Mrs. O Goes To Work

First of all, I am happy to be back to La Lanka and in the arms of hubby!  Manila trip got extended for various reasons – which I think made me a little heavier with all the Filipino food.  Hee hee!

Secondly, I started the new year with great news!  One of the blessings I’ve received this new year is the approval of my work visa. Yay!  In as much as being a housewife was an awesome experience for me (check out Interview with the Housewives), I realized that for this moment in time I am called to be a working wife.

So what can I say?

That was me in 2009 when I first visited the Colombo site.
Who would have thought I'd actually work here!?  

I didn’t know it could be this tiring!  I don’t feel it during the day but once I get home, I feel spent.  I don’t think it’s jetlag.  My usual sleeping time is like 9pm and I don’t even get to wake up until 630am.   That’s more than the 8-hour requirement!  I don’t think it’s the workload – heck, I just started!  Maybe it’s the 25km drive… but I don’t even drive!  Maybe it’s afternoon nap withdrawal? 

It is tough running a household (without full time help) and working!  I had to make a few re-arrangements with my household Gantt chart.  We had to ask hubby’s driver to do a few cleaning activities (thank God he does a decent job at it!).  Hubby had to take over the kitchen a couple of times (thank God I’m married to a masterchef!).  To make matters worse, the washing machine broke down!  In as much as we outsource most of the washing and all of the ironing, we still do our own washing for the intimates and stuff that does not need ironing.  That’s quite a considerable load!  So I guess everything had to be off to the washers now! 

My online studies had to take a backseat as well…  As most of the classes are at night, I was too sleepy to go to any of those last week L

But there is a sense of happiness that I couldn’t explain.  It’s the feeling you get when you are doing what you love to do.  Do not get me wrong, I love taking care of the household and whatnot but I didn’t feel that kind of dynamic stretched me in the direction I wanted to be stretched.  Now I am involved in projects that engage my expertise, interest and those that had a significant effect (direct and indirect) on making people’s work lives a lot more gratifying.  And I know this is where I need to be.  Where I want to be. 

The first two weeks of work is truly an adjustment.  I’m sure it will be for quite some time.  But I hope I will be able to successfully transition quite nicely.  Being the person that I am – I need to be good at EVERYTHING I am involved in, ALL THE TIME (A 3 on the Enneagram!) - and feelings of inadequacy has already surfaced (mostly on the home front since that has taken a backseat).  And now I truly understand the tension working moms (ok fine, “half truly” since I am not yet a mom which is an even greater challenge altogether) face.  In life, something really has to give – but I am positive that there are ways of finding the right balance and the coping strategies (getting all the help you need, i.e. hubby’s driver’s expanded role!) right for your needs.  And that makes livin’ la vida Lanka all the more exciting!