Why am I so pathetic? Because I am spitting my excess saliva into a plastic cup. Sounds gross doesn’t it? It all started this weekend with a sore throat and after several hours at a convenient care center today I found out I had strep throat.

I’m fairly certain my wonderful husband didn’t intend to spend his afternoon taking care of me on Father’s Day, but he has. Just another reason why I’m lucky that I found such a good guy.

For now I’m taking the antibiotics I was given and spraying Chloraseptic in the back of my throat to try and numb the throbbing. Oh, and spitting saliva into a cup.

It’s been a while since I’ve had time to post anything here. I’ve been struggling to keep up with Props & Pans. Our lovely dial-up country bumpkin internet service is SLOW! Note to realtor’s - you should really tell anyone who’s moving from the city to the country that things like DSL and Cable aren’t usually available.

Other than the internet connection our house is slowly becoming home to us. It hasn’t taken Ethan much time to meet and greet the neighbor kids. He can usually be found running from one yard to another. One great thing about our area is that our road is just a gravel lane with about 8 homes and every neighbor has young children. Being out by cornfields and away from the busy street we were used to, we can let Ethan run a little more and not worry as much.

This is the beautiful sunset we are quickly becoming accustomed to in the evening. The ambulance sirens and helicopter noises we were used to are becoming replaced with frogs and the sound of the wind whipping through corn fields.

Nate’s been doing a lot of the outdoor work and I’ve been playing Inspector Gadget indoors, looking for things we know we packed but aren’t sure where. Meanwhile over Memorial Day weekend, we had an odd request regarding our home in the city that was still on the market. A young man asked if he could stay the night in our empty home.

My first reaction was to think of the HGTV show “Sleep On It,” where people spend the night in a house to see if it is a good fit or not. Believe it or not, our realtor had never seen this show! I bet he’s never watched House Hunter’s either. In fact, he was quite shocked by the request calling it the “stupidest thing he’s ever heard of.”

We weren’t really opposed to allowing this, because we’d moved all of our items out except a love seat and bed. We did require some legal paperwork to hold the man liable for any damage, etc… It went well and he made us an offer. Now we are to the inspection phase and this guy submitted a list of 45 demands that he wants corrected.

For example:
Remove sandbox and sand from yard - Fine.

Replace furnace filter - There is a new filter sitting next to the furnace, but we can put it in if you really don’t know how.

Remove an old heavy dresser that was left in our basement - Fine hand me a chain saw.

Replace all light bulbs in the house with the new energy efficient ones - What? Does he not know where Wal-Mart is? Lazy ass.

Unplug a light hanging over the basement shower - He must be a double arm amputee right?

After two weeks of the back-and-forth ridiculous demands we finally gave him the final offer and a deadline to reply. Needless to say he backed out of buying our house and it is back on the wonderful market. There will be no more overnights. I’m fairly certain he made this list of demands during the 14 hours he spent alone combing the house for issues.

What’s worse than moving out to the country where there is no cable service and only dial-up internet? (Apparently farmers don’t need to check their e-mail or watch American Idol.) Hearing your son tell all of Wal-Mart that you forgot his birthday!

I have tried to explain to our son that it really isn’t his birthday and he is still 5 years old, not 6. No logic in the world can accomplish this task once a birthday party has been had.

Ethan’s pre-k class held a “summer birthday party” for all the children who’s birthday’s fall during the summer months. So he claims to now be 6 years old, although his birthday is not until July.

While at Wal-Mart (which also is far, far away) he proclaimed very loudly that I had forgotten his birthday. Once he had everyone’s attention, he went on to milk it by adding how he didn’t get any presents or any cake, that only his preschool class gave him a party.

I’m all for pretend play, but throwing a pretend birthday party is really wreaking havoc in my life!

The other day I went into Hobby Lobby to look at some poster frames. To my surprise they were on sale, had the black wood trim I was looking for and were the right size. Ethan has requested that his new room be a Star Wars theme and since he’s our only child we tend to spoil him some. Plus in all fairness, I choose the cars & trucks theme he’s been stuck with since he was born. So it is time for a change.

My brother gave Ethan some posters that were his a long time ago. They are still wrapped with cardboard behind them and in perfect condition. My problem had been finding frames to match the size. Online the frames were going to cost me anywhere from $89 - $110. I was thankful to find exactly what I wanted at Hobby Lobby, plus they were 50% off!

I wasn’t in a hurry so I stood in the only open line behind a lady with a young child, who upon first glance was extremely antsy. In front of her at the checkout was a woman with three cartloads of craft items that I heard her say where for Vacation Bible School.

So we all three stood there for a few minutes when another line opened. I moved my cart back so that the antsy woman could make a mad dash for the other register, but I stayed put.

The problem was that there were two older ladies who made it to the new line before the antsy lady. So she mumbled and jumbled, and finally decided to stay in the new line. Seeing that she wasn’t headed back to my line, I moved up behind the Vacation Bible School woman and waited.

I admit there are days and moments when I am not patient. That is not my strong suit, but I’m working on it. Situations like this are good practice.

Suddenly things sped up and it was almost my turn to check-out. The other line was now doing the dreaded intercom call, “I need a price check on aisle 4.” As I’m reaching for my frames, the antsy lady appears at my side and says, “I was in line here.”

Shocked I replied, “You were?”

“Yes, this is my line. Excuse me,” she said as she started to reach over my cart to lay her items on the counter.

“No. Excuse me. You left this line.”

“Don’t make a scene. It’s not like I’m cutting. We aren’t in third grade,” she said while laughing.

So I pulled my cart back a little to allow her to check-out. The older woman behind me who looked like a sweet grandmother and was purchasing a cart full of yarn loudly stated, “What a bitch!”

I almost spit my gum out, but contained myself enough to politely smile at her. (What it reminded me of is something my own grandmother would have said well above a whisper in a crowded store.)

After the antsy lady finished emptying her cart onto the counter, yet another cashier opened. I stayed put, but the grandmother behind me insisted I go ahead to the open line. While signing my receipt I notice that the antsy lady had an issue. Apparently, the register had locked up and it wouldn’t scan items. She shuffled back and forth in anticipation, and realized she was now stuck where she was.

Meanwhile the line she moved to the first time had cleared. The grandmother buying the yarn had already checked out after moving to that line and was headed out the door. As I pushed my cart out the entrance I politely smiled at the antsy woman and went on my way.

Sometimes it pays to be patient.

Who knew how much this little face would need wiped.
Thank God for letting me be his mother.