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!