I'm from a relatively developed country where life is pretty stable and easy.
I live in a very different situation in a country where life is not stable, and nothing is easy.
Every summer I get to rejoin life in a "stable" country with Him...
It's bizarre moving back and forth between the two. Apparently I'm pretty mailable as far as what I can handle goes, which is bizarre because I would have said that change is hard for me.
One of the things I LOVE is the ability to come and "make a Home" here. This morning as I was going about my cleaning I had the following thought:
Give me an old ratty t-shirt and some water and I'll have the house spic and span inside of 24 hours. THANK YOU 3rd world cleaning skills!
... but give me 1st world cleaning products and I swear to God I'll happily spend 10 hours a day cleaning house and still manage to find things to do in a week! ^__^
Things I'm immensely grateful for at the moment:
windows that close and keep out the dust
SWIFFER! fuck Iove you Swiffer!
Easy Off oven spray <3
"Steel wool" that doesnt cut my hands to shreds
self checkout lines
the little white rags that I can wash... and a washing machine that is reliable! omfg I love the washing machine.
dish soap that is kind to my hands and still gets the job done.
Shower doors that keep the water *inside*
GRASS (and even the lawnmower to cut it!)
the crockpot. I could write a poem to a crockpot I swear to God.
Rice cookers are freaking magic.
Costco... I can not words how much I love Costco
Central heating and air... you do not appreciate your life if you have not understood what life is without them and most importantly THE AIR FILERS RELATED.
Windows that let light in....
Reliable power without rolling power outages.
Sidewalks.
Paved streets.
Bikes outside.
vegetable gardens with actual dirt... brown/black dirt.
Insect sound and birdsong.
Gophers. I'm sorry I adore them. I get that they are considered a nuisance, but I adore them.
The rain.
Clouds.
The mountains... and rivers and the sound of moving water.
My breadmaker which I have YET to make anything even remotely good in... but I will manage!
CARPETS!
Family.
I am sitting here writing that list with tears of gratitude.
I love my life. I love my work. I love my kiddo. I would give anything for this to be our life *always*... for her to get to understand that this life exists too. For now I have to look at the kids' wet socks hanging on the fence of the community playground... the bikes resting in the grass, and watch the kiddos who would be her friends and thank God for giving me a Master who is patient enough to wait for this to be forever. Who loves her and us both enough to find the patience. Thank You for having the patience to wait for forever.... You are the greatest gift in my life. I swear I will never ever take all of this for granted.
~His slaveMikayla
