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Originally posted by Ninibini

Okay, so...

We live next door to the King and Queen of our town - not our NEIGHBORHOOD - our TOWN... or, so THEY think. When we first moved in, we all became quick friends. But over time as we got to know them, we realized that they were a little bit snobby, a little bit judgmental, and not like us very much at all. Things cooled almost as quickly as the friendship started. We are over-the-fence friendly, we exchange Christmas cards, we're usually polite, but we pretty much keep to ourselves. It's not ugly or anything - just cool. Sometimes it's just better that way. Especially when you live next door to silly people.

This is kind of how it goes with them: Their other next door neighbor had an integrated marriage with about 5 kids coming from each the mother and the father. My neighbor called it a "science project," and often laughed at how they couldn't be making ends meet on his small salary (that's pretty much when our relationship went south...). Then the husband died unexpectedly, and the whole family separated and fell apart. The neighbors were "so relieved" that their neighbors were finally moving, stating that, "hopefully someone more desirable will move in." We were appalled. (Trust me, they weren't rich, but these people had hearts of gold and were very kind, loving people - it was so sad.)

Another time, we bought a puppy from the Egg Festival (A mutt...She's the best - she makes snow angels and even "talks" sometimes! She's amazing!); they bought a Golden Retriever with a pedigree and papers to prove it (he used to pee all over their expensive lawn chairs and garden produce).

Then we put in a pool that we had purchased second-hand. It's really nice - we scrubbed it up, removed the rust spots, painted it, bought a new liner, etc., installed it ourselves... 'Looks great - everyone loves to congregate at our house for a cool swim! They went out two weeks later and bought one bigger and brand new, paid big money to have it installed... bought fancy floaty pool chairs... it's pretty impressive. But there's rarely anyone there enjoying it.

We painted our dining room a lovely "Merlot" red color, she saw it through the window, loved it, and painted hers a "deep wine" color. When we painted it over to a nice blue-green/light teal last year, she painted hers greenish-blue. Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

My husband bought a second-hand truck to drive around for work (now has a company truck), her husband went right out the next week and bought a brand new deluxe suped-up model (he mostly cleans it every weekend - we rarely see him drive it or actually use it for anything).

I bought my husband a modest but nice and practical gas grill for Father's Day a couple of years ago... within a couple of days, the neighbors had a fancy grill with "the works" - he even "dresses up" when he grills, with all the bells and whistles! Too funny!

And then two (three?) years ago, we replaced our old van with a newer one (after being rear-ended in an auto accident). They went out shortly thereafter and bought a brand new Cadillac and stood dazed in their pool just staring at it all summer with silly looks on their faces.

You get the idea - it never ends. We've actually started to make a sport of it! Sometimes we just buy something new or do something fun just to see what they will do next! LOL! Silly people... we must cost them a fortune! LOL!

So, this past Saturday my hubby finally put up a clothesline for me. We've been paying an exorbitant amount for electricity in recent months, and the only place we can figure there is probably waste is with our electric dryer. To be honest, we should buy a new one - and we could - but whenever I see all the pics of your farmgirl laundry billowing in the breeze, I'm homesick for Grandma and the good ol' days. Plus we don't have air conditioning (only in the bedrooms at night), so the dryer running in this heat only makes our brick home more oven-like. YUCK. My husband finally caved after reviewing our electric bills for the past few months. (Actually, I think he thought I had been exaggerating when I said we must be paying for the neighbor's electricity - he took one look and I swear his hairline receded another inch! LOL!) We're anxious to see how much the bill is reduced now that we've made the switch. I've even looked into winter line-drying (I can't remember whether it's CJ or Diane who has done this, but if they do it, surely it must be a good thing and can't be too "radical farmgirl" for me, either, right?! They inspire me, what can I say? You ALL do!). Just a little hint: apparently, if you use a little salt in the rinse water, your laundry won't freeze! LOL! 'Talk about something for the neighbors to write about in their annual Christmas letters! LOL! I digress... sorry...

