Stop & Chat: February 17-21

Oh, hi there! I think I have a bit to type about, and a lot of thoughts to share, but I'm afraid I don't have very many pictures to share. In fact, I have two that I snapped in the car. Why? I don't know, I wanted to LOL. On one hand I know that not a lot has happened. On the other hand I feel like there has been a major shift in my life.



Wednesday, the 17th, was the day that I went bowling with L. I needed to meet her at the realty office at 6:30 in the evening, which should've given me all day to hang around the house and relax, right?

Wrong.

I didn't realize how stressed this kind of stuff makes me until I made these plans. Each day I felt like I was counting down until Wednesday, not because I was excited but because I wanted it to be over with. What an unhealthy thing to do! By the time Wednesday rolled around I had worked myself into a huge ball of anxiety and couldn't make myself concentrate on anything I wanted to do. Instead I drifted through my day, waiting until 6:15ish came so I could start walking.

Right now I'm going to apologize. I'm not going to give specific names for anyone because I feel like that's not something that's really necessary for you guys to appreciate what I'm doing and to maintain a little anonymity for those around us. As a result, things may get confusing. 

Once I got there, L was very friendly. So was one of the other realtors, S, who was coming with us. We rode in L's car, where we picked up another woman who has been coming to bowling with L and the other wives.

Everyone was really friendly. We got to the bowling alley and I was kind of left to fend for myself, which was stressful beyond belief. Fortunately everyone was friendly and I was welcomed with open arms. Unfortunately I wasn't able to actually bowl, as this was a weekly team/score type deal that already had people signed up, but I went ahead and said I would sign on as a sub. That would mean that I could keep coming in every Wednesday and if a team ever had a member not show up I could play. At this point in time I had no intentions of coming back. It was great, everyone was friendly, but I just felt out of place.

There was one wife, N, who seemed particularly friendly. We seemed to hit it off okay, although there were a few quirks we had to work through. This person was the one I spent most of my time talking to over the three hours I was at the bowling alley. She is interested in M and I going on a double date/hangout session with her and her husband, and M and I are interested, but at this point I can firmly say that this will be a casual friendship. Which, if anybody knows me, I'm not much of a small talk/casual hang out kind of person. Skip straight to the deep stuff and act like we've known each other forever, please!

I was invited on another outing the next morning, at 9:30, but I overslept. I'm now able to wake up before 8, but at the time I was still adjusting from a night shift schedule to day shift. I didn't realize how much M's shifts affected my sleep schedule until I was trying to sleep like a normal human being.

Thursday and Friday were casual days. I tried to set up a time to hang out with N, but I couldn't verify any plans with M before she would back out and say she had made plans with other people. I have a lot of frustrations to vent about this whole series of encounters, but I don't think this is the proper place to do so. She seems genuinely nice, I just have a hard time with our textual communication.

On Wednesday L introduced me to a Korean woman who runs a weekly Hanji (Korean paper arts) class and I expressed interest in it, so Friday I got the details finalized on the class and they know to expect me.

I also have made some tentative plans to start biking with T, one of the women I met at bowling. We're still trying to work out some final details but if it doesn't happen on the original date we set I'm sure we will have no problem rescheduling.

Saturday was an all day event for M and I. A package that I've been waiting on since early January arrived and I spent some time ogling the goodies. Once I was done ogling we went into Yongsan to pick up the bike that M is trying to sell. He took it in earlier last week for a tune up and we decided to finally pick me up a bike.

This trip was supposed to have a shopping list of: bath mats to cover the bathroom drains with when not in use and a bike for me. Not extensive, right?

What ended up happening was this: Two pairs of shoes for me, a pair of shoes for M, a bike that was more expensive than the figure I had in my head, a bike trainer (it basically turns your bike into a stationary bike), cushioned biking shorts for me, a new pedal set (included in a 'deal' with the bike), and a new helmet for me.

Please allow me to take a moment and freak out a little.



Okay. I'm okay. The logical part of my brain is okay with these purchases, and we have not compromised any of our bills or banking situations by any close or long shot. M could lose his job and we would be fine for several months.

I've still never, ever spent that much on myself in one shot, unless you count our my back in the States, which still wasn't a one time payment. M kept reassuring me that he was 100% okay with this. In his words, "it's worth the peace of mind I have in knowing that you will be safe." He's speaking about the quality of build in the bike, my comfort in riding (T and I are planning on doing long bike rides... eventually), and my feet health. My two shoes we picked up are two different kinds of athletic shoes. This would be the first time in... let me think real quick... oh my... seven years that I've bought myself a brand new pair of athletics shoes. I've kind of skirted through the past several years hijacking my Mom's used pairs of shoes because I didn't see the point in buying myself a new pair. M got upset when I told him that I was still experiencing foot issues and insisted that we pick me up a pair of shoes. We bought one, brand new, at retail price (oh my gosh), and there was another pair that we found in the 'clearance' section of the PX that he convinced me to pick up.

Anyways, enough money talk.

Today was supposed to be another cleaning day for me. I wanted to tackle the office. I did shower and get ready for it, but I got sidetracked when I checked my USPS tracking numbers and noticed that my package home had been delivered. I got to video chat with my family while they opened my package and my little brother then asked me to play some World of Warcraft with him.

I can't say no to family time just for cleaning! I spent a few hours playing with him. I would have continued to play with him, but I had a really bad headache develop and had to get off to try and sleep my headache off.

I woke up with a headache that hadn't gotten any better and a discovery that Aunt Flo had made her arrival. At least my headache had an explanation. I'm used to there being no rhyme or reason to my headaches.

Long story short, no cleaning has been done. I'm disappointed in that, but I'm glad I made the decision to spend that time with my little brother over some cleaning that I can do later. M gets off of shift soon and we're planning on having a video game night. I think I'll go ahead and get started on the office cleanup and organization, even if I don't finish it.

I apologize if you were looking for more pictures than text. I promise my next post shall be more picture intensive!