Ahhh, my first day on the job… well not really.

Coming in today was honestly a huge waste, but I’m here so I’m going to make the most of it. I don’t get to in-process until tomorrow, so I can’t get anything done. Oh well, I’m getting paid on my first literal Labor Day.

I got to “sleep in” until 4:45 this morning. I literally threw a tantrum when the alarm went off. I wish you could have been there. I was kicking my legs all over the bed and fighting with the covers. “I don’t want a stupid job!!”

I was really glad that Will is able to be here on my first day! Things are still up in the air with where I will be going, but we know for sure Will is going to be transfered next week. It’s really terrible because it is the most remote (but also busiest) desert camp and is an hour and a half away from the city. :( Anyway, I’m glad that he will be here this week with me while I get adjusted to everything.

We got to the camp and I had to get my badge. The system was messed up, so we had to wait almost an hour. I looked like I was in the wrong place. I was the only woman and was all dressed up for my first day. The office was full of men, plus the TCNs kept filing in (TCNs are third country nationals. They do a lot of the menial jobs everywhere in Kuwait. I know that sounds bad, but that is the way things are in Kuwait) They have to hand their passport over to the office in exchange for a badge, that way they can’t run off, or if something happens they will know who it was. It literally is sort of like an indentured servant sort of thing. Crazy.

Anyway, I got finger printed and badged. Then Will dropped me off at my mom’s office because he needed to get to work. My mom is the only westerner in her office, so it gets sort of boring, so it was good for me to liven things up. ha ha.

I got there and about 30 seconds later I met my first company employee other than my mom and Will. That was fun, and I got a lot of “real world” insight. Maybe I’ll tell you about that later. It was a pretty funny conversation.

I got my badge, but I don’t have a lainyard (or however you spell it) so I can’t wear it, so I have to carry it around everywhere… and you all know by know that is a major liability for me. I often forget to wear deoderant because I am always running so late and want it to be one of the last things I do… how am I supposed to carry a badge around!!! AGH! Okay, now you all TOTALLY know I’m crazy. I will skip the times I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth (that has to always be the ABSOLUTE thing I do every morning… and I guess I am running so late and rushing around so fast that I totally forget. How in the WORLD do you forget something so foundationally elementary!? Only me), or the few times I forgot to wear a bra in college because of how late I tend to run in the mornings. Yes, yet another confirmation of how totally out there and goofy I am.

My mom, knowing this would be a problem for me, took me to HR to get a cord. However, the badge police said “No lainyards until tomorrow! We can’t give them a day early!” I guess getting a “necklace“ to wear is a BIG DEAL here. Oh goody! I get a necklace tomorrow!! heh.

After that my mom took me to Green Beans Coffee to get a chocolate frappe’. <3. Since this camp is closing in a few months everything is BARE! They have a Subway in a tiny trailor and you have to order outside in the miserable heat. They have a PX ( like a small walmart type place) that got moved into a small double wide. Their mess hall is even in a long trailor! It’s kindof sad to see this place closing. It has been here since Desert Storm and was “the“ place to be if you had to come to this hellhole. An end of an era I guess. Arafjan and Buehring (I forget how to spell it) are kind of taking Doha’s place now. Okay- I’m sure you all wanted to know that! Sorry for my rambling!

My boss (I can’t WAIT to tell you all about him, but I won’t be able to do that justice because I think we’ve all learned a valuable lesson from Dooce, as well as many others, that you are a crazed maniac if you are going to post about work stuff) is gone this morning, so I won’t meet him until this afternoon. You’ll never guess what he wanted me to do today! He asked my mom yesterday if she could DROP ME OFF AT HIS HOUSE on the way to work today (around 4:15 in the morning) so I could hang out and then he would drive us to this port where the people in the office I’ll going to be working at are having a photoshoot type thing. WOW! Talk about creepy. “Hey, Brittny, I don’t know you, but come over to my house and I’ll make you french toast while we wait for the photo shoot.“ Is that even allowed!? Hmm…

I’m nervous about meeting him today.

Anyway, I’m not really sure what this afternoon will entail. Maybe I’ll get to see my office or something once I meet my boss. I also have to sign for a computer which is very exciting because despite the terrible time difference and the fact that I will never get to read any of your blogs until the day after you write them, I will have access to the nest! The company blocks a lot of stuff, so I was glad to find out I’m good to go.

I may have to do the gas mask drill today too, but I pray not. I am so not looking foward to that! They give you the same mask thousands of others before you have worn: sweaty faces, greasy faces, excessively dry faces… on and on… and you have to have it strapped to your face for 6 minutes. AGH! I don’t know if I’m going to have to do it, because they are moving the gas masks to another camp. Thanks guys! I feel real safe now! What about me!!?

That is about all the excitement I’ve had as a grown-up today. I have to go to the bathroom extremely bad, but I don’t know if I can do it. I have a thing with bathrooms )I’m a huge germaphob), and since the base is closing they took out the bathroom trailors and put in port-a-pottys. AGH! Imagine the last port-a-potty you’ve been in plus a thousand degrees and 80% humidity. You can’t blame me for holding it now.

Will is taking me on a date to lunch, so I am totally excited about that. I wish so much that we could work at the same place. Oh well, at least we have the next couple of days.

I’m hoping to have more time to post this week, but I’m not really sure how things are going to go. I know we aren’t going to be moving until next week, so until then I’ll have my parent’s computer to use at the apartment. Hopefully once we move I’ll have more of a work rhythm and I’ll be able to sneak a post during work everyday.

Wow, What a busy and stressful first day! I’ll glad they have me to hold the fort down! ha ha

Have a good Labor Day… one much better than laboring like me!

