HERE & THERE | While the Hubby is Away Part 2

What is it about creating to-do lists while the hubs is away? It’s like making New Year’s resolutions: a)time after time the same stuff keeps appearing on the list and b)those items never get done. While the hubs was away on a business trip I had the audacity to draw up another to do list which included, among other things:

– go swimming/gym
– pick up cat food
– mail letters
– complete some online Korean lessons
– go downtown to stationery / gift store
– swap out winter wardrobe for summer + organize closet
– get hair cut
– organize online photos
– research pet sitters
– research upcoming trip options / plan some summer getaways

What actually happened:
– The first two days my diet consisted of leftover potato chips, bread, and cheese and crackers. The rest of the time I actually forced myself to not eat carbs and cheese every meal, so instead I pretty much ate veggie tacos the rest of the week. It’s always weird to a pig like me how disinterested I am about food when Sly isn’t around – I could be happy eating chips and cereal and cheese and crackers for every meal if left on my own.
– I didn’t step foot in the gym. It’s hot here, the gym isn’t air conditioned (it’s in the garage of our apt so not that hot either), and I was totally looking for excuses.
– Instead I printed out some weekly running/training plans and joined a few local online running groups. Let’s see if that happens.
– Watched all kinds of crappy tv along with some bizarre girly options found on Netflix/Hulu including: Real Housewives of Atlanta (how did I live w/out this show for so long), The Bachelorette (even better when dissecting each episode in detail via long emails w/my old roomie), So You Think You Can Dance, Teen Mom, MasterChef,and Gilmore Girls (how did I never watch this when it aired? It’s awesome). If only I devoted this much time and energy towards learning Korean…
– Attempted to organize my closet/swap out winter for summer clothes and instead became obsessed with creating “The Perfectly Packed Suitcase – Asian edition” Anyone share this obsession? It’s the holy grail of packing light whereby everything a)packs small, is light, comfortable, and can dry fast b)has multiple use — can wear it both in city and outdoorsy environments; dressed up or dressed down c) when paired with other meticulously chosen items in the suitcase actually doesn’t look slobby/too touristy (no convertible pants ever!) and creates a wide range of photogenic outfits d)requires only 2 prs of shoes (this prob will never happen) and d)fits into a small carry on backpack. Instead of organizing my closet/drawers, I pulled everything out, threw it on the bed, started creating and photographing outfits, got distracted, and left everything on the bed until I went to sleep at which point I transferred my pile of clothes to the top of my dresser where it still sits. I could ramble on about this forever, but I’ll leave it for another post.
– Called the hair stylist that was recommended by fellow English speakers. The first couple of days — nobody answered. I kept calling until I realized that I had switched around two of the numbers. FINALLY made an appointment — but for the following week.
– Kept up to date on the MERS virus that has the entire country in a panic (check out this wedding photo that has gone viral) in large part to how the government has (mis)handled the whole thing. While at first the virus seemed contained namely in hospitals in the Seoul area, there are now cases in Busan as well as one confirmed case in our city. Time to get some designer air masks?
– Video chatted with my brother and looked through his Tinder account with him. Man, Tinder — a fascinating new world of curated personas. Kids these days.
– Made a list of things I wanted to do this summer as well as early stage research for other travel destinations. Set up fare trackers and reminders so that Jeju Part 2 won’t happen again. Never forget.
– Found a hairstyle blog via another blogger and got sucked into watching youtube videos of hair braiding. Which led me down the rabbit hole of youtube beauty videos. WTF is it about hubby being gone that makes me super girly? I rarely wear makeup IRL but man those videos sure make me feel like I should
– Had an awkward interaction with our security guards. While in the shower our CSA delivery came. Since I wasn’t able to let in the delivery person the boxes were dropped off at the security gate. After I got out of the shower I heard the intercom ring and knew it was probably about the veg boxes. Between the doorman/guard’s English and my terrible terrible Korean I figured out that the boxes were at Gate 2. Now which gate was gate 2 again? I googled the Korean words for “box” and “package” then proceed to what I thought was gate 2. Thankfully I was correct.n After 10 minutes of charades and speaking Konglish with the security guard I had my CSA boxes.
– Took lots of kitty photos

Overall, not too bad — I managed to pick up the kitty food (anything for my babes), mail letters, listen to one online Korean lesson, make an appt to get my hair cut, organized some online photos (for now), and researched a lot of stuff online. For the most part I also managed to not eat like a 10 yr old child who is left at home without her parents.