Friday, March 18, 2011

NO MAID FOR ME


Dearest Friends,

Not long after we got settled in, other women started asking me when I was going to hire a maid.  "Why would I hire a maid?  I don't have enough to do as it is."  "You have to hire one.  It's expected of us.  Any expat with a house is supposed to have staff.  The salary is minuscule to us, but it's a fortune to them, and can support a huge extended family."  "But I don't want a maid!"  "Doesn't matter."


My solution was to just drag my feet and do nothing -- put it off as long as I possibly could.  I didn't have a clue how to look for a maid, anyway!  Instead I concentrated on fluffing my new little abode, scouring the shops and stalls in town to find the many necessities that I had failed to include in that shipment I put together, so many months before.


I painted my kitchen a pretty buttermilk color (one I loved so much, I've used it in most every house since), moved the little refrigerator out to the dining room, to give myself more workspace, made some green checked curtains, and finished up a needlepoint kit my sister had given me, so I'd have something to hang on the wall.  I was one happy camper!

2 comments:

Hill Country Hippie said...

From sister Kathy, via email:

…even before I read it the needlepoint veggies caught my eye. I must have bought us both sets because I swear I had the exact same ones on my wall for years.

Miss Becky says: So, it's been going on for that long, has it? One for them, one for me. One for them, one for me.

Unknown said...

Good for you on holding out!

Obviously a right decision, looking back after the years and still using that same lively color that you chose then!!

Thanks as always!! :)