<3

PS: Here’s a pretty interesting link. It feels good to know the Kuwaitis have offered a large amount of hurricane relief

This morning my sweet husband- having not put his contacts in- went to the bathroom-and failed to lift the lid- and peed all over the seat. I unknowingly hopped out of bed and headed straight to the toliet. Oh what I surprise I got this morning as I sat down. How lovely, Will.

Yesterday can be equivilated to a a “sitting on a toilet seat with pee everywhere” sort of day. Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t overly wonderful either. If I sound overly negative, I apologize because it wasn’t terrible or anything, just different.

We all rolled to the airport around 2 yesterday afternoon and of course had to park in the long-term area since my parents would be gone all weekend. You’d think after living in the hottest place on earth, the architects would have made it a little more bearable to walk the 8 minute trek from the parking area to the airport by making some of it indoors, but they didn’t see this as a priority.

I had tried to look cute for Will (since the first time I would see him all day would be when I got into Kuwait for the night), but I was all wilted before I even got to the airport.

We got in line to check in. That was fun. For some weird reason you are not issued seats until you check in, so we had to wait for 15 minutes while they tried to find seats for us together. I think my dad told the guy about 4 times, “We don’t all have to sit together.” The guy ignored him 4 times. He told us one of us was going to have to fly stand-by because they couldn’t get us together.

“Maybe my dad wasn’t speaking English the first 4 times! We DON’T have to sit together!” (This is that I was thinking, and NEVER in a million years would have vocalized, though it might have been funny- but probably not).

So, after that shananagan we all had to get our visas stamped. I, of course, had to have the difficult one since it was expired. I was trying to hear what the Kuwaiti army guy was trying to tell me, but all I heard was my goofy sister whispering, “He is SO hot” in my ear, so I didn’t hear all the important information that I needed. All I heard was that I needed to go to imigration.

We started aimlessly wandering around and the guy was like, “No! No! Over there,” as he pointed to aimless space. Then laughter errupts from him and all his friends and the 87 other Arabs waiting in line.

“Yes. Hi. Hello. Mmhmm. It’s us. The stupid Americans living in your country, and yes, we have no idea where we are going.” So much for trying to lay low and keep a low profile.

At this point I wanted to pull a Carla Tate from The Other Sister and make a scene and yell, “Stop laughing at me!” in front of everyone, but I exercised self-control for the sake of us all. It might have been funny, but probably not.

So, after that we went to immigration and got everything ready to go and headed to our gate. I should probably tell you upfront now that all I did yetsrday was eat. Eat and eat- and had absolutely NOTHING (I’m not joking) of nutritonal value yesterday. After my cherry chip cake with rainbow frosting for breakfast and my sour Jujy fruits in the afternoon, I polished off a happy meal for lunch. (I don’t think it would be bugging me near as much if I would have went to the gym more this week, but I didn’t go like I should have.. that’s another post though!)

Anyway, so then since we had time on our hands guess what we did!? Ate. My sister and I got shakes from Sweeney’s. It wasn’t like we were hungry, we just did it. That part of the story gets better. After that depressing fun, we sat down and waited to get on the plane. It is a free for all here. They just come out and say, “Okay, you can get on now.”

There is no calling by row number.

Ladies first? heh. Right. you would have thought we were in the middle of the Running of the Bulls and they were headed our way or something. Everyone shot up and ran to the door and pushed and shoved. Did they not get their seat number at check in or something?

I think the goal of the Kuwait Airport is to make you want to get out of there as fast as possible. Between the “desert walk” to the airport and next event, they accomplished their goal easily (and then some) with Brittny.

We headed down the terminal thing and as I thought we were apporaching the plane, it only got hotter. We made a turn and were greeted with the outside. Outside? What? We have to go outside! I’m sweating like I just ran a marathon and you want me to go outside again…

We hopped on these nasty, unairconditioned busses along with a large number of others. The smell? I don’t think I need to tell you it burned our nostrils.

We got to the plane and got one. “finally, some AC,” I whispered to myself. I really thought I was really going to lose it as I got on the plane. It was so hot and stuffy. I know this Is Kuwait Air, but believe, me I’ve already had the “Kuwait experience” these 3 months, you don’t have to remind me of how miserably hot it is in your country.

It was hot and smelled just as bad as the bus. I don’t know what the theme the airline was going for was. Depressing maybe? I don’t know.

All I know is that they were playing the creepiest music ever. Didn’t they do testing groups to see how people responded to certain things? Did they not test the music selection? I don’t know if the speakers were shot of if that was really how the music was supposed to sound, but it was creepy. It sounded like it came from an old 50s horror movie. A string orchestra playing all muted and strange things. My sister just sort looked at eachother and had a conversaion with our eyes. I really can’t do the music story justice, because you had to be there, but trust me, it was weird and eerie.

Well, what the lacked in ambviance they made up for in food. Go figure I would be the one to say that. Just give me chocolate and I forget about everything else.

Kudos to Kuwait Air- they serve REAL snacks on their flight and you don’t have to freakin’ pay for them like in the States. It wasn’t a snack. It was a small meal, and of course I had to try it. It was a pita, one half stuffed with feta and the other half stuffed with tuna salad. They were really good. They finished it off with a mini Bounty chocolate bar. I forgot about all the bad attributes of the flight and simply thought, “They gave us a meal for a snack. You rock.”

I’m such a sucker.

The flight was only 45 minutes, so that was good too- that way I didn’t have time to change my favorable opinion of this yucky airline.

We landed and were greeted with another bus and a person that simply said, “Welcome to Qatar, where it is hot as hell and humid as a rainforest.” (okay- so I threw in the weather analogy myself). The windows on the bus waiting for us were raining condensation. It was so humid, even worse than Kuwait has been lately. (kuwait still beats the world in miserable heat I think)

We got to the airport and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach as I saw the layout. I was positive I was going to have to go through the gate alone and without my family. Lucky for me I, the flight was leaving about 45 minutes from the time we got to Qatar, so I didn’t feel so nervous. I said my goodbyes and thought I was going to throw up all over myself because I was so nervous.

