Hello, dear readers — how is October treating you so far? Welcome to another edition of “Here’s What’s Up!” Today I’m going to be honest and open about a recent experience. It’s easy to write about successes, but sometimes the lessons come from the disappointments. I’m sharing this in case someone out there can learn from my story.
You might remember I mentioned an upcoming beauty makeover party in a previous post. The launch was scheduled for Saturday, October 10th — and then, unexpectedly, no one showed up. Yes, despite new lights and a new mirror Mr. N bought so my friends could see their makeup clearly, not a single person arrived. I followed up with calls and texts, but nothing. Here’s what happened with each invited guest:
– Guest 1 actually arrived a few minutes before the event. I called to remind her and she came with her daughter. I was thrilled to have two attendees just before the party. My recruiter was still on the way. Then, abruptly, Guest 1 began acting strangely. She hurried out as if she had to make a phone call, pulled her reluctant daughter along, and vanished. When I tried to get an explanation, she left me with a cold “We are coming.”
Later I ran into her at a baby shower I was attending. She started stammering and invented a dramatic story on the spot about a relative’s death to explain her absence. It felt dishonest and unnecessary.
– Guest 2 is family. I asked her specifically to attend and she promised she would. Then her car developed a fault. I offered to pay for bus fare if needed, and she later messaged that she had to work and still had car trouble.
– Guest 3 said she would do all she could, but when I followed up she was at work and said she couldn’t come straight from there because she would be in her pajamas. I laughed at the excuse, but it was another no-show.
– Guest 4, an old schoolmate, said she would “see if she can come.” I followed up more than once with no response.
– Guest 5 promised to bring two extra people and even asked me to cook a lot because she knows I enjoy food. When I followed up, she didn’t answer. Her house is only a few blocks away, yet there was no call and no show.
– Guest 6 really wanted to come but didn’t have a ride.
– Guest 7 said she would stop by if she had the time. Unfortunately, time didn’t allow it.
– Guest 8 claimed her only problem was getting a ride. I offered to pick her up with her kids, but she stopped taking my calls the day before and the day of the party. I expect she may later call with an excuse and try to smooth things over.
– Guest 9 and I had made a plan: she would leave work, pick up her children, and come over. She called a few minutes before the start time to say she had too much to do.
So that was it: friends and family I had hoped would support my new venture. It was disappointing, but I’m strangely grateful. As the saying goes, “na only when wind blow wey you go see fowl e nyash” — only when the wind blows do you see the hen’s underside. Difficult moments often reveal true colors.
On a brighter note, I attended that baby shower — the same one where I ran into Guest 1. My pregnant friend already has two girls and she learned this baby will be a boy, so she hosted a large celebration. It was an impressive event: the servers even wore t-shirts with her portrait and the words “It’s a boy 2015!” Here’s a photo of me shortly after I arrived the venue:
I enjoyed some Nigerian Jollof rice. For some reason, party Jollof always seems to taste and smell the same — is that deliberate? Below you can see the leftover grains on my plate:
For my makeover party menu I had planned to cook coconut fried rice using jasmine rice. In the store I mistakenly bought coconut cream instead of coconut milk, but I decided to use it anyway because it smelled deliciously coconutty. The result was a very sweet, shiny rice — I nicknamed it “sweet rice.”
At church this week we reflected on trusting God’s ways. We studied the story of the fishermen who worked all night without catching anything, and then at Jesus’ word they had a great catch. It’s powerful to let the Word guide our actions and decisions.
How was your week? I hope it was good. Wishing you a blessed week ahead!