Kimchi Mama is Back!

It has been a long while since my last post. I have not yet read my final post, but I'm sure it was around a year ago ... how things have changed!

We are no longer living in Seoul, so can I still call myself "Kimchi Mama?" I think the answer is yes, because the tattoo is still on my ass. 

Life has changed tremendously and has gotten more difficult, in different ways. We finally got married in January, but as I knew before we got married, issues would not be resolved and new ones would come up (especially considering I cannot work until my visa is finally processed ... it's just a sit and wait game right now, which I am not good at). 

We're staying in a tiny town in northern New York. It's a little crap in the woods. Literally. Population under 500 and there's one African American. Everyone else is white. I blend in colourwise, but my "accent" is distinct here and I'm not a silly redneck so I stand out. I keep to myself and socialise politely with the locals. Having grown up in a small town, I know how they work, so I avoid these locals like the plague. I don't want to know their business and I don't want them to know mine (nor my wireless internet password, which two people keep trying to get ... we're not supplying the entire village with internet!). 

There are some good points about living here. The air is CLEAN. I haven't lived in a place that has real fresh air in just over 10 years. It smells like "camping" when I open the windows in the morning (well, when it was warm but it has cooled right down to seasonal temperatures again). There's a nice river that runs through the town that Alex is infatuated with. He loves the rapids and the geese the live  on the river. It was an experience for Alex to see the geese flapping their wings in the water so they could splash it on themselves to keep cool because it was so hot (that was the explanation I gave him ... I don't know if that's true, but it seemed so given how hot it was at that time). I see hawks flying around and I've seen a couple eagles as well. It's nice to be close to nature again. I really missed it. 

Looking to the future, if our money situation can stop being so bipolar, then I'd like to move to a place that's closer to the base. I've got my eye on a 3 bedroom that is $1200 and all inclusive (for utilities). That is lower than what we pay here, including the incredible amount we spend on gas because our vehicle is a pig. However, the future means probably the end of this year so we're "stuck" here for another 8 or 9 months.

I'm staying home now and starting to feel a Martha Stewart vibe kicking in. I was the Price is Right with Alex and drink coffee many mornings. Our big morning trip is to walk to the post office and check the mail. Then it's nap time and I eat lunch and do housework, and research the topic of the day. Once he wakes up, he eats again and we go out for another walk. When it was so cold, we could only get out once a day (especially considering the snow was not removed from the sidewalks for about 3 months). Once we have some extra money, I am going to buy some supplies and begin decorating cakes and cupcakes. It's too bad I'm so far from family and friends, because I'd give them free creations that I practice. I think I'll have to recruit my hunny to hand them out to the locals. They'll enjoy the treats! 

I will be starting school again. This time, I am going to do a program that will allow me to work from home. I want to have the flexibility to stay with Alex, be his teacher, and make money without dealing with having to actually go to work. Daycare is extremely cheap here ($400 for FULL TIME). Alex would only be in part time, so it'd be significantly cheaper! 

Life is definitely moving forward, despite all of the BS and hardships that are holding us back. It's incredible how imaginative you can become when you need money (like selling your baby gear that you're "saving for the next baby" ...). It's ridiculous how attached I become just to the idea of things. Letting go is a little hard, but if it means having an extra $80 in my pocket or something, why the hell not? It means we can not worry about whether or not we will eat and that is satisfying. 

I had totally forgotten about this blog, and will try to keep it up!