I went through and checked in and got my seat assignement with no problem. I asked for directions of where I was going next and went straight there. I gave the guy my ticket and he was like, “I’m going to keep this for now, you just sit down.” I was freaking out. I was the only one he did that to. I don’t know if he was just being a jerk and giving me a hard time because I was a Westerner and by myself, or what, but everyone else got their ticket torn and given back to them.

A small group gathered and started taling about me. This man (who worked for the airlines) came over to me and asked to see my passport. My stomach was in knots. It’s not the greatest thing to flash around an American passport. You pretty much only show it when you absolutely have to. So, I didn’t really know what to do. I wanted my stupid ticket back, so I showed it to him and in a loud voice he tells his colleagues at the front desk, “she’s American!” Great. Do you want a P.A. for that!?

About 5 minutes later I got my ticket and calmed down from the small panic attack I was suffering. Everyone pushed their way to the bus and were blasted with the sea of humidity. I was in Qatar for maybe 35 minutes. That wasn’t too bad. I did it! Wow!

I got on the exact same plane I had gotten off of a few minutes earlier and sat two rows back- but this time I had a window seat. About 10 minutes in they begin shoving food at me again. Do you think I took it? Do you really have to wander? This time it was two little tea sandwiches. One was cucumber and cheese and the other was bologna. I had the cucumber one and then sweetly tucked away my mini mars bar away for Will. I tried to freshen up in the plane so I would look nice for Will. What I really needed was a perfumery to douce their creations on me. I was put through a lot of interesting smells yesterday.

As we were flying into Kuwait and I could see the fire burning off the top of their oil well things (I don’t really know what they’re called, but it is a good fire) in the dark of the night I was actually happy. Okay, so we are coming here for a goal and Kuwait isn’t our home, but I was so glad to be back. I guess the main reason was because I knew Will was waiting for me.

We landed and finally didn’t have to be bused! I found the visa desk and took a number. I waited a few minutes and had the army guy get everything ready for “Brittny Spears.”

Ha Ha, so funny- just give me my flippin’ visa.

I got it with no troubles. I breathed a sigh of relief. Now was the time for a little apprehension! It was time for the “gauntlet” as it has been dubbed by many Westerners.

You are in one area of the airport, it is fairly quiet and not too overwhelming, but then you go through these glass doors and if you are not ready you are getting the shock of your life! (I’m glad my mom and sister came to Kuwait before we did so they could warn us when we first came!) The gauntlet is this long aisle walkway, and the sides are roped off. So, those arriving walk out of the glass doors and are met with hundreds of yelling Arabs, trying to find those who are coming in to meet them.

It is straight chaos.

They are yelling and waving hands, taking pictures of girls that come out and everything in between. It is a mess. I walked through the “gauntlet” and fought my way past the crowd in the back and called Will. He was smart, he stayed on the second level so he could have a clear view and could find me.

He came downstairs and we were out of there! We stopped by Hardees and Baskin Robbins (he hadn’t eaten and I figured we’d get some icre cream for the weekend alone).

I was hoping for a romantic evening since we were alone for the first time in ages, but I had a splitting headache (from freaking out all day) and we were both exhausted. We crashed as soon as we got home.

So, that was my day. It wasn’t too bad, and it was definitely eye-opening. I was impressed with how well I handeled the stress of doing everything alone here.

I was sad today because Will and I woke up at 11:30- so there went half our day. I don’t think we are going to do anything exciting, which is sort of disappointing. There is so much I want to see here. I really want to get better aquainted with my surroundings, but I think we agree it’s too darn not for that now. Come October or November it will be more bearable and we’ll get out and do more things. At least we will be together and have the freedom to do what we want. I can’t wait to get our own place soon! how much fun!

Thanks for sticking through this extra long edition of my crazy life’s post.

I hope you are having a great thursday.

As always, more to come… <3

Y’know the feeling in your stomach you get before you do something you are terrified of? For some its speaking in front of people, others it’s flying. For me its singing. The thought of singing in front of anyone other than myself can conjure up the acid in my stomach and make me feel like I’m going to throw up all over myself. That is probably the best way to explain my feelings last night.

“It” happened. It, as in St. Helen exploding in all its wrath, happened. I won’t give you the 15 minute letter I gave to a friend, I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version.

Last night Will had to work so I was left alone with my family. I knew the subject was going to come up- it was only a matter of time. I tried to enjoy my dinner and tried to talk the whole time so they had no opportunity to bother me with their questions- dumb I know. So, I said a lot of, “This is really good mom!” and other stupid fillers.  I also ate about 2 helpings of everything. Just when I thought I had gotten through dinner unscathed, it came up.

They sat there for about half an hour trying to get it out of me and I wouldn’t budge. finally I just let it all out- which had my family in shock! I ended up calling Will and telling him “it happened” and he did the sweetest thing: he asked his boss for permission to come home. So, that is what he did. I needed him there with me. I felt so loved that he did that for me.

He came home and we all sat there just kind of talking and seeing what needed to happen next. It was awkward, to say the least. We all probably went to bed feeling lousy and didn’t get much sleep, but in all honesty it was probably good for it all to come out (even though we had hoped to be moved out!).

So, today I woke up with that terrible nervous feeling in my stomach- like I was about to thrust in my pajamas TMJ splint in my mouth and all, to be on American Idol and sing to the world or something. Just call me William Haung.

I devoted a lot of my Bible study time today to prayer and just seeing what God wanted me to do now that “it happened.” I think that in time (and when we move out) things will be better than before because it wasn’t good to hold those feelings in. It feels sort of awkward now because of out living situation- but maybe it is true when they say it has to get worse before it can get better. I hope that’s true anyway!

