Thursday, July 12

Laundry & Grocery Shopping

Well, yesterday, I finally decided that it was time to get some chores done around here.

Laundry first - We have a double decker washer/dryer unit. Which equals VERY SMALL!! Anybody that knows my relationship with laundry knows that I do it ALL the time!! ALL THE TIME! So, when we first saw that unit, Sammy & I both started laughing. The washing machine will probably fit about 1/4 of what my washer at home would fit. I'll be livng & breathing laundry here! But, I'm not complaining. We have a washer & dryer in our condo, so I am thankful for that much. Atleast I don't have to lug it all to a laundromat!

I bought some Tide detergent yesterday (because it's the only brand I recognized), and when I read the directions, I realized just how blessed I am. On the back of the bag (all the detergent here is powder - no liquids - sold in bags), they had directions for both hand washing your laundry & for laundering in a washing machine. It dawned on me how many people here must rely on hand washing their clothing in order to get it clean. Even though we are in a very large, metro area, I am living in a third world country. Sometimes I forget that fact. Maybe I've just never noticed it, but I haven't seen instructions for hand washing your clothing on the back of detergents sold in America. I don't know... maybe somebody there can check that out for me.

Either way, I'm only about halfway done with our laundry, but I'll get there...

We also desperately needed to get some groceries for the condo. They had a few items waiting here for us when we arrived, but our family goes through a loaf of bread in about 2 days! Plus, I needed to get some quick meals/snacks to keep on hand for the kiddos. So, the other wife staying here, Julie, & I decided to brave the grocery store. Since we walk everywhere we go, we first needed to find out whether the grocery store would deliver to our condos or not. So, we stopped at the Customer Service desk to ask a gentleman standing there. After a little communication issue, he finally understood what we were asking & confirmed that yes, they would deliver. He then proceeded to follow us around the store, suggesting certain items/brands. In fact, Julie & I both commented on how it felt like we were being "watched". All the employees were so very friendly, but to the point where I just wanted to scream, "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" I'm not used to having people following me around the store, offering their constant help. I just wanted to explore alone & look at all the different foods/brands without the feeling of several pairs of eyes staring at me. Numerous times, I did say that I would be a while & that I would find Darwin (the name of the guy helping us) when I was done shopping, hoping he would get the hint. But, he didn't. He continued to follow us from one end of the store to the other. So, we tried our best to ignore him & go about our business. He really was helpful, just to the point where it got a bit annoying. We either decided we're going to have to get used to their constant help or get firm about leaving us alone. I hate to come across as rude... we'll see what happens next time we go. (I bet they wouldn't do that with Sammy!)

When I got home from the store, my entire family was asleep! It was after 5 pm & I knew if I wanted the kids to sleep at all at night, I would have to wake everybody up & get them going. So, that's what I did. But, it was HARD!!! I was basically waking them up in the middle of the night (Texas time), so they were extremely unhappy with me! But, I stuck to my guns, got everybody dressed & took them all to the mall playground next door. Once we got there, the kids had a great time. They played hard & really had a fun time. Afterwards, we ate dinner at McDonald's. The kids only ate one or two chicken nuggets before begging to go home & go to sleep again. I think Nicholas made it to about 7:45 & Sydney made it to about 8:15. Samuel was wide awake & wanted to play his Spiderman video game. But, I think he crawled in bed with me & Sammy around 9:30 or so. (He said he was scared because he was the only one awake.) We all slept until 5 am, which is much better than yesterday. (We woke yesterday at 2:30 am & we were up until after noon!) So, I think we're getting close to being on schedule here... we'll see.

Here are some pictures from yesterday - swimming, playing at mall & Spiderman!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Howdy! Did you get my email? On the Tide box here in TX there are no hand wash instructions :)
Ruthie:)

Jenn said...

Great pics! Wow - what a grocery store experience - I would have freaked out - it takes me like 3 hours to grocery shop here at Walmart (only because that is the one time I am ALONE without the kids - so I just meander all around and take my time! :) Maybe next time you can sneak in and then find him when you are done?? Love the updates! Tell Samuel that I posted a pic of him and Ryan on our blog - dressed up in their costumes! :)

Dara said...

What a grocery story trip! I would have had a difficult time with people stairing like that. I would have probably bought a few items and just left (get home realizing that I didn't get but a fraction of what we really needed).

Love the pics! How nice to have a pool to go to! The kids will be little fish after swimming year round for 2 years!!!

Hopefully the jet lag/time difference will catch up with you soon. It always takes me at least a couple of days when we go to Europe (which is only 8 hours difference), so I am not sure how long it would take me over there! Good luck!!! I have heard to be sure to be out in sunlight during the time you are supposed to be awake - as much as possible. The sunlight helps reset your internal clock.

Lynn Leaming said...

I love the picture of Samuel in his spiderman suit! He has a great smile in that picture. I am glad that you have Julie to experience things with. Hope ya'll get adjusted to the time differences soon.

owldog1 said...

I am so glad you have a friend there to explore things with. Where would you hang the hand wash clothes? Good thing you do not need to worry about that.

I did look also on our washing powder, there are instructions in Spanish but I do not think they are how to hand wash clothes.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you all are safe and sound in your new home. I'm enjoying keeping up with your new adventure!

Amberly said...

Thanks for checking on the detergents there in TX. I didn't think there was hand washing instructions, but it occurred to me that I probably never had a need to really look.

And, Lynn, I LOVE that picture of Samuel also! He's been wearing his costume all around the building here & has gotten quite a few compliments from the people that work here. He's making a name for himself already!! (Thankfully, in a good way!)

Unknown said...

I am back from the beach now! And loving reading all about your adventures! I was so sorry not to be there the Sunday before you left. I would have liked to wish you a good farewell (not good-bye, just farewell for a little while!) I feel like you are still very close because we get to read all about what life is like for your family there. Please keep up the posts! Love ya!