Life as a Hausfrau

The most difficult part of our move abroad is giving up my job and putting my career on hold. I firmly believe the experience - travel, new cultures, different ways of living - is worth the sacrifice, but that hasn't made the transition any easier. Friends and family ask me how I spend my unemployed days. While I definitely keep busy, it's sometimes hard to explain how. Here's a bit about how this Hausfrau kills time....


7:30 a.m. - I get up just before Matt leaves for work, turn on the news and catch up on email that accumulated overnight while I have coffee and breakfast.

9:00 a.m. - Clean myself up and straighten the apartment.

9:30 a.m. - Walk the dog. A tired dog is a good dog, so I try to wear Henry out early in the day.

10:30 a.m. - Run a short errand or two like dropping off mail at the post or grabbing milk at the Spar, things Henry can come with me to do.

12:00 p.m. - Lunch. Sometimes Matt comes home, which is nice. If I'm alone, I watch an episode of whatever I'm currently obsessed with on Netflix, otherwise the TV is pretty much off during the day. I enjoy the quiet.

1:00 p.m. - I try have an afternoon activity of some sort at least twice a week (hopefully more for my own sanity)... Stitch and Bitch at the Bellevue Starbucks every Wednesday, puppy play dates with Governor and Jennifer, coffee with Misty, or a shopping trip to the Glatt or Creasphere.

If I don't leave the flat, I'm probably writing a blog post, which can take up to 3 hours start to finish, making curtains with my IKEA sewing machine, working on a crochet project, baking/cooking, or applying for jobs.

6:00 p.m. - If I'm out, I try to be home by 6. Matt is usually home from work and we might run an errand together, or he takes over with Henry so I can go to Coop for groceries.

In the evenings we make dinner, catch up on TV or take a long walk.



In addition to the above schedule, I have a laundry day once a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and I spend at least one day cleaning the apartment top to bottom. I try to squeeze both in on the same day, cleaning bathrooms between moving loads of laundry from the washer to the dryer.

Now that I've spelled it all out, I'm not as surprised by how busy I feel and how quickly the days go by. And, if I'm completely honest with myself, while I look forward to going back to work, I'm not at all unhappy with how my days are spent at the moment. Adjusting to life in a new country is tough and every errand or task takes just a bit longer than I anticipate it will, between relying public transport, understanding how where to go and what I need and communicating with whoever I encounter along the way. I'm glad one of us has the extra time to figure this life out.