What I don’t like about living in the country #countryliving

I would say I 90% LOVE IT here,  5% feel neutral and 5% hate it.

1. Bugs, amphibians and pine needles, oh my!

If I have to pull one more tick off one more child, I’m going to… consider it a day that ends in  y. Because I pull ticks off them constantly. And also the dogs. The dogs are officially banned from sleeping in our room til tick season slows down. Also, I know that I try to be a relatively fun-loving mom, but I DO NOT LIKE BUGS OR FROGS. I act all calm but inside I’m jumping up on a chair and screaming like a banshee when I see a beetle. (I just don’t want the kids to see me freaking out and think it’s okay to freak out. I’d like them to have a more zen attitude toward bugs. They’re already pretty zen about frogs and turtles.)

Pine needles hurt when you’re not wearing shoes. I recently learned why they’re called NEEDLES when one of them stabbed me.

They probably all have lyme disease by now.

2. My little town is OCD about rules

Trash can only be put in front of the house — not actually on the street but SHOWING FROM THE STREET — in town-approved, 32 gallon containers. 32 gallons is very small for my paper-plate-using family. That’s like, literally, ONE bag of trash per container. Also, trash has to be bagged. So does recycling, which also goes in 32 gallon containers (on a different day). Try to tell the difference between a 32 gallon container of bagged trash and a 32 gallon container of bagged recycling. It’s not as easy as it looks because they look exactly the same.

3. It’s not walking-friendly

My car is having some late-life issues. It’s in the shop. My Chemical Romance is on a business trip. His car is at an airport parking lot, 90 minutes away. I’m stuck at home with the kids, other than when my friend Jackie babysits them and I go to class, and run to Harris Teeter on the way home. Anyway, this is NOT a walk-friendly area. There’s, like, no place to go, except the golf course.

Poor us! The indignities we suffer!

That’s really it. I could comment on the lack-of-young-children thing, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a country living thing. Apparently there are children over yonder. But we have to drive to get to them.