Oh, Neighbor!

It's been almost a year... and I FINALLY introduced myself to my neighbor yesterday. I know, LAME. But I am a tad on the shy side, unless an introduction is totally unexpected and I don't have to think about it and worry what I'm going to say! (Can we say Anxiety?)

I moved into our little house a couple of days before we got married (while Cory still stayed at his parents). We had met the neighbors on our Right before we even moved in since Cory had purchased the house 6 months before our Big Day and had some fixing up to do. Those neighbors are AWESOME. They have a black lab, like us... and they are just the type of neighbors who will step up to help whenever you need it (like the other day when my Bug wouldn't start and Cory and I went out with an old "Fix your Volkswagen" Book to try to diagnose the problem. HAHA--we are so not skilled with anything relating to motors! The neighbor guy saw us out there and came over... ended up jacking up my car and figuring out that the brushes in the starter need replaced!)......

Anyway... the neighbor lady on the Left of our house is hardly EVER home. She apparently has a boyfriend in another town and spends most of her time there. She pays people to mow her lawn... and honestly, I never even knew what she looked like until a couple of months ago. And that was just from a distance!

I always worried about what she thought of us. Last summer when we put in our chicken coop... she made a comment to my FIL that she hopes they won't be loud. So I have been paranoid ever since... wondering if, during those brief times she comes home, she thinks that the chickens are squawking too much. There was even an article in the paper about noisy chickens in our township and how they may BAN chickens! (I got a little fired up about that) I secretly worried if it was Mrs. H who had complained. I also wondered if she thought I was rude for never saying "Hello". But, then again, she never said anything to me either. Did she think we mowed too far over and onto her property? Did she get annoyed if our dog wandered over to her yard (which has been like ONCE or TWICE in a whole almost year)?

Well, last month we started noticing another neighbor hanging out around her house while she wasn't there. Then one day Mrs. H appeared and hasn't left since! (Ok, she does leave to go to the store and stuff--but she hasn't made the long trips to her BF's place)... It kind of annoyed me. I liked not having her there because then I didn't worry if she was annoyed with us!! Turns out she was having the neighbor guy from across the street paint her house. I was a little bummed because I thought her little house looked cute in pink (and I'm not a pink person).

The paranoid dork that I am, started wondering if maybe she was painting her house so that she could sell it! I did NOT like that idea! I may have issues with her... wondering if she has issues with me (ha!)...... but I DO NOT want some other weird person or family with crazy kids moving in next door. I like the little peaceful bubble we live in!!

All month I have kind of kept my eye on that little house. I feel like the nosy neighbor! (Growing up, we used to have a woman that would watch our neighborhood with binoculars! Talk about creepy! I don't want to be like THAT!)

Then yesterday, there was a lawn service taking care of her lawn. They actually mowed over into our lawn... (free labor!)... and as I was hanging out some laundry, I heard the guy say something to her about how she is having her house painted. And then I heard her say, "Oh no! I don't want to sell!!"... and as odd as it may sound... I actually breathed a sigh of relief! I thought about it for a little while and just decided that I was tired of wondering what she thought of us being her neighbors. Maybe she was really nice and I was just being totally irrational!? (Who, me? Irrational? Pshhh!) So I grabbed a couple dozen eggs (from our chickens, of course) out of the refrigerator.... and marched myself over to where Mrs. H and the neighbor guy were sitting on her back porch. (Ok, it was probably more like a tip-toe, geez!) I apologized for not coming over in the last year... and I introduced myself and presented them with the eggs. We spent a few minutes on small talk and then it was OVER! It was very pleasant! I even slid a comment in there about hoping the chickens weren't too loud... and like a nice little old lady... she went, "Oh heavens, no!" (PHEW!)

I don't know why I didn't introduce myself to her sooner. I guess I'm just a big baby sometimes.... but I feel very proud of myself for taking that step. It was a big step for me! I am ashamed to admit that I have been so petty... even if it was just in my own mind!

Hopefully this will be the start of a beautiful neighbor-ship! And I must say... I do like the new color of her house better than that old pink!