Winter is here and sometimes the only thing that will brighten up a dreary day is a nice hot cup of coffee. Some days I opt for a mix while other days I pull out my coffee grinder and make coffee in my Chemix. There’s something so satisfying about having a hot mug of coffee as I’m catching up on some reading or getting caught up on some housework. It’s especially comforting today as I have quite a bit of housework to catch up on.
For the past week, Drew has been sick with a fever that has shot up to 103°F (39.4°C). After wasting $30 and hours at an useless walk-in clinic, we were able to secure an appointment at a doctor’s office where he was able to get treated properly. Healthcare and insurance is so different in the States than it is in Korea. I much prefer the system in Korea as national health insurance makes it so easy to see a doctor and I have rarely spent over $10 for a visit. In fact, most of the time I’ve only had to pay between $3~$5 for a visit, and unless you have a serious illness that requires surgery most local hospitals and clinics accept walk-ins. The insurance policy for foreigners residing in Korea for work or study is different, but for Koreans it doesn’t get any better. So adjusting to the American healthcare system after having experienced such a wonderful healthcare system in Korea has been quite the disappointing experience.
Between visiting the doctor’s office and staying awake at all hours of the night trying to get Drew’s fever down- cold wash cloths on the forehead and such- I had little energy left to deal with the regular housework. So the dishes and laundry continued to pile up, and I started to feel a bit sickly after being on such a irregular sleep schedule. I was also trying to avoid making a lot of noise while Drew was sick in bed, so I spent my days reading and burning through two seasons of Hell’s Kitchen.
Now that Drew has recovered and I’ve caught up on my sleep I feel super motivated to clean things up! I always like to start by putting a load of laundry in the washer and my top priorities are underwear, towels, and work clothes. Sheets and blankets are also on my to-do list but since those take more time I want to get the easier essentials done and out of the way before tackling the bedding.
While the wash is running I’ll be doing a “load of dishes.” When my dish rack is full I consider it a load done and move on to something else while the dishes dry. We do have a dishwasher but I haven’t used it yet because normally between the two of us we don’t have enough dirty dishes to fill it up. Plus I hate having to unload the dishwasher as it was always my chore growing up and it’s so much easier to unload a dish rack on top of a counter because there’s no bending over involved.