So I have been praying a lot today for our relationship, and I know ultimately things are going to be fine- but this whole last night ordeal and still living here kind of makes things not too great.

So- I just had to get all that out as my little vent session today. Hopefully this has helped the situation. I know that sounds crazy- and I know immediatley it might have made things worse, but I think that through this it will get better.

So now the clean up crew must come out and figure what we’re going to do with this ashy mess…

Have a good Saturday.

In terms of yesterday’s post: so far so good. No volcanic erruptions at the moment. Tension is still present, but I’m okay with tension. I’m not okay with ash.

I’ve started about 5 lists in my head of humerous and crazy things that I need to write in my journal and possibly my blog. Its is amazing how having large amounts of time can free your mind of tons of needless stuff and fill it with even more tons of needless stuff.

Currently I am jounraling a lenghtly list of “Rules For Living With Your Parents.” It’s pretty funny. I think after all this is over it will be much funnier and more appropriate (I haven’t been able to fully appreciate my rules since I’m still under their roof). I’ve also started a “What I Miss and Appreciate About Home” list. Maybe I’ll post that one day too.

Anyway, today is my hodge podge of some of the many scattered thoughts that run through my head. Will jokes that the scariest thing he could ever experience would be to spend a day in my mind. He is probably right. Believe it or not- too much goes on in there. I’m sure you find that hard to grasp, but I’m being serious. I think a lot of women are probably the same way. Everything has to be picked apart and analyzed. I overthing everything. I overthink breakfast. It’s yet another strange oddity I am freely exposing the the Nest World.

I truly miss the convenience of having a dishwasher. You’d think with the thousands of large kitchen appliances my parent’s have bought at the Arabian version of “Best Buy” they’d eventually just throw one in for free. Of course, then I would have major fuse issues. I think I’d take that risk. Anyway, I don’t like hand washing dishes. I’m a germaphob and never feel like I get them as clean as a real dishwasher can. However, it gives me a nice long time to sit and look out the window as I wash and wonder about the people that are outside.

I see the buses take the TCNs to work in the morning, and sometimes I watch them get off at night. I wonder what their days were like and if they miss home too- though I have to believe even the poor conditons they face here are better than where they came from. One of the guys that works with Will is from the Philipines and likes to joke that by working over here he makes more than the president of his country- and he is being totally serious! I know some of you could probably name 5 people off the top of your head that make more than our president too, but what is amazing to me about this guy is how little he makes. Its not because hes making a ton of money over here- its because of the poor conditions of where he came from. Isn’t that crazy?

What other musings to share today… ?…

I wonder about what other people that I used to hold so close to my heart- both recently and long ago- are doing at this very instant. We are such an egocentric culture that it can be difficult at times to realize that another person’s entire world is going on this very instant too. I wonder if these people are laughing right now, or if they’re working hard, or doing something great. I try to remember them and I can’t even picture some of their faces anymore. I think that just happens sometimes with people that were important during one stage of your life.

So many thoughts to process.

I also get this terrible image of Kate Bush everytime I am flipping through channels and approach VH1 International. They love this lady- and I’ve never even herad of her! She had this crazily disturbing music video called Wuthering Heights and it trips me out everytime I see it! It came out in the 70s and it is the scariest thing I’ve seen in a while. The strangest thing about the whole thing is that I’ve lived here 3 months and have seen this randomly old video 5 times. I really wanted to find a link to her video, but I couldn’t. You would all have been wigged out too. What a strange TV selection I have.

I am grateful for online radio stations. I miss my music so much! Everyone is asleep (which is the only way I can actually get on without a fight) now so I have my earphones on and am having to constantly remind myself that I can’t sing along. What a dork. Will misses his sports radio the even more I think. Its blocked at work, so he never gets to listen to it. Its not like mine- I can’t just go out and buy him The Sports Animal on cd… thankgoodness.

Better go for now. Tomorrow I am posting before the good Lord wakes, so I need my sleep

I should probably be upfront and tell you this is not the “cheeriest” of posts to brighten a Monday, but somehow through this tension and stress I’m about to talk about I think not only I will feel better, but you will too (Okay, so I’m stretching that a bit… a lot, but oh well).

Today is more of a “healthy” vent session that actually has me feeling better, so feel free to read along.

Its about to blow in this little apartment. The tension is reaching dangerous levels and I am tip toeing around waiting for Mount St. Helens just to ash the joint.

My mom came and asked me if everything was okay with her and Will. She said she didn’t know what was going on but she knew something was wrong. The temperature skyrocketed in the room. I didn’t even want to have to mess with that whole situation. I told her I didn’t want to be the one to talk about it, and she said I shouldn’t have to and that she will talk to Will- which in all honesty is probably not great at this point either. I would so just like to wait until we move out then hash all of these feelings and then have to live in this small apartment for God knows how much longer all together. Is that bad? I don’t know. I do know how my mom is though- so I think that’s the best way to deal with this mess.

Anyway, that whole situation has been the main contributing factor of my foul mood today, and I’m afraid it had spilt over from yesterday. That’s the worst thing that can happen too- to feel bad and then to fall asleep thinking tomorrow will be better only to wake up in the same mood you went to sleep with. I just wanted to wad the world up and use it as my personal punching bag. Quite an analogy huh?

