Lifestyle Changes

[Together4ever 1]

Now that I've had more experience with this topic, I can add:

I've had to become comfortable with a little bit of mess as my husband is a slob.

I've had to realize that if I want something from him I NEED TO ASK and not just assume he'll read my mind. (Saves on frustration.)

I've had to become comfortable with the Egyptian habit of "advising" concerning such matters as what you eat (that will make you fat)... even though HE is eating twice as much of the same thing. Pah! (I have a whole repetoire of snappy comebacks... I should publish a book.)

But the toughest adjustment I'm facing... the experience of being HAPPY. Almost 2 years of struggling to be together and I'm still catching myself when I'm alone thinking "I hope he calls on time tonight..." and things like that. Then I remember I had to pick up his dirty socks in the morning and we're going for burgers after work.

[sereia 0]

i LOVE topics like these! this is the reason i found this board... to learn from all your experiences and share my own someday.

i haven't experienced my fiance here yet but i imagine it will be so similar to all of you!

my fiance is very health conscious so i'm sure he'll be asking for salads and nagging me to go to the gym with him all the time. or hiking, cycling, etc. he really loves outdoors more than anything. i look forward to the nagging though. god knows i need the motivation! hehe i do love working out and eating healthy too...its just making it a consistent thing that i have a problem with.

i have to share my closet, bathroom, and dresser space. i don't know how i will ever manage that. i think its time to figure out a better space saving solution! if we stay where i currently live there is really hardly any space for clothes and shoes! any tips?

i'm going to make a better attempt at learning arabic down the line so we can teach it to our future kids together. and so i can talk to his mother better! i only know about 20 words at the moment. ugh! but for now i will do my best to teach him to be more fluent in english. patience..breathe....patienceeeeeeeee....

i'll let him get his own cell phone and all that. he hates it when i buy him anything. he feels a lot of shame regarding the money issue so i'm going to hold back on completely spoiling him like i sooooooo want to.

i'll have to buy halal meats from now on. i assume. we didn't discuss this yet but i'm betting on him wanting it especially since its so readily available here in nyc.

i probably won't be able to lie around for an entire day, never getting out of my pjs, not cooking, and vegging out.

i probably won't be able to go out with my male friends alone anymore. even if they are just friends.

i'll have to cook all the time now! no more eating a frozen lean cuisine or bag of popcorn for dinner.

but i'm happy to do it all...and more. he is going to have to change so much of his life to come here! its the least i can do. i hope we come to a really good understanding and compromise.

[lion_lioness 0]

abdoujen,

maybe the lounging is still a go! my fiance def enjoys resting the day away and he'll even get up and make breakfast (of course it's at like 3pm lol). that mainly what we did my last trip there with his family dropping by in between, but it was perfect.

the going out with guys friends alone - buh bye lolol.

where in nyc are you again, i work in chelsea.

[sereia 0]

ahhh the lounging thing. i hope there will be days when we can veg together.

chelsea, huh? i work in the UES and West Village (two jobs now) but live in Queens! What about you? Where do you live?pm me!

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Ive heard the health things to, "what did u have for lunch" popcorn, ohhhhhhhh im sure that is not enough for you. "How are you today?" little tired ohhhhhhhhhhhh i think because you didnt rest well last nite, you need the hot shower or the hot milk to help you sleep etc.

[ya falaha! 0]

I started my "lifestyle change" this past weekend. I'm a pack rat when it comes to bills and receipts. I cleaned out my basement and shredded 4 garbage bags full of old bills and stuff. Didn't want to leave a paper trail

[maggieNomar 0]

One of our changes has been in how we buy food. The concept of frozen food does not appeal to him, at least not at the moment. Maybe when he is working and does not have time to cook he will change his thinking!! But for now we buy our meat and vegetables every few days.

And yes these Moroccans at least, seem to like to give advice on everything, even when it doesn't pertain to them! Omar talks about how my roommate SHOULD be raising his son....don't go there man!

[doodlebug 3]

One of our changes has been in how we buy food. The concept of frozen food does not appeal to him, at least not at the moment. Maybe when he is working and does not have time to cook he will change his thinking!! But for now we buy our meat and vegetables every few days.

