Neighbors

In reading another blog I was reminded of a blog I began writing quite a while back but then deleted. It was all about neighbors and the things they've done that drive me crazy. And since I'm remembering, I might as well write down a few of the things that have bugged me over the years.

Apt 1-Newlyweds and pregnant.
Our asian neighbor downstairs cooked with some pretty strong seasonings which wafted into our apt and diasgreed very much with my morning sickness.
Our bed was backed up to a wall with the neighbors bed on the other side. So we'd be awakened at all hours of the night to the sound of their headboard banging against our shared wall, accompanied by sounds only a porn addict wants to hear.
Another couple would argue at 2am and she'd yell and cry (very loudly) over their disfunctional marriage. Which wasn't as annoying as how they'd leave town on the weekends and their alarm would go off at 6am on Sat/Sun morn and we'd lay in bed listening to the beeping for an hour before it finally shut off.

Apt 2-Calin's 1st year.
The heavy set boy above us would play hackeysack in his room above Calin's room and it would constantly wake him. His mother would stumble out of bed and to the bathroom every night, which since we had a newborn, woke us very easily. She would also vacuum at 7am, a very precious hour for sleeping when you've been up much of the night with a newborn.
The neighbors next to us would always fight and shout the F-bomb at each other. Once they split it became his bachelor pad, which wasn't any better. He'd watch porn with his door open and anyone could see.

House 3-Calin age 1. This is when we decided to start renting houses.
My biggest complaint about this place is that every Saturday morning around 7am, a van would pull up across the street and honk to let the person in the house know he was there to pick him up. And the person was always running late, so he honked while he waited. Which woke all of us up-every Saturday morning at 7am. Grrr.

House 4-our first home in Ohio, Calin was 2-4 and I was pregnant, Naiya's 1st year.
This one wasn't too bad either.
The kids next door drove me insane though. They had a basketball hoop right outside our bedroom windows and their playing would wake us during naps or at night. Their hoop backed up to our fence and the basketballs were constantly ending up in my yard so they'd ring the doorbell (usually while Naiya and myself were sleeping) and ask me to retrieve them.
The house on the other side was empty for most of the time until some white trash neighbors moved in who never cleaned up their dog poop. I hated going in my backyard b/c it smelled so badly and couldn't open the windows b/c the smell wafted in. Their big black dog always got out and they never seemed to notice or care, when we'd return him we rarely ever got a thank you.

House 5-The house we just moved out of
This was my favorite with not many neighbor problems. We were next to a truck rental place that would bring it's equiptment out at 6am, that would often wake Naiya. The bar across the street wasn't usually a problem but the occasional argument/loud music in the parking lot did occur. The other neighbors 4 dogs barked alot during the day but did eventually stop barking at me everytime I went outside or walked to the car.

Apt 6-Our current duplex.
Our current neighbor, you know I like her, but she is a bit looney. Anytime I have the door open to let air in through the screen she walks right in without knocking. Last time she did it I was on the toilet with the bathroom door open! And when I came to see what she wanted-she opened the fridge and started searching it. Apparently she thought I had stolen her special homemade salami she got in Boston. She thinks I got in through the attic space, which only has one entrance-in her garage. Even if I had found another way into the space, I couldn't have gotten out there, it's screwed shut from the outside! It makes no sense, but I'm not sure she believes me.

House 7
Hopefully, this is the first house we buy, the one in the country far from thoughtless neighbors, smelly dogs, and annoying kids. A little house with land and trees and our very own space. I have no idea where this house will be located. Despite the uppity sub-division types in Avon, I still like the community and the schools. But finding a house like this amid all the new building going on will be difficult. Not everyone shares our vision of "home", most people want the brand new houses on the little dead end streets. And that's just not us. I'm afraid to get into a house that we won't be able to sell b/c no one around here wants that. So House #7, although we wish it could be everything we've ever wanted, we are realisitc.

House 8
We have high expectations for this one. It will be the house of our dreams, the house our children remember and grow up in. The house we truly settle down in. This is the house we can't wait to find, and it will most likely be in Idaho. :)