25 Things I am Happy About

Here are a few things that please me...I like this format of sorta-online-diary, because if it's not online I'd lose it. Hopefully the thoughts here will help me remember the experiences of my beautiful girls' early childhood.

1. I love it that we have a babysitter every Wednesday. Not that I don't love the girls and want to spend every waking moment with them, but it's nice to have 3 hours of A-D-U-L-T time. So far we've gone out to 3AP and met aaron's drinking buddies and (a new one from Vermont of all places!) went to Korean BBQ with David and Jinny. The egg soup was amazing and I don't know why...eggs and water? Maybe it was the stone pot. But you have to give it up to Koreans for the little charcoal grill right at your table.
2. I love it that Sascha has returned to her amiable, respectful, will do what you tell her self (maybe it requires a little bribery or coersion). It was rough there for a few weeks. I don't think she likes the attention given by the adjummas, businessmen, and grandparents. She does like teenage girls though. The blonde hair is tough to ignore here.
3. I love it that Sage is finally weaned!!! Well, almost. Still can't workout for fear of extreme chaffing, but the worst is over and I think it was worse for me.
4. I love it that Sage sleeps through the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It only took 13 months. Wait, does this coincide with #3?
5. I love it that I have been offered 2 jobs doing PT after I thought I was offered a job and then it was precariously taken away. I need to pay back my student loans and practice what I've learned the past 3 years as a kept woman. It's bittersweet though, I am building such a strong relationship with Sage that it will be hard to not see her for 8 hours straight. I am not a stay at home mom though, I don't have enough inner peace and patience. Maybe with more practice I could be, but there is something selfish in me that wants the stimulation of adult intellectual challenge, conversation, and even politics. Ideally, I could work 5 hours a day and really spend more time with the girls. WHY DON"T THEY MAKE THIS EASY? who's the they? Fortunately, the change of pace from work to home and back again makes the scare time more quality...I won't worry about cleaning the windows and floors so much.
6. I love it that I will demand a housecleaner when I get to working full time to take care of the afore-mentioned duties that annoy me and I'm not good at but feel I should do if I'm not working.
7. I love it that I am thinking of passive revenue streams. Like a book, or blog, or seminar course...F the whole retirement, 401K baloney that'll crap out just about as you are to retire...the real money is in becoming the next Stephen King and write a bestseller. OR, a mediocre seller that'll set you up to retire in Uraguay...I hear it's nice out there. check out mayafrost's new book...not so bad to make a little american money that'll carry you a long ways in south america.
8. Okay, so I don't love it that my fridge smells like Kimchi. i made the command decision to turn off the kimchi fridge (yes, a special fridge for it and i'm starting to understand why) because our aug electric bill was 1100 dollars! aj left the ac on when at work....and it's wicked expensive here despite that. it's going in the compost.
9. Which leads me to the fact that i love garbage is so complicated here. a fight or two with aaron can't mitigate that it's so rad that this HUGE city recycles over 50% of it's waste. it's a pain in the ass, but so good for the environment. for example: a food waste bin, glass, steel, plastic, vinyl, cardboard and other paper products, and styrofoam. oh and all clothes/toys/furniture is also sorted and sent appropriately. there is a full time staff to help you too - though we were dicks and put all our stuff in one bag for a few weeks and they wrote on our bag in marker "go home you". i saw the dude open our bag and start sorting it for us ... i hope he didn't know it was my bag because we put it there the night before.
10. I love it that the local supermarket (E-mart) has wine tasting on Tuesday night at 8 pm, and pretty much most nights/afternoons. ENOUGH SAID.
11. I am happy I have a big wine glass with a narrow opening so I can enjoy the bouquet of the wines I drink.
12. I am happy I discovered a small proportion of cornbread flour makes most muffin recipes better. Thanks Seven Stars!
13. I am happy the espresso craze hit Seoul before we moved here and that we have a shop right by our house that is independent and not a chain. they have a money upstairs where the girls can play and run - though i don't think it was designed for that purpose. and the coffee girl was educated at Madison WI and it's great for an english conversation.
14. I am happy that we don't have a car. everyone from aj's work says we should get a hoopdie, but i don't want one. it makes being lazy too easy...consumerism increases....imagination decreases...i like being forced to walk. not when i'm actually doing it in sub freezing conditions though. hell, it sucks packing the girls into damned snowsuits to walk to preschool, but WE'RE WALKING! (or being pushed)
15. I love it that i walk so much my feet hurt on a regular basis. There is so much more to see, friends to be made, and less stress to be had.
16. I love it that aaron is so dedicated to TaeKwonDo. He's a beast anyways and I know he'd do well at it, but it's great to see such determinism and his body is much more toned.
17. I love going to TKD practice myself...about 2 times a week...wish it could be more, but it's hard because i'm not a night person and practices start on the hour after 6...dinner, bath, bedtime...i'm wiped usually. plus it's a 20 min bike ride (now in the freeeeeeezing ass cold) there and back
18. i love it that we own P90X. The perfect workout for winter. You can do it in our tiny 205 chace apt...so when the weather is daunting and dinner took too long to cook to go to TKD...there's always Tony and his great workouts...as a PT, I fully recommend the workout plan for people who are in semi decent shape. and he even goes over that fact... It's not for people who want to pussyfoot around working out, it's serious and it's easy to follow. It's like crossfit for your living room and only a few workout paraphernalia required.
19. I love it that hangul (korean writing) is so easy to learn. I think it took me about 2 weeks to learn the alphabet. NOw, speaking the language is another picture and understanding what i'm reading is too. Thank the f'ing lord though they don't conjugate verbs. Negatively though there is a high formal, formal, low formal, friendly, not so friendly, talk to your dog, and spit-on-you version of every greeting or saying. Hierarchy has it's place in this confusian society.
20. I am happy that the person I am going to replace at work is quite similar to me, although maybe a bit more busy than I am. Should make transition easier.
21. I am happy that I have decided to try to share my PT information with other mothers in a blog style format..and maybe try to write a small non-fiction book. It's so common sense, it's 2 subjects i love...PT and motherhood, but trying to combine the 2 will be a challenge and I savor that. Applying PT stuff to your everyday life when you are bending down all the time, lifting kids up, dressing squirming kids, heaving carseats, clenching your teeth (in the "oh you are so cute" moments and giving yourself headaches), lifting kids by their arms instead of bracing their trunks, sleeping with your wrists in funny positions because they "finally fell asleep and dont want to wake them" and ending up with tendonitis (yes, that's me), and the mommy worst of all...neck pain from staring at the computer too long when you get a chance....well, applying PT to all this will be challenging and fun and hopefully help some moms from aches and pains and kids from acquiring nursemaid's elbows.
22. i love it that i can see aaron riding home from TWD practice on the sidewalk 5 stories below...our windows rock....or rather, "curtainwall" as Aaron would like me to say.
23. I love it that Sage will eat 5 chopsticks full of kimchi. that's crazy, even for korean babies.
24. I love it that we can go hiking ... all over the damned place in this city. there are pockets of hikeable mountains everywhere. less than 2 km from our house...1 km as the bird flies, but have to go around the us army base. the noise doesn't always abate though. have to learn to live with that.
25. i love it that i discovered twitter. expat morgan pt. it's a waste of time, yes, but some cool stuff is found with good contacts.