And yes these Moroccans at least, seem to like to give advice on everything, even when it doesn't pertain to them! Omar talks about how my roommate SHOULD be raising his son....don't go there man!

Not just a Moroccan thing!!! I got a lecture two days ago because I have a cold. Of course he had the flu for like the third time in five months but I'm the one with the problem. He kept asking, do you go from a cold room to a hot shower to a cold room? uuuuhhh..no i have heat in my house...you outta try it!!! lol. Do you wear a coat when you are outside? No I go out in my shorts and t-shirt in the midst of a coldfront. lol.

For indigestion apparently the solution is to wait an hour after eating the offensive food and then drink a glass of milk. That would make it go away and if it doesn't there's something wrong with the milk because apparently Egyptian milk makes it go away.

[ya falaha! 0]

LOL yeah milk cures all

Like Usama, my husband is sick like 5 times as much as I am but he always knows better.

[sereia 0]

so funny!!! my fiance and his family seem to think if you don't wear slippers in the house on the cold floor (even in summer)... you'll get sick! they are always checking my feet to see if i'm wearing any. if not, one runs to get me slippers.

[kerewin21 2]

Wow, the weird health beliefs totally rings true. They're really obsessed with hot, cold, and the wind. I'm a freaking DOCTOR and my husband is always telling me the reason I have a headache is because I went from the cold outside to the warm inside, or the reason I have a cold is that I had bare feet on the floor. Arrghh. I've given up arguing. I've just started smiling and nodding

[Kakya vstrecha! 0]

Wow, the weird health beliefs totally rings true. They're really obsessed with hot, cold, and the wind. I'm a freaking DOCTOR and my husband is always telling me the reason I have a headache is because I went from the cold outside to the warm inside, or the reason I have a cold is that I had bare feet on the floor. Arrghh. I've given up arguing. I've just started smiling and nodding

i always scoffed at that too. in a round-about way though you both could be right. there was an interesting study done in wales a little while back that found

"When colds are circulating in the community, many people are mildly infected but show no symptoms," Prof Eccles said.

"If they become chilled, this causes a pronounced constriction of the blood vessels in the nose and shuts off the warm blood that supplies the white cells that fight infection.

"The reduced defences in the nose allow the virus to get stronger and common cold symptoms develop.

"Although the chilled subject believes they have 'caught a cold' what has, in fact, happened is that the dormant infection has taken hold." cold

doesn't dispel the germ theory of disease or anything of course, but it can be a provoking factor in symptom development.

[mybackpages 0]

Wow, the weird health beliefs totally rings true. They're really obsessed with hot, cold, and the wind. I'm a freaking DOCTOR and my husband is always telling me the reason I have a headache is because I went from the cold outside to the warm inside, or the reason I have a cold is that I had bare feet on the floor. Arrghh. I've given up arguing. I've just started smiling and nodding

smiling and nodding.... the art of being married a long time

[kerewin21 2]

I've had to become comfortable with a little bit of mess as my husband is a slob.

This makes me laugh... because it's the other way around for us! I'm kind of a slob and Maj has to get used to me

The theory on why going out in the cold brings out cold symptoms kind of makes sense... but I find it hard to believe that only a few minutes of vasoconstriction would dampen immunity enough to allow the viruses to flourish. AFter all, they need a good warm host too... The cold might be as damaging to them as it is to your nose! Interesting thought though, maybe I shouldn't scoff so much at "non-medical" peoples' opinions.

Edited March 1, 2007 by kerewin21

[amal 4]

hahaha I just had to laugh at the slippers inside thing. My husband has given up on that with me as my feet are ALWAYS steaming hot and I can't stand to have them covered at home. It is hard enough to keep shoes on at work all day. When I was in Jordan, his family forced me to wear house shoes everywhere. I would even try to sneak around without them but they would run after me, stop me, and force me to put them on. I ended up giving in every single time. They also made us drink a cup of water before going outside. hehe...maaan I miss them... *sigh*

amal