My First Realization of How Much I Have Always Taken For Granted!

Yes, today the American spoiled brat of me totally realized how much I have taken for granted.  Really, how nice is it to be able to have someone to talk to during the day.  Sitting in this white empty box we call an apartment, has led me to the point that I would give anything just to have some interaction during the day.  Even when I go "exploring" through the city, I do not even understand the people I am around.

I was so excited today to actually understand someone's French.  Granted it was a little kid being picked up from day care, repeating "Du Chat... meow, meow, meow!  Du Chien... woof, woof, woof!"  How sad is that?  The rest of my walk I felt like I was in a bubble, surrounded by strangers and I could not enter their world.

I also realized how nice it is to have a car and be able to do the things you want to do, when you would like to do them.  I usually try not to do too much during the day, because I don't want to spend any money since I am not making any to put back in-lol.  Even though we have small grocery store downstairs, they carry very limited items.  You can't even purchase chicken or vegetable broth there.  I can't go onto the base without Dustin and the next regular size grocery store is about a two and half hour walk from the apartment (and yes, dad's stories about walking to school uphill the whole way are true, because that is exactly how this walk is... seriously!)

And closets!  Well damn, how many times did I complain about my small closet in our old house?!  At least I had a closet!  We have two small wardrobes at the moment and have taken at least three trips to find decent wardrobes to unpack our clothes into, but of course Dustin doesn't want to spend the money on them... Men!   My first paycheck is being dedicated to nice wardrobes!!!

I know that I am not contributing really anything to the monetary income of our household, which quite frankly sucks!  I have about 40 euros left in my wallet from when I got here, and I cannot pull money out of my bank account here.  So these 40 euros have to last me until I get back to the States and pull out money, because I am not loosing my pride to ask for some cash to go to the store (that is one promise I made to myself and set in our relationship before I moved here!  I am not Dustin's child! lol).  But after reading this article today....  totally different way of looking at my life right now!  Kind of made me feel better even though I will never settle for being a homemaker! haha

Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for what I have now and at least I have a nice roof over my head and food in my belly!  But the convenience and freedom that I use to have no longer exists and right now I would give everything up in a heartbeat, just to have that freedom!  Not being a house girlfriend, being able to go the gym, being able to actually shop for (and purchase) furniture, having a purpose when I wake up, being able to communicate with multiple people during the day, going to the gym, etc, etc, etc....