Did i tell you i was also doing my share in keeping the roof over our heads? yup, i did a little babysitting and was also a part time amah to the hubby's lecturers. it was fun in its own way, jadi macam minah indon gitu lol. i cant quite recall their names.. one was thea bratterman while the other lady was angela something or other, tak ingat. but she was the gentle feminine sort, a music teacher. extremely patient and always had a jug of cranberry juice waiting for me when i finished. thea was ok too but i actually remember her old, almost nyanyok doggie better. how could i forget? the doggie was soo old it kept pooping on the carpet and of course the amah was expected to remove the mess!! *eewww* walaupun pakai rubber gloves, it was still yukky giler and there was also the 'samak' part in case 'terkena'.
Angela threw us a dinner party at her home.
Babysitting my favourite toddler.
We moved around a lot that first year. when we first arrived, we shared a house with another couple plus 3 other single guys. it didnt take long for things to start falling apart though. memang susah when theres 2 towkeys in the kitchen. i'm not usually the bitchy type but i guess i did end up bitching an awful lot during that time. i hated myself for reacting that way but its extremely tough being around people yang suka sindir2. i prefer having things out in the open, straight to the point. its cleaner and so much easier on the soul.
We were mostly on the move bcos we couldnt afford most of the rentals. there was even a time when we had to squat at a friend's place but it turned out to be a very big mistake. living out of someone else's sitting room meant not having a scrap of privacy (even had to make out in the bathroom with the taps on full blast - to drown out the sounds arising from such activities lol). and surely our friends felt the same way. having house guests on a long term basis can be a strain on anyone i guess.
We next moved in with Nancy our 'mak angkat'. she worked at the college cafeteria with the hubs and they got pretty close. i think it wasnt just about the split rent, she was also missing her kids. but americans tend to have this independent streak in unrealistic abundance, so that she (walaupun tua giler) was still waitressing at her age. eh, tak serik2 ke menumpang you might wonder?! well, we were rather desperate but the main reason we agreed was bcos her apartment remained empty most of the time. she was then living with her equally tua, alcoholic boyfriend (and we're talking about being in his seventies).
We were mostly on the move bcos we couldnt afford most of the rentals. there was even a time when we had to squat at a friend's place but it turned out to be a very big mistake. living out of someone else's sitting room meant not having a scrap of privacy (even had to make out in the bathroom with the taps on full blast - to drown out the sounds arising from such activities lol). and surely our friends felt the same way. having house guests on a long term basis can be a strain on anyone i guess.
We next moved in with Nancy our 'mak angkat'. she worked at the college cafeteria with the hubs and they got pretty close. i think it wasnt just about the split rent, she was also missing her kids. but americans tend to have this independent streak in unrealistic abundance, so that she (walaupun tua giler) was still waitressing at her age. eh, tak serik2 ke menumpang you might wonder?! well, we were rather desperate but the main reason we agreed was bcos her apartment remained empty most of the time. she was then living with her equally tua, alcoholic boyfriend (and we're talking about being in his seventies).
Christmas with nancy & milton
Hey look, a kitty for christmas
Nancy's family
The arrangement worked well for all of us. in fact we were around when Nancy's ex-husband took his own life and her kids came trooping over, kinda shell shocked; bewildered & confused. Still dunno for sure why he did what he did but it was a sad time indeed for that family.
Abe actually hate cats but he tolerated Nicky bcos of me :D
We finally got a place of our own come summer. thats when most of the students go home and the apartments became much much cheaper. work was also in abundance and we finally could save up a bit. the owner of our apartment was a nice friendly guy with an equally friendly wife and cute little girl. he started giving the hubby lots of odd jobs.. the guy had a lot of property and was also the owner of the only pizza place in henniker. we later found out from the town gossip that he was once a pusher but had already done his time. who'd have guessed eh? since he'd always been fair to us, we decided to just let it ride. he'd probably learnt his lesson and was trying to put the past behind him.
At last, we were able to save for rainy days. boleh la beli correlle/corningware skit2 and have something put aside for our other passion - travelling :)
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