Sunday, July 3, 2016

Old Habits Die Hard, And If They Don't, Mrs. Hillbilly Mom Will Kill Them

Mrs. Hillbilly Mom is kinda sorta adjusting to being retired. Even though, technically, this is still part of her summer vacation. She's still livin' high on the hog with her last teaching checks. You know how it goes. Your salary is spread out into 24 installments from Sept. 1 to Aug. 30. Or thereabouts, Newmentia happening to have paydays on the 5th and the 20th of each month, with the six from June, July, and August given in a lump direct deposit on June 5th.

It wasn't always so. Way back when Mrs. Hillbilly Mom was just a Hillbilly, before Farmer H entrapped her in his web of intrigue, Newmentia was just a gleam in Basementia's eye, and payday was once a month. And WAY back, when Mrs. Hillbilly Mom was barely promoted from Li'l Hillbilly status, she worked at a district where payday was once a month, during months school was in session. I think that's how everyone did it back then. No pay over the summer, better budget when you got it!

Anyhoo...my wages for work already performed will double up with my retirement handout pretty soon. Not that I'm counting, of course. But I'm getting used to sitting on the porch every morning, watching the dogs wrestle, and thinking, "I can do this for the rest of my life!" Of course it's going to be a bit chilly round about the end of February...

Only yesterday, the cheery clerk at the gas station chicken store said, "Aren't you retired now?" You bet! I can't keep the smile off my face.

So imagine the shock this morning (and by morning, I mean 11:35 a.m.) on the way to The Devil's Playground, when I turned around to back T-Hoe out of the garage, and spied MY RED SCHOOL BAG on the folded-down rear passenger seat!

"Pony! What is my red school bag doing there?"

"Oh. Um. I don't know. I guess it was just a habit."

I suppose he thinks I'll be driving him to Oklahoma every morning, him riding in the seat behind me.

2 comments:

Sioux Roslawski said...

Perhaps, psychologically, The Pony is not quite ready to leave the family pasture for his own field of clover (or whatever the heck ponies find irresistible)?

Hillbilly Mom said...

Sioux,
He DOES like to be taken care of, though he assures me he is ready to head out on his own. Unlike the #1 son, who was chomping at the bit from the time he was 15, and kicking up his heels to keep us at a distance.