Pioneer woman

There has been an intrusion into my carefully constructed castle of summer joy. Just when I began to not wish I was living someone else's summer, full of vacations and reading books by a pool...just when I began to wake up with that old excitement for my day to start...they came. I don't know where they came from or how long they will last, but they are robbing my joy. These pesky little needle nosed insects that insist on sucking my blood and leaving itchy red welts are ruining my outdoor life.

We have been lathering on chemical free mosquito repellent, and just today, in a fit of frustration I gave in and decided to go buy some spray with the most DEET I could find, and guess what? Apparently every other family in Red Deer has been struggling with the same hateful pests because every store around is sold out.

How does this happen? We live in a country where we have no less than 50 choices for breakfast cereal. I can video chat with my mom in the states or a friend in Japan instantly. Choosing a restaurant for a date night can take a week, seeing as there are probably 200 eating establishments in our city. And we run out of bug spray? Didn't the stores see this coming? When they were down to like 50 bottles how come some stock boy didn't tell some manager, "Hey man, I think we're almost out of 'Off '." Come 2011, I'm stocking up in February. I will be the only lady clad fully in winter gear, trudging through feet of snow to buy my summer joy-in-a-bottle.

The worst part about all this is I think I am supposed to be learning some lesson. I keep hearing my own words echoing in my head. Just the other day I was going on and on about how exhausting our lives are in this day and age because of all the choices we have. When I go to buy cereal, I walk the 1/2 mile breakfast aisle at the grocery store losing my mind more and more with every step I take. "Should I get a fiber-filled cereal or something with dehydrated fruit bits in it? Do I want a filling yet high fat granola, or fat-free cardboard flakes?" I often find myself wishing I had 2 choices; or better yet, a field filled with oats and a cow in the barn. Jared makes fun of me because I am constantly saying, "I bet the pioneer woman..."

"I bet the pioneer woman had an easier time keeping their 2 room house tidy than I do in our I-thought-a-4-level-split-was-a-good-idea-until-I-had-to-climb-3-sets-of-stairs-to-complete-a-load-of-laundry-house."

"I bet the pioneer kids were content with a tin cup and a sock puppet for hours on end."

"I bet the pioneer woman had an easier time deciding what to wear from their trunk of 3 dresses and 1 pair of sensible shoes than I do from my closet, 2 dressers, 3 bins in the basement and 200 clothing stores within driving distance."

"I bet the pioneer woman had an easier time making life-long friends seeing as their choices were the "neighbor" 2 miles away or the "neighbor" 3 miles away." My guess is they overlooked a whole lot more than we are willing to...

" I bet the pioneer woman ignored the mosquitoes or relied on the oldest woman in the area to tell them which herbs deterred the little creeps."

"I bet I'm a bit of a spoiled brat with my options and my desire for a "perfect bug-free summer".