White Trash

I must say, this may be one of my more funny stories.  So, we have these neighbors across the street.  They are older, retired.  They only had one child and he's now probably 35 or so.  So it's been a while since they had a toddler running around.  They live here in the Spring and Summer, in Arizona in Fall and Winter.  Their house is pristine.  Their lawn is beautifully manicured.  Well, we've lived in our house 6 years now and the wife has always been friendly with us.  But a couple of years ago, the husband completely stopped talking to us and when I try to wave when passing by, he won't acknowledge my existence anymore.  And the reason, I believe...he thinks we're white trash.  :-) 

See, I don't have one second to go outside and pull those weeds that are getting as tall as I am.  I don't have one second to go outside and water the brown lawn.  I don't have the energy to go plant any flowers because my two children, one paid job and my volunteer position take up all the time and energy I have.  I'm thinking it's been too long since this nice man has had to worry about young kids, jobs, and the like.  So, today's happenings could've done nothing less than fuel his disdain for us and our trashy wash.  Ha!

It all started last night when I was trying to be a good little wife and load the dishwasher.  I was running the garbage disposal and it stopped working and water was backing up.  Michael tried to fix it but couldn't, stating it would have to wait until today.  So, when I got up this morning, I was WAY bummed out to have two counters FULL of dishes that were now really starting to stink and no way to even rinse them off, much less get them washed.  Then my unsuspecting niece, Melissa, called wondering if she could come over for the day.  This only happens about once a month.  Little could she realize what kind of a catastrophe she would be stepping into. 

When she got here, I apologized for the messy kitchen (she's totally used to that...I only have time to get the dishes done on Leap Day) and told her the story.  She said she could take them outside and wash them.  WHAT?!?!  And she wasn't kidding.  I checked with her about seven times to make sure she had her head on straight and she insisted that she wanted to do that to help out.  So, she packed up a Costco diaper box with the dirty dishes, we got a couple of buckets for water, sponges, soap, and drying racks and she headed out to the front yard with Evan for the BIG JOB.  It had to be in the front because we had to make sure the disgusting food had somewhere to drain to.  Where was it going to go in the back yard? 

Those two worked for at least an hour.  Evan liked his hose duties.  He's looking extra fine here in his uber-trendy inside-out and backwards shirt.  (It's going to be all the rage...you'll see!)  I'm sure we reached a new level of white trashiness today, as far as our neighbor is concerned.  But every time I look at these pictures, I can't help but get a big, huge laugh.  I mean...who washes their dishes out in the front yard?!?!  My life is full of ridiculous stories.  And Melissa feels proud to know that she could live like a pioneer!  Thanks for the clean dishes, you two!