, election day in Korea, so the tidiness factor is already dwindling...)

But I love that even though I had a fantastic time away, and came home to a dreadful mess; far and away the best part of the whole weekend was the homecoming.

*

...still blinking...

I have moments.

Moments when the madness threatens to break through the illusion of control...

(My apologies. Sometimes I feel the need to overdramatize.)

I am still not sure whose bright idea it was to have kids. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was my idea, I seem to remember having to wait a while for the other parent to agree to this craziness. But really now; me?? Kids?? I can barely take care of myself, and now I'm totally responsible for two little human beings? And what's worse - I want MORE of them? Send the men in white coats before it's too late.

But then - can you blame me? Even though they have been sick for most of 2010, and they are messy, smelly, noisy and nuts - there are some moments that make up for all the hair loss. Like these:

Blowing bubbles outside on a beautiful summer day,

or making her laugh and actually catching it on film...!

Yeah, kids are allright I suppose.

*

Blink, blink...

...ENT time again today...

Baby G ended up having an ear infection, and has been on antibiotics more or less constantly since my last post about germs and immune systems - so after three Rx's at the pediatrician's, I took her to see the ENT, who changed her meds and is hopefully going to fix her up nice. Fingers crossed! Poor little bug, it can't be good for a 5-6 month old baby to be on antibiotics for so long at a time...

A has been semi-OK, he's still coughing (that's THREE MONTHS now!), but other than two days of fever and record-breaking amounts of snot earlier this week while hubby was on sea trials (typical right??) he's been OK. He's been going to school at least.

Hubby came home from sea trials with a cold and pink eye, poor guy...he slept right under a non-filtered ventilation shaft on the unfinished rig - I shudder to think of the kinds of garbage he was probably inhaling!

And me? Don't ask...my problems are more of the mental variety these days...do you blame me?

(Blink, blink)

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The fixer's stickers

It's been awhile. And it will probably always have been awhile, every time I write; because as every housewife knows, there just aren't enough hours in the day to allow myself to sit at the computer and play with my blog as often as I'd like.

*Siiiiigh*

Yesterday I met with hubby's company's secretary - the "fixer", as I think of her, she helps us with every aspect of life here in Korea and we would all be lost without her. Hubby threw my wallet in the trash around Lunar New Year (that's another story) and my Korean drivers' license was lost forever.

Well, not forever...that's what the fixer and I were doing, getting me a new license. And while we were driving/waiting in line/filling out forms, we chatted about all kinds of stuff. Among other things, our family's Alien Card renewal deadlines are coming up, so we have to assemble all sorts of paperwork to send to the Immigration office etc etc...no problem really, except that hubby has to get a statement from the tax office to send along...and he has a tendency to prioritize work issues over personal ones. I distinctly remember waiting far too long last year for hubby to get hold of this paper... I told the fixer as much - and told her that we have to start nagging him NOW!

I then told her that that morning before work I had asked him to change our water jug (one of those 20 kg office water-cooler deals, we can't drink the tap water here in SK), but he forgot. I got it changed; it's amazing the feats of strength the desire for coffee can inspire...so I don't really need him to do it...but I feel like some things around here I just have to label "men's work", because not everything can be my job, right?

So anyway, I told the fixer that if the water jug had been stamped with his employer's name, he wouldn't have forgotten so easily!

She thought that was really funny, and said she'd send him home with some company stickers so I could put them on things I wanted done.

From there the conversation degenerated into putting stickers on the dishwasher, to the vaccuum cleaner, the pile of dirty laundry next to his bed, and finally to the baby's poopy diapers...we had a really good laugh at poor hubby's expense...but shortly thereafter the conversation was filed away in my overstuffed cobwebby brain as a funny incident and promptly forgotten.

Until hubby came home from work and came straight to me with a handfull of stickers, which of course set me off all over again...and he had a chuckle as well, when I explained to him why he was giving them to me (the fixer had declined to comment).

Hmmm...now I'm wondering - where should I put the first sticker??? Any suggestions?

*

Waiting for summer...

This spring has brought us almost nothing but dreary weather. And I know I'm not exaggerating, because if the weather allows; I always hang my laundry out to dry.

It's one of the few things I consistently do "the hard (but better) way" as a housewife. And believe me, when it comes to housework, I usually love shortcuts!

But to me, clothes hung to dry indoors end up smelling of mildew, and clothes dried in the dryer smell like dust. My husband says I'm nuts, the clothes smell fine, but - no, they don't, not to me. Clothes dried outdoors however, smell like childhood summers, sunny smiles, days at the park, and any of a hundred more fair-weather memories. Not to mention bedsheets dried outside - they seem smoother, cooler, and more comfortable - it is heaven to lie down in sheets dried outside!

And I may very well be the only person alive today who prefers line-dried, stiff, crunchy, scratchy towels to tumble-dried soft ones. I have to do half-n-half at our house, so that my family can "keep their skin on" (as hubby says) after bathing.

Therefore, I know. I am not exaggerating, because all our clothes smell like dust or mildew, and all our towels are soft. This spring has been dreary and wet. So here's hoping the pending summer is phenomenal!!!!!!