I hope you all had a great weekend and have had a great start to the new week.
Today, I will use this space to unload my emotions a little bit; then I will move to Monday Makers! You are more than welcome to skip the personal part and go ahead and link up your beauties. Also, I want to thank all the linkers to last week's MM. I haven't had ten linkers before. Maybe it is not a big number, but for me it is a very satisfying improvement-given that some weeks I had no linkers. Thank you very much for joining me and giving me the support to continue with Monday Makers!
As you might remember, my husband got an overseas posting to Buenos Aires. We were given this exciting news last December and since then there has been lots of planning and talking going on about this new adventure. I am thrilled by the idea of living in the city which is called the "Paris of Latin America". And it is not just about being there with my existence but the idea of learning a new culture, meeting with new people, visiting new places, learning a new language...All very exciting. Making this great move comes with responsibilities of course and and my biggest responsibility is to learn Spanish so that I can have a comfortable life there without depending on somebody else.
I have started studying Spanish soon after we received the news. I have made a study plan, prepared all the material I need. I am watching a Spanish soap opera called "Destinos" which is specifically designed to teach Spanish in an interactive way. I have a course book, a study book, other audio material that loads you with vocabulary...But...I have been feeling so overwhelmed lately, especially the last couple of months. I am behind my schedule, really behind. I have to devote at least 3 hours everyday so that I can get my level up to (at least) intermediate. This is because the official language training by my husband's office will start in August. It won't be a beginner's nor a survival class because he is already fluent in Spanish. It will be a more advanced class to refresh his knowledge and build on his language skills. If I can't be at a level which I can't participate in the conversations or follow what's going on in the class; then unfortunately I won't be getting any language training.
I am learning very quickly; in fact, I didn't think I would be this quick. This is of course when I put in the time and effort to study; the problem is, I can't. And this is killing me.
I am home on Monday and Tuesday and I can study a bit. The rest of the week I am at work. By the time I collect the family members, go home, have dinner, put my son to bed, the clock already shows ten. And after that, all I want to do is sit down and relax. Most of the time I just drag my body to bed without doing anything-no dishes, no tidying up. What are they anyway? The weekend comes; hubby works at the back yard, I sit down to study, then my son calls, I fix his needs. Then sit down again, this time hubby needs my help and I go out. This continues all day like this. At the end of the day, hubby asks "how much Spanish did you do today? and of course he is not satisfied with my answer and I listen to a long speech by him. What the consequences will be if I don't, if I can't...
Seriously, I am doing my best to study as much as I can. I even stopped sewing, quilting almost all together. (Also because if I am seen quilting but not studying, it creates tension in the house.) You might have noticed that I only post on Mondays for Monday Makers! for a long time and most of the time I don't have any projects to show you. Not sewing/quilting hurts me a lot because it is the only thing that makes me relaxed and feeds my desire to create something I like.
So my friends, I am neither studying efficiently nor sewing one single stitch. I feel lost, overwhelmed, down, and anything negative you can name...I don't know what's gonna happen.
I am not good at keeping a journal, I don't have a close friend to talk and unload. So, I used this space today to feel a little bit better. Please excuse me.
If you have read up until here, I thank you very much for caring for my feelings. If you haven't, I totally understand you- time is valuable and you have better things to do like linking up with Monday Makers! LOL
1.Your project can be anything you start on that Monday as long as it makes you move and be active and creative: a new quilt, a knitting project, scrap booking, cross-stitching, baking-we don't mind yummy recipes!, a gardening project, painting your house!, tidying up the pantry!...This is your Monday and you are the maker of the day!
2. Grab the button from the side bar or put a link back to me in your Monday post.
3. Click on "add your link" and just fill in the required areas.
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.
4. Please link to your specific post, not to your homepage: We would like to find your post easily.
5. To link an Instagram photo, click the Instagram icon at the bottom of the link-up screen and use the URL of your IG feed as the link (for example, my URL is http://instagram.com/hugabitquilts) Please hashtag #MondayMakers!
6. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!
6. Please take time to visit other links and leave a sweet comment: We love comments!
7. Share the photos of your finished Monday projects in your next link up- I am hoping you will come back again!: Who doesn't love a sweet, finished project or a "before-after" photo?
Hi Nurdan. I am glad you were able to express yourself somewhere, and I want you to know that I read the entire post. I hear you. I am listening. It sounds like you are in a very stressful situation, and I am very sorry that you have had to cut back so dramatically on your creative outlet and are still feeling lost and uncertain. The one silver lining I heard out of all of this is that you are actually doing better than you thought you might. That is worth celebrating! I believe I have read research (somewhere, some long time ago), that the human brain is capable of focusing intently on a topic for about 20 minutes at a time. Would you consider having a conversation with your husband and getting help from him on the weekend to get 3 different 20 minute quiet times a day (so that would be 1 hour of study). They should not happen all at once; it is actually better to do 20 minutes and take a break - whether that break is sewing or helping son or husband out... then get another 20 minutes a bit later in the day and so on. Good luck and *hugs*! xYvonne P.s. My post is a question and request for help this week, too! I'll be back to link up in a few hours (when it is Monday for me!).
ReplyDeleteNow, you really need to some quilting/sticthing! It will make you feel less stressed, I'm sure. You cannot study 7/24 spanish, it will do no good. I'm sure you'll be wonderful in Buenos Aires when the time comes. Todo irá bien :)
ReplyDeleteHow about studying some Spanish quilting sites and blogs? You will be reading about the things you love and learning :)
ReplyDeleteThat is about as helpful as I can be
{{{{{Nurdan}}}}} Nurdan I'm so sorry you're getting overwhelmed with this big move ahead - I agree that you should talk to hubby and get some help from him if at all possible - whether it's coaching, or help with the squirt, or help with whatever needs doing around the house. I think that getting some sewing time in will actually HELP your situation rather than take away study time - I think it'll help your stress level and your overall mood, so that when you DO sit down to study, you'll be in a happier state of mind. If I was closer I'd pop over and take the little one to the park so you could have some ME time!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Checking out some Spanish quilting blogs/sites is a good idea too!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you are feeling overwhelmed. Life gets so messy sometimes. I hope you can accomplish everything you wish to. Maybe sewing even for 15 minutes a couple days a week may help you feel less stressed? Hugs to you Nurdan :)
ReplyDelete