Moving Out, Part III (See below)

I ended up signing the lease in a hurry, and that may or may not have been a good thing. Either, way, I have a place to live now, albeit with two very antisocial roommates. I started a new schedule at work, that is 40 hours a week being 4 9-hr days and 1 half-day, Friday, so inshallah I will have no trouble attending Jummah prayers.

Over that weekend we were supposed to have a 'family dinner' which was essentially a make-up Easter. Of course, my family just hates it when I wear hijab (unfortunately, I hate them for that. :-( ) so even though I want to wear it when my brother-in-laws come over, I don't. I can't say I really enjoyed the day anyway. And because everyone was there it was hard to get a few words in about my move. My parents flew to Las Vegas on Wednesday, and I had the house to myself basically to pack my things. That was slow going until the weekend; I had left boxes half-full because I needed to find some things that I wanted to pack 'together.' The entire week was exhausting, though. I was tired, trying to get used to being at work for 10 hours and having so much to do each night... and I didn't get very much done.

One night I went out with my sister and bought a few 'essentials.' Mostly cleaning supplies. On Friday I went to thrift shops looking for a few more things, and Saturday I went to some yard sales in my sister's neighborhood looking for more still. (I hate shopping, but at least at yard sales in the same neighborhood, you just walk around outside, and can get fresh air.) Saturday night she invited me to a 'Pampered Chef' party. Normally, I avoid these types of "parties" at all costs. Mary Kay, Tupperware, etc. They are marketing endeavours, normally for stay-at-home moms, where the woman (I guess it could be a man too but hardly ever is) will buy this stuff and eventually sign on to start selling it, and will have these parties to get people to buy. Sometimes at her house, and then has someone else host a party, and that person invites all her friends. They give away a few things, and of course if you "host" then you get a discount so people are encouraged to do that... and then you have women paying $45 for a baking dish.

But what could be more fun than listening to a bunch of women chatter about kitchen utensils? To start with, cleaning doggie poo out of my bathroom. For those of you men who read this... you have no idea how lucky you are to not have to ever go to these. Eat the chicken, and explain why it's the best most tender chicken you have ever tasted because it was cooked in a stone fluted bundt pan. It's weird. So why did I go?

Well, my sister invited me (it was her neighbor's party, who is the consultant person who sells, and at her house so she was cooking) and she told me that Maria would be there. I haven't actually met Maria, but she is a Muslim convert who used to live two doors down from my sister's house, who is married to a Muslim from Egypt. They moved out last year, long before I was ready to tell anyone, but I thought sure, I would like to meet her and talk to her about some of what I'm going through. But Maria didn't come. So I was stuck there oohing and aaahing about silicone spatulas.

But, in the end it worked out okay because my sister bought me a few things. A dish made especially for cooking in the microwave (laugh, if you will) and an adjustable measuring spoon, and she gave me her measuring cup.... which is neat (but of course, overpriced). But of course at these party things one trick to get people to buy is to give them free stuff, so they feel obligated to buy (neat psychology trick in action.) And the free thing that I "won" was these two entertaining bowls (that are square.. yeah, weird isn't it?) with a little handle/rack thing to carry them. But they're a good size for... ahem... salsa.

Sunday was the appointed moving day... because the girl who was moving out couldn't decide if she would be out on Friday or Saturday... even though my lease was clear I could move in on Saturday. (Not that I had any help that day.) So... I'll stop here, and save all the drama for 'Part IV'.