I’ve had many “I just want to go into my room, shut the door, and yell “ days since I’ve been here, but today I was just in a bad mood all together and I’m not really sure why. Most of it is because of the tension of living with my parents, however there are many- no COUNTLESS, variables that could be the culprit to these feelings of “mad.“

For example, today it is my family. Yesterday, on top of my family, it was the fact that I started my non-approved, lowest dose on the market, don’t worry you SHOULD be fine birth control which I may name later. Plus, as I said yesterday, Aunt Flo had already scheduled a visit that I had previously “okayed” only to change my mind. So currently she is ferociously beating down the door with all her mentstral and hormonal anger and I’m just praying that this new stuff will fend her off. But, I can’t say I blame her. I’d be in a bad mood too. Maybe that is why I’m in a bad mood. Who am I to speculate though?

I have bad days, but its not too often when I just am not my friendly self. When this happens, its just bad. In these instances I should probably wear a sign that says something like, “ Typically cheerful person in the foulest of moods. This is a lethal combination and should be considered threatening.” I’m sure you’ve all had one of those days when all it took was the smallest of things to trigger your emotions just the wrong way. For me it was the dryer. I’ll set this up for you so you don’t think I’m totally crazy.

It literally takes an entire day to do laundry here. Their stupid washers take an hour, and then it takes (and I’m not joking) all day to dry the clothes in the dryer. It is a very frustrating process, especially with 5 people that wear clothes everyday and have lots of laundry. You set it for 130 minutes and then you have to drain the water from this bin, start it again and repeat the process twice. Anyway, the outlet situation in our apartment is deplorable. We have kitchen 4 outlets and 6 major appliances- including 2 refrigerators (the “main” one is super small so we had to get another small one), and a small deep freeze. Anyway, every so often we have fuse issues. Today we had fuse issues.

I had to reset the power stip 3 times. FInally it started sparking and smoking which had me totally freaking out. It took forever to pry the plug out of the wall and everything in the freezer was melting and our clothes were all hot and wet and just sitting there… Like I said it was one of those “small” things that just got me going today.

On top of that we had found out that we are not going to get our money from the guy that bought out house because he is still refusing to pay the deposit and if we really wanted it we would end up spending more in a lawyer than we would on the deposit. So, it goes on the market today.

And then, which is was the kicker for me for some odd reason- Will is paying a $150 cancellation fee for our cell phones that my parents are responsible for (we paid our share already) because he doesn’t want to mess with the headache of having to deal with them. Don’t ever get a family plan with your family- just get a couples plan, it will save you a huge headache! Anyway, that irked me. Once again, the “smallest things.”

Will was exhausted today for some reason. He got up late and then was able to get home early because he had this visa thing all day at work. He got home, played (any guesses?) his new game, and then took a nap from 4:30 to 7:00. I was in such a bad mood- and this is terrible- that I just wanted him to wake up because I thought, and I quote, “You have slept too long.” What a dumb thing to say. It sounds like such a mom farce. If the guy is tired, let him sleep! He had to give blood for this visa thing, so I’m sure it had something to do with it.

Anyway, I woke him up and he went out and had dinner while. The whole time I just have this terrible feeling in my stomach that any minute my parent’s bedroom door was going to open and they would want to talk- which as I said earlier, we just really need to do when we’re not under their roof.

She’s gonna blow!

So you are probably thinking, “ how dumb to let all of those little things get you in a bad mood,” and after reading over this post, I agree that you are very right. I’ll be the first to admit that during these last few days I have been focusing so much on all of this house and job and living with my parents stuff that the “little things” have just totally worn me out. Who knew you had to be mentally tough to sit in an apartment all day and live with your family! Sorry for the huge vent session- they are so annoying, aren’t they!? Who likes to hear others complain when we all have something of our own going on? I apologize. There are enough bad things going on in the world and problems like this- minor problems in the grand scheme of the world- are really silly to get worked up over, but that was me as of yesterday! I guess its okay to feel that way every now and then as long as you don’t continually sit in those feelings. Tomorrow is a new day and theres a whole new opportunity to enjoy it. I definitely owe it to myself to focus on the positive, as I have been trying to do most days- but that sure can be rough sometimes!

Will said it best as I was just huffing and puffing and complaining about our situation and why he wouldn’t just “wake up for cryin’ out loud.” (As the sole “breadwinner” plus the fact that he has had to live with the inlaws, he has had to endure a lot more of the stress than I) Despite all the mess around us he simply said, “You know what? You have a husband that loves you very much. He’s just really tired,” and then he peacefully drifted off to sleep as if we had no cares in the world.

As I sat down to write today I reazlied it was my only shot. I have to “fight” for computer time at this house, so I am at a blank. There were a million things I wanted to tell you all- I even had a funny story or two, but I’m not sure where this post is going to end up.

I got “in trouble” today by my own stupid default. I forwarded my sister something from my blog and didn’t stop to think the link was included- duh! So, once again I have somewhat been forced into the WPP. She “knows” about the “Will annoyed with my mom” issue which means that if it hasn’t already come out, its only a matter of time.

I don’t even want to go there in this post though, so moving on…

Today was so much fun. Will and I didn’t do anything extremely out of the ordinary or anything, but we just got out by ourselves and enjoyed the day- and boy did we need it!

We got the usual 6:00 in the morning phone call and of course went right back to sleep afterwards. Will’s dad’s birthday was yesterday and even though he didn’t really vocalize it, I think Will was sad that he missed it. They are really close and Will thinks that with his dad’s health there won’t be a lot more birthdays. I think it was really good for Will to get to talk to him and wish him a happy birthday this morning.

After we got up and got ready we went to Al-Kout mall to exchange my blazer. It was a little too big, so I got another size. I an so in love with it, but I have no idea what to wear with it! I looked online and there are other colors on the site, but only green at the store. hmmm. I just don’t know! I hate that and rarely every do it- buy something that doesn’t really fit into my wardrobe- but I really wanted it and I’m sure I can find a pretty cami to go with it. What color?…

Anyway, after that we headed down to Gulf Road to go to Marina Mall. I really like that mall. It is so pretty. Will wanted to see a movie this weekend. Our choices here are sort of limited and we get movies a couple weeks after they are released in the states. We had to choose between Madagascar, Fantastic Four, and some scary movie. We opted for Fantastic Four. It was good and they only cut out the kissing scene, so it wasn’t like we missed anything.