Anyhow, we were laughing and really enjoying ourselves at the hardware store, wondering what our silly neighbors would do once we put it up... would they put up TWO lines? Would it be made of gold filament? Would they install a special fan to make their laundry dry faster on the line? What fun it would be to find out! It wasn't very nice of us, I know... I'm sorry. I'm not proud of myself. It's just sometimes you have to find the humor in things, you know?

So late yesterday morning I started hanging out the laundry. My neighbor (the wife) peeped up over the fence and asked what I was doing. Of course, I explained about the ridiculous electric bills, etc. She said that they had had the same problem up until about a year ago when they signed on with a less expensive carrier, and that their bills were slashed into a third of what they had been prior to so doing. She said they did the same with their gas bill, and are saving a bundle. Apparently they "shopped around" (we always get those letters saying they can save us money - we just never really laid weight to them, thinking there had to be some sort of hitch!), and found a carrier that doesn't have any penalty fees should you desire to switch back to your old service. Pretty good, they thought, so they tried. They've been thrilled with the results ever since. She said she'd look up the information for me and give me the names and numbers of the carriers, yadda yadda yadda. I thought, wow, that was pretty nice of her, maybe she's changing now that we're all getting a little bit older. I felt a bit sheepish that my husband and I had laughed at the notion of their next competitive move, and I humbly thanked her.

WELL...

Late yesterday afternoon, I was out pulling the laundry off the line, and they were lazing away in their pool as they usually do on the weekends. I could here them chattering and her husband said, "So what's with the clothesline, now?" She said - loudly and clear as a bell, "Well, not everyone has the lu-u-uxury of being able to afford to run out and buy a brand new dryer like us." They snickered. I froze still. I felt fire well up from my belly and head out my arms and legs to my fingertips and toes. My ears got hot and I could feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck. I knew if I turned around at that very moment and looked at her, my seething "evil eye" would cause her to perish into dust right then and there. What a horrible thing to say! What a snob!!! How DARE she? I am not a violent woman at all, but all I wanted to do was fly across the yard, over the fence and slap her - and I was so hot, I was pretty sure I could do it. Lucky for her, however, I love Jesus more than I love retaliation! LOL! I caught myself and recovered my senses before I said or did anything. I said a little prayer and took a few deep breaths (okay, more than a few!) to calm my spirit. I finished the task at hand and acted as if I hadn't heard a thing. Silly people - why let them get to me?

Now, we're not financially wealthy by any stretch, but if I wanted to go buy a new dryer, I would go out and buy a new dryer, plain and simple. I don't owe her or anyone else any explanations, and I'm not going to allow her ignorance to get the best of me. I just can't believe she had been so friendly in the morning and then so nasty later in the day like that. True colors aren't always pretty in the sunlight, huh?

SO...

My husband was away most of the day, getting dirt for my potato condos (which, by the way, are coming along wonderfully! YAY!). I didn't have the opportunity to really talk with him and relay the story until we were slipping into bed. As I slid under the covers, I was amazed at how soft and sweet-smelling the sheets were. Ooooooo - snuuuugly - cooooozy - coooooomfy - sweeeeet! It was like laying down in Heaven. Heaven! The thought suddenly occurred to me:

Once again, it is WE who are enjoying the last laugh:

We'll probably see the Lowe's delivery truck pulling up to drop off their expensive new efficiency dryer sometime this week - it's almost a given. AND because they can't see past their snobby little noses, they'll probably never put up a "poor folks" clothesline as we "little" people do...

BUT...

THEY'LL also never have the lu-u-uxury of a dreamy summer night's slumber in Heavenly, fresh-scented, wind-softened sheets! And, as usual, they are going broke trying to outdo us.

LOL!

Silly people...

Hugs -

Nini

Farmgirl Sister #1974

God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!

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