A reality check

Welcome to Doha. Here are 3 portions of ill health to remind you of what you left behind for 7 weeks. Erin and Owen are sporting full-blown colds and I am erring on the negative side of average. Brendon has escaped the nasty but his reward is work tomorrow. We are not a happy bunch! We took a stroll to the pool yesterday hoping that after the illness we would be able to recline by our oasis once again. This is not to be. The pool water temperature resembles that of a warm bath. We will have to investigate other compounds whose chillers work adequately so that our aquatic leisure time does not have to be postponed until the beginning of winter.

Now I am trying to be a glass half full today but am slowly leaning towards a glass half empty. I am in a state of mourning. When we entered our home Thursday evening it got all my senses buzzing with pure joy. Minimalism at its best. It was clean, uncluttered and the right ambiance was emanating from each room. Well that was before Owen, Erin and the 140 odd kg’s of luggage entered the front door. Owen and Erin quickly unpacked their old toys from under the stairs and thought that they had arrived. Miles of smiles. The luggage was piled up neatly behind the couch waiting for the next day to arrive so it could erupt onto my bedroom floor.

After 2 days of being home my subconscious is calling “Premola, where are you?”. She is in fact holidaying in Hyderabad, India and won’t be back until mid-September. I am at the denial stage of mourning. In my mind I think she is coming back but the reality is she is not returning as our cleaner. I had to face the facts and so went out and bought marigold rubber gloves and environmentally friendly floor cleaner. Actually after washing some dishes by hand the gloves give them a soft feeling! Noooooooo! My expat comforts have been severed and now it is time to move on. It doesn’t help that the ironing is piling up and I haven’t actively ironed in almost 3 years. I wonder how long I can leave vacuuming until the need to wear dust masks become a necessity? How long before I cannot find Erin and Owen in their natural habitat?

Anyway, moving on. It took a whole morning to unpack the bags, that continuously spewed items out, and find place for all our newly acquired gwell. I have also started the process of out with the old and in with the new. There is something liberating about purging the system. Owen has even allowed me to recycle some of his books to make space for his new ones.

It’s a contradictory life we lead. We would have a lot more time if we had less. 

Less stuff to dust = more time

Less stuff to move = more time

Less clothing to iron = more time

And yet the clutter that fills our houses, fills our minds, empties our bank accounts, robs us of our time for important moments continues to satisfy our fleeting moments of emotional fulfilment. Bring on minimalism I say! From tomorrow...........