After our movie we went to Will’s favorite restaurant here in Kuwait- Buffalos. I think we like it so much because it reminds us of home.

It was just such a fun day. Like I said, nothing overly-wonderful, but it really felt like we “were eachothers” the whole day and didn’t have to compete for the living room or the kitchen, or whatever. It felt like after we had dinner we would drive home to our own apartment and just hang out on the couch watching Trading Spouses (real great TV huh?). Not the case, but it was nice to picture today.

Since I’m on that subject I thought I would answer Laura’s questions from my feedback yesterday to explain things better. I’m just going to be open and candid- so don’t think I’m being a snob or anything. I hate when people talk money when they don’t know people that great- so don’t think I’m being like that- because I’m totally not!

We definitely wouldn’t have come here if there wasn’t a goal and purpose set before us. Our goal is to stay in Kuwait for three years to pay off debt and save a good chunk of money that there would be no possible way to do in the states. Now- with me not working that has thrown a wrench in things and has altered our thinking. However- assuming I have a job soon and we decide to stay, here are some good things about staying.

When I get a job, Will and I will be able to have our own, furnished apartment totally paid, including utilities. We will be provided a car to share with someone we work with and they pay for car maitenance and gas- which is only about 86 cents- doesn’t that make you ill!?  Will gets a living allowance every two weeks that many people just live off of and don’t touch their paycheck. Will’s check is also tax free since we are living overseas, so everything you earn, you keep.

So, assuming I have a job too, that is attractive.The company pays for the employee’s way home at the end of a year, and to Frankfurt and the end of 6 months, which is also nice so we can go home and visit family.

So, once we pay off our immediate debt (and sell our house- which is huge), we are living without bills here and are able to save everything we make. The fact that I don’t have a job really hurts us because we aren’t able to meet our goals and get ahead. It is really crappy!

That is our main reason for being here. We also felt like this was the only chance in our lives that we would ever be able to do this. We had nothing holding us down, so if we were going to move, now was the time. Plus, there are opportunities to visit Dubai and other close countries that so few people think to visit on vacation! Afterall, that sure wouldn’t be my first choice!

I know I down my situation a lot, but its because I’m not here to sit all day. The main purpose for us to be here is to work, so in a lot of ways it’s been a counterproductive 2 1/2 months. Okay, so please don’t think we dictate our life around money- because when we got here we quickly learned that where we come from and what we love is so much more important that the material- but I think most couples can understand what I’m trying to say.

I know that God has us here for a reason and in this really yucky “living with my parents“ situation for a reason too, but it sure has been a trying and lonely few months! “What do you want us to do!?“ I constantly ask.

Thank you so much for all that listen to my crazy ride! I am only able to have the joy that I have because of my faith in Jesus Christ.

I really appreciated all who posted thoughtful and encouraging words yesterday. If only I could have taken you all out to get a coke or something!

Anyway, I hope you all don’t think I’m tacky for telling you all of that stuff, but that is why we are here and why we are holding on and praying that I will get a job. If not, then I’m not really sure what we are to do!

Not much of an exciting post today! Oh well. I had such a great day. Its amazing how something as simple as walking around a busy and loud mall with your husband can calm your spirit and make you realize that somehow, everything will be okay.

No bones about it. Today was bad.

I went to meet with this guy- it wasn’t an interview or anything, it was just an opportunity for him to meet me and to talk about some possibilities. Let me give you the Reader’s Digest of the meeting- which lasted about 10 minutes:

There are none.

I wanted to cry so bad right there, on the spot. I just wanted to break down! I had to do my butt squeeze technique I told another Nestie about- by the way- it totally worked.

There won’t be any positions that are a good fit for me (marketing/PR) until September or so, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll say, “Hey. I remember Brittny! Let’s call her!”

So, what do we do? Do we stay here and wait it out? Go home?  Lots of questions to ponder in the days ahead.

It was just a bad day. Then we got more bad house information dumped on us.

I want to go back home to the simplicity of oklahoma!

Sorry for my huge vent. I want to go on and on and on, but there is no good in that because I can’t change what is going on around me. I just have to look at the possibilities that are in front of me. Unfortunately that’s not looking too great.

My mom has been driving Will crazy- and I think she know this. He’s been trying to avoid her as much as he can- which is rather difficult in a small apartment. Anyway, she knew something was up. I think she thought I was upset for some reason and not Will, so she ended up coming home with this beautiful green velvet blazer from Zara that I had been eyeing but couldn’t affford. Okay, so that’s not the best way to communicate “I know you’re upset, can we talk about it?” but after my bad day, it really cheered me up and I could have cared less. I’m such a sucker. I totally took the bait.

There are about 5 other things I want to write about regarding my horrible, awful, no good, very bad day… but I actually have a funny story that happened today- and I really am trying to stay positive so I’ll quit my crying around on this post and tell you about the laugh I got instead.

So today Will and I got home and were just lying on the bed and holding eachother. I was totally enjoying the moment. I needed it.

My mom and sister decided to go to this store up the road, and my dad was still at work. I’ll fess up. I was totally thinking, “Alone with my hot husband at last.“

He shot up from the bed and asked, “Are they gone?“ just like a teenager that is about to get into trouble with his girlfriend as soon as they leave (since we’ve been living with my parents, thats how I feel sometimes!)

I got a little devilish smile thinking, “Wow, he’s really anxious.“

I told him I thought so, and he said he would go check. He goes out and checks. “Finally!“

So I’m really looking forward to alone time with Will, and as I’m getting ready for him to come back in the room, I see him walk right by and go to the back.

