Working full time again means better time management.  It really is a necessity.  I remember when we moved to Japan and I was a stay-at-home-mom for the first time.  The identity of an organized/tidy/well-disciplined person somehow stayed behind with my job.  Instead I realized more "free time" just meant more time I procrastinated from productive things like cleaning.  This was a hard, and very humbling, realization.  I half-heartedly worked to improve in areas like sweeping, dusting, and meal planning.  But, without time crunches to negotiate around I still found myself not managing time well.  Then I just embraced it, stopped feeling awful, cleaned my house decently, cooked most of the time, spent time with Kent and did a lot of sewing and reading.  I called the Japan years my "pre-tirement" years.  And they were great years.

I have to admit though I was feeling the itch to do something more structured again for work once we arrived in Kuwait.  Kent is in school full days now, and we have a maid to do the cleaning (and cooking one night a week).  The embassy Bus Coordinator position has been nice, but without a lot of structured hours.  That is a little annoying sometimes to be out shopping for groceries and have to stop in the aisle to deal with a bus issue via phone or text.  But, that is the job!  When this long term sub position came up it seemed too perfect.  And, in week two it still feels pretty good.  The prep is easy.  There is no grading for the sub to do.  I get to spend time with kids.  I get to spend my lunch hour in Kent's class EVERY day!  He loves it, and his teacher appreciates the help.  And, when I go home, I do not bring anything with me.  Work stays AT WORK.  What a concept!

Now this does mean I have to get up at 5am.  And it does mean Kent and I are on the bus at 6:10am.  YUCK!  And it means I am in bed, asleep, by 10pm.  So... the hours between 3pm and 10pm are extra special now.  With the cleaning help, I am working hard to keep the house more tidy than normal.  Kent has karate and baseball practices to attend several nights a week.  I am looking forward to the structure that full time work brings to my life.  I never hated working.  I just got really emotionally tired.  So far this seems like a good compromise.

Over our 5 day week(end?) we had off for Eid, Brad and I tackled the chaos of our house.  Kent was allowed to watch an inordinate amount of Netflix TV while Brad and I purged, sorted, organized, and put away EVERYTHING in the house!  It was exhausting.  But it is almost completely done.  Just some tweaking of some stuff in my fabric/craft room and decorating is left to do. 

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Kitchen and Laundry:

Kent's Room:

We took a little jaunt yesterday afternoon to check out a place for Brad to get his Land Rover checked out.  It has been having a lot of troubles.  We have our first lemon vehicle.  I suggested we buy another Land Rover for me.  Then we can have two lemons and make lemonade.  Brad didn't think that was funny.  I thought the auto shop had some interesting signs and "character."

After his quick chat with the mechanic (work to be done later) we headed to check out Ace Hardware and True Value.  Yes, you read that correctly.  True Value focuses more on home goods whereas Ace definitely priortizes tools and home repair items.  We picked up a few things like tape etc... and then just spent some time wandering around looking at all the stuff.

On they way home Brad declared the need to stop off and find an ice cream.  Luckily we drove right by "Toot Berry."  With a name like that how can one NOT stop???  Please note the lovely  parking lot.  See the complimentary wig?  And the outdoor seating looked so luxurious.  The ice cream was good, and thankfully there was a nearby garbage bin to toss our bowls and spoons after eating.  This country is such a strange mix of old and new.  Case in point......

Then it was home to do a bit more tidying up before getting ready for bed and starting a new work week for ALL of  us.

Hope you are doing well!!!