Back to the Routine

I managed to stay awake Saturday afternoon, mostly by playing Sims 4. Craig claims that he never fell asleep, but I will say that he spent a remarkable amount of time laying on the sofa with his eyes closed. When he decided that he was done "resting his eyes", we ran some errands which gave us both a bit of a second wind. That carried us about through dinner to a respectable bedtime.

Sunday was Craig's first real day back to work, as that's the first day of the work week here. I decided that I would make my first trek over to the mall. Craig had agreed on an amount that I might spend on things for the apartment that, while not absolutely necessary, would make this stay more enjoyable. As I've discussed before, the apartment has everything we really need, so this amounts to things like a lemon juicer, a wooden spoon and a plastic spatula. (For reasons we cannot comprehend, the apartment is furnished with some nonstick pans, but all metal cooking utensils.)

At 10 AM, it was 97 degrees out, with a real feel of 110. I braved the heat and headed out. Perhaps because I was expecting pure misery, my walk over to the mall was not as bad as I had feared. But inside the mall, I started shivering. Those who know me, know that I do not get cold. Perhaps the air conditioning is really powerful...or perhaps it was simply the abrupt change in temperature.

Because I had braved such temperatures to get to the mall, I decided I would stay awhile. I wandered through a LUSH store, which had very similar products to those back home. A few of the scents were different, I think, at least compared to the last time I looked in the States.

I also browsed the Sephora. While the Sephora in the Dubai mall was about "normal" sized to my recollection, this one was rather tiny in comparison to those in the States. They had one full wall of fragrances and what appeared to be the complete collection of Sephora brand basic makeup - foundation and such. But from other brands, they only carried eye makeup - eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, and more. In fact, I saw a range of brow products that I've never seen before - from eyebrow pomades to special brushes and other tools (granted, I don't spend that much time in Sephora, but how much makeup do you put on your eyebrows?).

Eventually, I decided that I would splurge and visit the pedicure place that I had gone to before. I was able to get right in and get my toenails painted, which was great. The only thing I didn't think about was how the lotion they put on would interact with my flip flops. So I slipped and slid my way down to Lulu to find a few cooking utensils and some groceries we had forgotten.

When I arrived at Lulu, it was just starting to get busy. There were still plenty of carts and I didn't have any trouble navigating the aisles (excepting that caused by my lotion covered shoes, that is). But I must have spent too much time comparing lemon juicers - as you would only expect in this store, the five different types were not actually displayed in the same location - because by the time I went to check out the lines were as long as I have seen. Given the number of school age children, either summer vacation had started or it was a school holiday for Eid.

Stepping outside with my bags, I discovered the true magnitude of my mistake with the pedicure. It had not gotten any cooler outside. The heat, combined with the lotion, made me fear losing my shoes with every step. And these temperatures do not create a place you want to lose a flipflop and step on the asphalt. Even after I was safely back in the hotel, I wondered if I should have gotten a taxi. In the future, I will at least wear sandals that have a heel strap!

I made dinner and Craig got home at a reasonable time to eat. We struggled a bit to stay awake. I gave in earlier than Craig. I haven't been able to shake waking up at the first call to prayer.