What is he doing?

I wait.

Still nothing.

Finally he comes back with this yummy ice cream cone he had bought that afternoon and didn’t want anyone to steal!!!!!

I just totally laughed to myself. Wow. Talk about being replaced.

So, I had this George Kastanza (or however you spell it) moment from Seinfeld when he wanted to eat more than he wanted to make love.

We had two very different thoughts racing through our minds as we heard the door close I guess!

It was pretty funny and we had a good laugh, which I definitely needed after my long day.

Well, I am actually alone with Will again for a little while longer so I am going to seize this moment and enjoy being with him.

Have a good day and thanks for letting me vent.

I’ve been caught redhanded in the worst of ways (basically), with my pants down!

I got quite a shock today when I checked my mail.

Let me first compare it to this:

I feel like I walked into Walmart on payday weekend, surrounded by a few thousand people, totally and fully and incredibly NAKED and didn’t even realize it. I casually walked up and down the frigid frozen food aisle with my cart making sure to open every glass door and just stand there staring for a few minutes. Then I strolled on over to the toy section and played a quick game of basketball with Will as I flopped everywhere. I even feel so “embarrassedly” caught that I probably asked for a test drive on one of the little tykes bikes. I then made my way over to the music and video area where I thought I would dance to the tunes they have over their stereo selection. It was only when I went to pay at the checkout that I realized I had no pockets- I was nude the whole time! The Horror! Had enough? I sure have.

That is pretty equivical to how I felt today. Let me explain.

I knew for a while there my mom had read my blog- a long while ago when I used her computer and she could just get on because I had cookies stored with the site so my own information would automatically just come up. Anyway, that stopped a long time ago and we haven’t talked about it sense. Well, today I opened my email from my dad and it was a letter he forwarded to my aunt- SENDING HER MY BLOG LINK because he and my mom had read it and wanted my aunt to read it too!

WHAT IN GOD’s NAME IS GOING ON HERE!?

My heart stopped. Trying to breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Am I breathing? I had to remind myself. Lights are getting dim, I feel like I’m faint. Is this a terrible bad dream where the girl wakes up in her OWN house only to realize the last two months worth of posting in her blog (and the fact she was unemployed) was all just a neverending nightmare? I’m afraid not.  Were my parents really reading my blog!? How long? What did they know? Oh my gosh! know What did they know!!!??

I was in a frantic panic to reread the last couple of months I’ve been here to see just what exactly I’ve written about them… and after reading through all I’ve done is complain about my situation. I can’t believe they’ve been reading my blog please someone save me now!!!!

So, I pulled myself together (sort of) and thought I would post about it, afterall I feel like I’m living with Big Brother and he is watching me at all times, so I might as well write this publicly too.

I use this as a release. I am aware that people read it everyday and I’m okay with that, but I was totally embarrassed when I found out my parents were reading it- that’s a TOTALLY different demographic that must be dealt with seperately. I cannot get over the fact that THEY KNOW!

Mom and Dad- since I have been caught redhanded and I know that you are reading this post this very moment- you too are caught!! I love you all very much and think you are great parents, but if you rewound (the past of rewind… what is it? rewound… I don’t know… anyway) you life and placed yourself in my shoes you would probably be ready for you own place too. Nothing personal. Believe me! You are great, but I can’t help but thinking you are ready for us to go just as much as we are ready to go! It’s not a bad thing, it is just time. No family should have to be crammed in an apartment for as long as we have, so I totally can believe you feel the same way we do- you love us, but for cryin’ out loud- Get Outta Here! Thanks for being so supportive and not complaining about the situation and I’m sorry we have totally ramrodded your living space, and although I complain about it in my blog, I really am thankful for your generosity… I’m just ready to have my own apartment. Desparately ready! Can you understand where I’m coming from?

So, in light of recent incidents I will be entering the Witness Protection Program in hopes of securing my sainity and dignity after my parents have read my blog.

Can I please hide under a rock for a while?

Nothing to write home about today.

Does that stop me from posting?

Apparently not.

This morning we went to Bible study and that was about the extent of the day! We came home and just hung out. It was so nice. It’s so ironic to me that I complain all week about being stuck in the apartment and don’t get to go out, yet on Fridays after Bible Study I am completely content just to sit in the living room with Will and watch our King of Queens boxset.

Well tonight was pretty fun. My mom made a big supper, so afterwards- while we are looking at the dirty dishes and making conversation for an hour(you know, the time that nightly drives me insane)- we somehow get on the subject of potatoes. We had potatoes for dinner, but I can’t be sure how the subject morphed into what it did.

I guess when I was a kid I would love to make these potato head sort of things that grew grass from their heads (I’m sure this information clears up a lot of questions you have about how I came to be so goofy).

I don’t know. I have no recollection of this. I think my mom must have made those things with her “other” first daughter that looked like me or something, because I was absent during these hair potato craft sessions. I vaguely remember a chia pet one time, but I think I would remember taking my dinner and growing grass from it’s head. Wouldn’t you?

Well, after having a 5 minute conversation about how exactly this contraption worked, my mom thought we should all make one and set them up next to eachother and watch them grow. I had flasbacks of Mrs. Smith’s art class back in grade school. She really would have been proud at my artistic improvements.

So, we each picked out our potato. I picked the long one because of my freakishly huge “fivehead.” (theres no need to be polite about it. I’ve come to terms with my forehead. I even have an annoying hair stylist story when I was in grade school that finally made me realize I was fine with it… that might be another post though)

So as I was cleaning my “face” my sister thought it would be fun to for us to do Napoleon Dynamite characters. Okay, so not only are my my sister and I turning a perfectly good complement to a steak into a grassy face, we are also transforming them into characters from a movie that-other than us- only junior high boys have a true appreciation for.

