Temerity Jane

Arizona: The first few days

As I said, we got here Friday evening and brought a bunch of stuff into the house. I’d just packed a week’s worth of stuff into the car, so that wasn’t too difficult. I can’t rightly recall what we really did for the rest of Friday, aside from grabbing some dinner and setting up my computer.

On Saturday, we actually had to venture out to do some things – Phil took me over onto the base to see the BX, which was like a small mall combined with a Wal-Mart. We were looking for twin-sized sheets, a basket of some type for all my various hair doodads (I immediately girled the crap out of Phil’s bathroom upon arrival) and a pillowcase for the body pillow Phil got for me. We found some of the items, and then went to Target for the rest.

Target, at least, is a constant.

After Target, it was about 11:30 and I was already wiped out. I have never been very good at adjusting to time differences, and here, I haven’t actually been making any effort to adjust. In Maryland, I went to bed at midnight and got up at 8am. Here, I have been going to bed at 9 and getting up with Phil at 5.  Being that Saturday was only my first full day in the state, I was fading pretty fast.

We came back home so I could rest for a while before meeting up with Lance (who has commented here for approixmately a bajillion years) and his wife. They were heading to Germany for the next few years on Sunday, so I’m glad we got a chance to see them.  I then, of course, demanded to be taken home, where I believe I fell asleep for several hours, before we had to head to the grocery store.

On Sunday, we had to go out to the airport to pick up my sister’s boyfriend, Chuck. They’ve been planning to move out to Arizona for years, before I ever even met Phil, and Chuck has just finished getting his degree and had an interview lined up in Tucson. Before I left, my sister had called me to ask if Chuck could please stay with us for a couple of days, and I reminded her that we are a couple of hours from Tucson, but she told me that they just couldn’t afford the flight and a hotel so they were hoping he could stay here and he would rent a car. I called Phil to see if it was ok and he said sure, and when I called her back, I offered use of my car and GPS, since where the hell am I going, you know? She about fell over dead with shock and glee, so that is how we ended up picking up Chuck at the airport and bringing him to stay with us when I hadn’t even lived here for 48 hours yet.

On Sunday night, we went out for sushi, which was both a good idea and a bad idea. Good idea because we all fucking love sushi. Bad idea because we all fucking love sushi and have no idea when to stop. We came home… well, kind of rolled home afterwards and it was closing in on 9pm or so. With Chuck and I suffering from time difference syndrome and Phil having to work in the morning, we all went to bed.

Monday, Phil had to go back to work and I turned my car keys over to Chuck for the day and then… I was here. In the house. On Tuesday, I got to go out and take Chuck back to the airport, but other than that, I was here. In the house.

Guess how Wednesday and Thursday went?

Ha.

Actually, on Wednesday Phil asked me to come meet him for lunch, which was nice, and Thursday, yesterday, my cube got here! So I have access to clothing! And a hoodie! They love their air conditioning in this state.

And let me tell you, if Phil thinks his bathroom has been girled up now, he’s in for a rude awakening, as last night he deposited a giant box marked “BATHROOM STUFF” on our bedroom floor. I only brought the bare minimum to get BY for a WEEK in the car, surely he couldn’t have thought that was ALL of it?

I did promise the other day that I would tell you my Housewife of Horrors story, aka Why I Am So Happy I Am Not On Candid Camera.

Crap I have done so far:

1. Dropped my curling brush/blow drier hybrid into the toilet
2. Let the dog up on the bed with muddy feet so I had to wash the sheets
3. Washed the sheets with fabric softener instead of detergent
4. On the second washing of the sheets, realized I couldn’t find the clicker and frantically shoved my arms into the running washer to try to find it.
5. THEN I looked under the bed and located it
6. Melted one of the little hanger straps on one of my favorite shirts in the dryer.
7. Been unable to figure out how to turn on the shower without first freezing myself with a blast of cold water.
8. Let one of the cats get outside. Three times.
9. Almost closed the dog’s tail in the sliding door.
10. Burned two boca burgers into the bottom of a pan while simultaneously over-buttering my grilled cheese and accidentally pouring half a pot of macaroni into the sink instead of the strainer.

However, I have also managed to do and put away Phil’s laundry and have cooked both baked ziti and this chicken with actual success. I also managed to impress Phil with my girl-gene for sale shopping by showing him that I could also apply my powers for good at the grocery store, purchasing enough food to last us more than a week for $100, which is about what each of us was spending separately on food in a single week.

Really, right now, I only have one main concern: What the hell have you done to my hair, Arizona?