Rainy Day Fun {Embrace the Camera}

One thing Emilia and I love about Saipan is the RAIN!  It rains almost every day, at some point in the day.  My main reason for liking it is that it cools down the apartment quite a bit.  Emilia's main reason for liking it is the puddles!  I am so glad I decided to ship her rain boots over when we moved because they are getting a lot of use!  (O:

(I'm not exactly excited to share my slightly swollen ankles, sweaty hairline or the weird belly angles of these photos...but it's all part of embracing the camera, right?  Even the not-so-glam days...sigh.)

Life on This Island :: Laundry

This is the first time in my life that I haven't had a washer and dryer in my home.

(Spoiled American, I know.)

Thankfully, our little apartment building has an itsy bitsy laundry facility, with 2 washers and 2 dryers at $0.50 a pop.  The washers are older than dirt and have only the most basic settings.  (I am already worried about how cloth diapering will work with this set up...)

We have decided to primarily hand dry our laundry here.  It helps save cost and, for the most part, does well.  Jason has two lines rigged in our spare bedroom (Remember, Emilia's bed is in our room to cut a/c costs.  So the extra bedroom is basically one huge closet!)

*I think I remembered the leave the undies out of this shot...* ;-)

We also have a small line outside:

*The tricky part about the clothes on this line is if/when it rains each day, they get damp again.  So they take much longer to dry out here.  It's nice to have for overflow though.

This is our neighbor's set up.  They are probably moving off campus into their own house fairly soon...at which time I sincerely hope to inherit their rain-free zone. ;-)

Why all this talk about laundry, you ask?  Two thoughts hit me as I was doing today's loads:

1.  What a blessing a small laundry facility and hang drying is.  This means I can only do two small loads every day or two, depending on drying time.  I will never be caught up on laundry and that is A-OK!

2.  It doesn't matter if I go to retrieve me freshly cleaned clothes while it is raining outside.  They are just going to hang dry upstairs anyway!

Now, how is THAT for optimism?! Maybe I am adopting more of the "island mentality" than I realized. ;-)