We live in the suburban area of an urban city, if that makes any sense . Our neighborhood is a little rough around the edges, but we haven't encountered many problems. Today, I'm grateful for the people in my neighborhood.
There's the guy two doors down. They have two dogs that like to argue with NoNuts all morning long, but he was in our driveway to give our car a jump at 6:30 this morning. There are two houses down the block and across one street that we always assume are in competition for 'best looking house on the block." Give us a few years gang, and we'll be rivaling you, once we clear the remodelling debris from the yard. Across the street are the women who take in unadoptable rescue dogs with great medical needs. One woman's disabled brother also lives with them. Neighbors like that are great to have around. Next door to them lives the chef for my favorite mexican restaurant. A man who cooks like that is a-okay in my book. Our letter carrier is incredibly cool. Expecting a surprise baby (her only other child is 20), she and I check in almost everyday, and she has a standing invitation if she needs to puke in my house. Grown-up interaction is a rare commodity during the day sometimes. Today she's bringing her ultrasound pics by to show me.
Then there are the suspected drug dealers next door whose customers are finally learning not to block our driveway. The home is a rental tri-plex for sale. We're praying it's foreclosed on soon.
So today, as I'm feeling grateful for my neighbors and singing some Sesame Street, I want to know- who are the people in your neighborhood that you're grateful for?
5 comments:
I was about to tell you how our first house was in a neighborhood that was also a little rough around the edges, and that dispite that, we had many great neighbors... But then I realized you knew all that, because you used to come to our house every morning! D'oh!! :)
The drug-dealer neighbor made me laugh; we had some neighbors like that in Boise. We even figured out their "screen door" signal. It kind of freaked me out, but intrigued me at the same time.
We've lived in our home 6 years now, and I know most of the circle by sight. My next-door neighbors are the absolute BEST: letting in my children at all hours (and letting them STAY for hours), taking in my trash cans, fixing my garage door . . . it's so nice when your neighbors can be your friends.
I'm just catching up on blog-reading---wanted to say good luck with the baby stuff. It's the worst when you're emotional and you have something to blame being emotional on, but you still can't STOP it. The Sunday quotes for the past couple of weeks have been wonderful, as well. Thanks for posting them.
Wendy
We've lived in a four-plex for the past three years. We've had good neighbors for the most part, but there was the one guy that I checked the Sex Offender registry for. He wasn't on the list, but believe me when I say, the police came knocking.
Right now we have 3 "mature" single women for neighbors. They're all fantastic, and I love that we're all from very different backgrounds.
We too live on the edge. Our landlord has worked very hard to keep our four-plex looking good (and it shows). But yeah, the neighborhood leaves much to be desired. I won't go walking after dark and have been stopped by the police for standing on the sidewalk. The first police shooting in the history of my town happened a block from me (the guy who died was attaking the officer with a sword), and a teenaged girl was abducted and raped three blocks away. BIG Deals for small town.
Perhaps I should add that I went running before the sun was up last Saturday. I was trying decide what I should worry about more: grumpy bears, the wolf pack, kidnappers, or dogs.
The answer: Dogs. Apparently, pit bull owners walk their dogs early.
I love our neighbor two doors down. Jeremy had the car taken apart to try to change the fuel filter when he found out the only thing standing in his way was a screw that couldn't be reached with any of the tools we had. He was just about to give up and put the car back together without getting to change the filter, when our neighbor came over with a tool that actually worked. YAY! Now we have a new fuel filter and don't have to do that again for a loooooong time. Oh and that same neighbor watched the kids for us that night since Jeremy and I both had conflicting schedules and neither of us could stay home with the kids.
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