Julie turned in front of the mirror, admiring herself. “Not too shabby for an old lady,” she thought to herself, as she walked out of her dressing area. Her forty-five year old body was stuffed into a swimsuit that was skimpier than she would have been comfortable wearing if she weren’t in the privacy of her own home. These spring days in South Texas are what made living there worth putting up with the hot summers. The sun shone brightly in the clear, blue sky, but the air was pleasantly mild, with a whisper of a breeze. These were the days Julie loved best. The kids wouldn’t need to be picked up from school until after four, so she had the entire afternoon to herself on this gorgeous, perfect day. She picked up her sunscreen and book, poured herself a glass of iced tea, and went to her back yard. This was the first day this spring warm enough to lay out in the sun, and she was looking forward to it. First she would clean the pool, then there would be plenty of time to laze in her chaise, soaking up the rays. Julie had always been in charge of cleaning the pool. It was a job she didn’t mind doing, and it saved them the expense of having a service. There were only three times a year when it was a hassle; once in the spring, right now, when the big oak trees were shedding their leaves in preparation for new ones. And then again, later in the spring when the tassels would fall. And finally in the fall, when the acorns fell. When the oaks shed their leaves, as they were currently doing, the automated pool cleaner couldn’t Anadolu Yakası Escort keep up. During that one or two week period, Julie shut down the cleaner and vacuumed the pool by hand daily to keep the bag from overfilling and tearing. It was a lot of work, but on a day like today, there was nowhere she’d rather be. Putting her stuff on the table under the patio cover, she got out the pool equipment and prepared to clean the pool. First she turned off the pump, to make it easier to remove the skimmer baskets, which were sure to be overflowing with leaves. Even with the pump turned off, it took all her strength to unscrew the cover from the skimmer basket when they were so full. Putting a towel down on the deck, she knelt on it and leaned over, putting all her might into turning the cover enough to align the tabs with the holes so she could pull it out. Finally it came loose, and she pulled out the skimmer basket, dumping it into a bucket. Putting the cover back on, she attached the hose to it and put the other end on the vacuum. Now she could turn the pump back on and begin. She had to dump the skimmer basket several times before the job was done. Each time, it seemed she would never get the cover off. When she was done, she bent over at the waist and picked up the bucket. “My, that was a ladylike position,” she laughed to herself as she realized what she would have looked like if someone had been behind her, looking at her bend over at the waist in her skimpy little suit. Anadolu Yakası Escort Bayan She self-consciously turned around and glanced behind her. Something caught her eye, and she looked up at the second story window of the Johnson’s house next door. Sure enough, she could just make out the miniblinds swaying. “That’s odd,” she thought. Nobody had used that second story room in years. The Johnsons had lived next door the entire eighteen years that Julie and her husband had lived in their house. Madge had battled cancer briefly before passing away eighteen months previously, and now Tom lived in the house alone. The kid’s bedrooms on the second floor hadn’t been used in ten years. The weeks after the funeral had seen a procession of people bearing food, until it gradually slowed to a trickle, then stopped altogether. They had seen a lot of the Johnsons when Madge had been alive, even though they were over twenty years their senior, but since the funeral they just hadn’t seemed to make the time. Every time Julie saw Tom she felt guilty that they didn’t make more of an effort to include him. He must be terribly lonely without Madge, with nothing to do and nobody to do it with. He had been retired for several years. As Julie put up cleaning equipment, she thought, “maybe he needed something that he has stored in that second story room. Or maybe he goes up to clean and dust occasionally.” But no matter how many reasons she thought up, she kept coming back to one. “Or maybe Escort Anadolu Yakası he gets his jollies spying on his neighbor.” The more she thought about this, the more she felt violated. She was saddened that her enjoyment of her back yard would be ruined. Should she confront him? What if he really wasn’t peeping on her? What if there were a valid explanation. Surely she should find out, so she could enjoy her pool without feeling creeped out. But why should she confront him? How embarrassing would that be? Should she have Bruce confront him? She could just see how that would play out. Bruce was always joking. He’d probably just say something like, “Aw, what harm does it do to let the old codger have a look.” She suddenly remembered a conversation she’d had with Madge years ago. It must have been around eight or ten years ago. She’d been surprised at the time, as the ladies rarely talked about their personal lives. Madge had told her that she and Tom rarely had sex. She said that she just didn’t have the drive anymore, and even though Tom did, his drive wasn’t strong enough to make it worthwhile to go to the trouble of having sex very often at all. Now that Julie was forty five, and beginning to feel the first onset of menopause, she understood exactly what Madge had meant. Bruce’s libido wasn’t even close to what it had been earlier in their marriage, perhaps due to his drinking and the extra thirty pounds he was carrying. Their sex was routine and unsatisfying. She didn’t mind pleasing him, but she didn’t really feel the need very often herself. Their lovemaking had dropped off to about once a week, sometimes less. And she hadn’t had an orgasm in a very long time. She just didn’t feel like going to the trouble, and Bruce seemed to be okay to just let her make him squirt. Julie thought all this in the few seconds it took to put up the equipment.