So, I made Deb. She looks pretty cute. I even gave her puffy sleeves and a piece of bread on her mouth (from the lunchroom scene… okay I’m talking to you all like you’ve seen the movie, which I have to believe you haven’t… nevermind). P did Napoleon. It was so cute. My parents made themselves. Will? He did a cross between himself and Brian Bosworth (this OU player from the 80s)- he gave his potato a mohawk.

So, you might be thinking, what random Kuwaiti family has grass seed lying around? Good question. We do. One of my sister’s friends thought it would be funny to give her some since we don’t really have any here. That’s why. We really don’t just go out and buy stuff like that to have on hand. I promise.

So, apparently we have to water their “hair” everyday and eventually it will start to grow. I got a picture, so I’ll have to post it sometime soon- after all, I’m sure you are “so stoked” about seeing your supper growing hair and literally looking back at you on my blog!

So, although my family is driving me on verge of insanity, and although I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and was in a bad mood about having to stay here and not have our own place, I ended up reverting back to my crayon days- and had a fun time doing it with them.

Potato Anyone?

I love “Saturdays.”

Today, as always, we got our morning wakeup call at 6 something in the morning. Poor Will was up after that. I however managed to go back to sleep. We are on totally different sleep schedules. He is preparing for bed as I type and I am just getting started.This is his weekend schedule. Normally he is in bed around 8:30. This is quite a change for me. I’m sure once I start working it will change, but for now I will relish my late nights.

Will woke me up around 9:30 just because he thought I needed to get up. Thanks sweetie.

The real reason he woke me up was so that I would play Madden with him. Do you ever do things you loate just because you know how happy it makes your husband? That is kind of like me and Madden. Will loves when we play together, which makes me feel good, but after about an hour I have my fill for the week. He, on the other hand, can play for hours on end. I cannot. So, I work through my bored feelings and do my best to get excited because when it comes down to it, it’s worth the little boy smile that stupid game puts on his face.

Then noon rolls around and everything at our apartment is put on hold. There is very important business to attend to. Trading Spouses is on.

Why we are in love with this show, I am not really sure. Maybe its because our tv selection is so poor that even the bad stuff in the states is oh so very appealing here. When I really stop and think of the concept of this show, it almost makes me want to throw up on the coffee table, but like Madden, I have worked through it and must not be interrupted from 12 to 1 (and tomorrow night because a “new” episode is on). We all gathered in the living room for some real quality time to watch two families get rid of their wives for new ones for the week- what a terrible show! Okay, I can’t believe I just told you all this. Oh well, my TV is bad. I said it. Now it has been officially confirmed.

After that we got ready and grabbed some lunch. Will had been wanting to go to ChiChis, which I thought would be a nice change. We haven’t been on a date since we’ve been here, so I was all for it. But then he said we probably should go out with my family because we already had told them we would and we didn’t want them to feel like we ditched them. I recluctantly agreed. So, then on the way out to the car Will brings up going on our own again. “Why did you wait to bring this up now!?“ They think we are on our way to go with them! I wanted to go on my own, but for some reason after living with my parents for the past few months its like they might have taken it a little personally if we all of a sudden decided to go on our own out of the blue. This probably makes no sense- be glad it doesn’t because that means you are living in your own house and only have to see your family at your discretion. We’ve been through this a million times. Its not that I don’t like my family- I do- its just that after a few months of living in a tight space there seems to be an awkward tension that has settled.

So, we head downstairs and Will asks what the game plan is after lunch. My dad wants to go to ACE hardware, and we want to see a movie. So, we decide to take our own car (Will’s boss is away now, so he has his car for the time being, which has been really nice).

This sounds crazy when I really think about it, but I had not been alone in a car with just Will since the beginning of May!! How weird. It was soooo nice just to have a few minutes of serenity. We were able to freely talk about things and just enjoy the silence and the fact that there was no obligation to keep interesting conversation going.

After we all had lunch I was hoping that Will and I would be able to go to the movie by ourselves, but my sister wanted to go. That was fine, but I had really enjoyed the fact that I was able to be alone with Will for a while and was hoping I could have him to myself for a few more hours- even if it was in a movie theatre.

We went to the mall and walked around because we were early. I hate shopping here. It is a very depressing activity. Nothing is reasonable, and they do not believe in stores that have nice clothes at “regular people“ prices. Anyway, we browsed around, pretending to be very interested in the selection. Honestly, even if I did have the money I think I would still shop online. The only store I’ve found thus far that I like is Zara. Okay, sorry for rambling. I didn’t really mean to go on a 50 page tangent about the clothing situation here. Too late.

Now, it is time to save you all 2 1/2 hours of your life and $7.50 in your wallet. DO NOT SEE WAR OF THE WORLDS

I repeat- Don’t see War of the Worlds.

I didn’t want to see it to begin with. I have some strange political type thing about supporting Tom Cruises’ houses and expensive lifestyle and new fiance. I know I’m one person and I didn’t really contribute a whole lot, but I guess it’s my own personal boycott and way I feel I can take a “stand.“ Am I completely crazy? I think we all know the answer here.

Anyway, Will really wanted to go see it, so much like Madden I decided to go. There was nothing else showing really, so it wasn’t like we could have struck a compromise. Wow. What a movie. It only goes to show that big stars and awesome marketing can make even the most terrible of movies successful. Sorry to anyone that liked it. I felt a little stupider as I walked out of the theatre.

So, that was my exciting day off. I hope you are all gearing up for a wonderful weekend just as I prepare to close mine.

Finally, my heart and prayers are with the people of London. I know we have someone who blogs from there, so I send my prayersto you as well. I know you are back in the states, but I can imagine the shake up you must have felt. God is so amazing that he looks after us even when we don’t know it. <3