First of all, Happy New Year!! I haven’t had a chance to sit down and digest the past month or so until now. Winter thus far has been good. It has been unseasonably warm for this time of year, so the little amount of snow we had did not stick. Not exactly the white Christmas I had envisioned, but it has been cold enough to give that cozy “hygge” feeling I had been missing for the past few years living in Florida.
I am much happier due to the fact that I am working and am earning a paycheck again. I have a routine that feels like what I had back in the U.S., which has also been key to my mental health.
Here is a glimpse at my “glamorous” everyday life now that I am gainfully employed again: My mornings are spent working out, tidying up the house, unloading the dishwasher/dish rack, throwing a load of laundry in the wash, feeding our dog, making breakfast, and making the bed. All this in addition to showering and getting ready for the day, of course.
Evenings are spent going to the grocery store (or ordering groceries online), cooking dinner, feeding the dog, doing dishes, folding and putting away laundry, balancing the bank account, making to-do lists, and sweeping the kitchen. If I am am not too tired, I take an hour or so to scroll social media or watch a show to decompress before going to sleep. In full disclosure, my husband walks our dog first thing in the morning and before bed at night, which especially in the winter is not my idea of fun. He also cooks dinner a couple of times a week (or we go out to eat if he doesn’t feel like cooking), so I am happy doing the household chores instead.
In other news, my hubby and I hosted a small holiday get-together at our house, I went to a friend’s holiday party, we went to the Christmas Market twice, we saw the Nutcracker and had a peaceful and quiet Christmas at home. We celebrated New Year’s Eve at a colleague’s home. Due to Orthodox Christmas being falling the second week of January, we had an additional couple of days off to enjoy the holiday season.
The only setback this holiday season is the post office has been extremely slow. I read about this prior to moving here but hoped it would not happen to me (HA!- spoiler alert, all the things I read in other foreign service blogs that I thought would not happen to me have happened. So take heed, people reading this who are about to join the foreign service). A present did not get to a family member until this week, some items I ordered a month ago haven’t arrived, and we just got some holiday cards this week. Oh well, I learned my lesson and will mail stuff weeks earlier next year and will tell friends and family to please keep in mind that it will take a good month to get letters and packages to and from us this time of year.
Without further ado, here are some pictures from this holiday season!!
Trailing Spouse Tales 