here's your sign: episode 3

First off-- thanks so much for your encouraging comments on N's post yesterday. She told me that she was crying as she read the comments and was so happy to see that in the midst of her storm she is able to use some of what she's learning to encourage others. What a beautiful cycle-- I'm happy I could be a part of it!

Now. Onto much more...ehhhh...trivial...matters.

Yesterday morning Matt & I were browsing the Aldi circular while eating breakfast. And as soon as we saw this, we knew we needed it:

An inflatable 2.5 foot deep pool? For $70?!?! Lord, yes.

Yall, it gets HOT in Georgia in the summer. REALLY HOT. And I'm a girl who likes to spend a lot of time outside (tending my plants, training for triathlons, reading on the porch...all kinds of things!)...and I'm also a girl who "doesn't like to sweat". And so the obvious solution to my problems is a pool to soak myself in after completing any sweat-inducing activities. This is what I grew up doing-- my parents have a backyard pool. My mom typically did her yard work in her bikini so as to eliminate the wasted time between sweating in her rose bushes and finding relief in the pool. Therefore this is an obvious and time-tested solution to my problems.

The difference between my house and my parents' house is that they have a fence and I do not. Oh, also they have a 'real' pool and I'm looking at a $70 inflatable pool from Aldi. So even though this seems like a great idea to me, it occurred to me that to the rest of the world, my personal nirvana might look a little bit, well...redneck.

So I took my conundrum to the wonderful people of Instagram. I knew they would help a sister out. And I was right! They responded in force and in unity of opinion...and the responses had me laughing all day.

Here was my question:

A fair enough question, I think. And I'm not implying that one is better than the other, either. Let's face the facts: I live only a few hours from the  Honey Boo Boos. We frequent the same Georgia landmarks. And my neighborhood probably resembles theirs a bit more than it does the Kardashians'. But still, I needed to know. Here's what the People of Instagram thought:

[Note: Since apparently the online version of Instagram doesn't recognize emoji, what Allison actually said was 'don't you have neighbors who keep a toilet in their front yard?'...and she is referring to this, and obviously didn't remember that those 'neighbors' live at least 10 minutes away, so...NO! But good memory!]

So the overwhelming conclusion is that this is a) totally redneck and b) a fantastic idea. I can live with that. 

The thing is, I already have the *ahem* nicest yard in the neighborhood (or at least I'm tied in the top 3 with my next-door-neighbor and across-the-street-neighbor...we all 3 do a great job). Although I could obviously reach this conclusion on my own, it is validated by the many random neighbors that stop by and tell me so when they see me out in the yard during the summer. And since we're one of the first houses in the neighborhood, I like to think that we're doing everyone a favor by starting things off with a visual bang. You're welcome, neighborhood. Now this...this is obviously not going to be doing anyone any favors. But at the worst it'll just put us a little more on-par with everyone else? So I think it'll all even out.

And also note- Matt's parents have a beautiful 'real' pool at their house, about 15 minutes away from us. So we don't lack places to swim. It's just the convenience of a place to lay out/cool off at my own home that I really need. This isn't where I'll be doing my tri training (hahahaha, although that would be pretty fantastic...in a 12' pool...) or serious Pool Time. This is for when you have an hour to kill and you don't want to spend half of it driving. Or you just ran. Or cut the grass. Oh man, I am so excited about this I can taste it. My summer just got kicked UP a notch!

Anyway. Many thanks to my Instagram friends for your honesty, sage advice, and support. I couldn't have done it without you. And someday soon I hope to invite all of you over for a super amazing pool party. It's gonna be the most fun you've ever had in 2 feet of water....

(For other amazing displays of Georgia redneckery, please see Here's Your Sign and Here's Your Sign: Episode 2)