Nosy Neighbor Syndrome

I have not been blessed with good neighbors. One neighbor revs their dirt bikes at all hours of the day. Across the street used to be redneck neighbors with too many children; a husband that liked to stand in the middle of the street wearing nothing but shorts, beer belly, and a trucker hat while he played with a whip; and the mom who had to chase her dog every time she opened the garage door (you'd think she'd learn after the first few times) and she'd call the dog with a voice like she was stuck in a wood chipper.

About 6 months ago that family suddenly disappeared leaving the house abandoned with all their stuff still there. Last week it was purchased and now every night there is an army of vehicles in the front yard as they renovate (apparently the house was left in deplorable condition). I haven't met them yet, and don't know what kind of neighbors they will be, but they seem to have strong family bonds. My husband talked to them and told me that they are fixing it up for a family member and her daughter. I see them sitting on the porch as the family works on the house.

Now, the neighbor that worries me the most is the closest to my home. Our bedroom is on the side of the house closest to this neighbor's living room, and he likes to play LOUD music late at night and even into the morning. Apparently the police do not act on noise complaints unless 3 people complain, and he doesn't have 3 occupied houses near him to make complaints. He also likes to weed his driveway with a flamethrower, and it is also what he used to light fireworks on July 4th, and nearly blew up when he put the flaming end of the torch next to the gas tank.

Recently, the neighbor has been having his fun by skidding his car all over the road in front of mine and his houses, and around the corners down the street. Last week I yelled at him because I was standing in my driveway holding my baby Bryan and he skid sideways into his driveway full speed, getting up on 2 wheels and almost taking out the mailboxes before nearly flipping over into my driveway crushing me and Bryan. Thankfully my giant rose bushes seem to have been fed gamma radiation, so I would have had at least something to take most of the impact if he rolled his truck. His excuse was "I'm young and stupid, it's kind of expected of me." Way to go, lemming. I told him there are children that play on this street. "I don't see any children." Yeah, you wouldn't see them until it was too late. Now the front of my house the road is full of skid marks, and so is his driveway.

Last Friday, I was coming home and there was a huge accident at the end of the street. Must have been 6 cars, the whole street was closed off. Only one cop there, but lots of emergency vehicles, but there were regular people (probably those involved in the accident) directing traffic to take side streets to avoid the closed road. The side streets were residential streets and everyone was on their front porches watching the detoured cars like a street parade. When I finally made it past the intersection with the accident I saw that one vehicle was upside down and crushed flat. This is a small neighborhood street near a high school, 30mph speed limit, how could someone be that reckless to get in such a bad wreck?

Few days later I realized, I haven't seen my stupid neighbor since Thursday. Now I'm wondering if he is the one that caused that accident. If so, karma. I told him to slow down. I still hope he is ok, and if he was involved I hope that he learns his lesson.

Matrix and socks

There is nothing my kitty loves more at the end of a long hard day than to curl up with daddy's socks. Or really any of my husband's clothing.
Bonus video. He was actually doing this for quite a while, I only managed to get video of the tail end of the sock cuddling.

Update

Just a quick post. I have my appointment set to have an ultrasound, we will find out the sex of the baby. That will be Jan. 15. Lately I haven't been sleeping. I had one glorious week of good sleep and waking up at a decent hour. Now my nerves are wrecked from my anxiety. I'm not sleeping at night, waking at 4pm, and screaming at the cat all day long. Hormones do terrible, terrible things...

I've been very flighty on what I want to do during the day. I want to fold 1000 origami cranes to hang in the nursery, but I don't have the energy or the drive to do it. I'm also in the middle of doing a picture in crewel embroidery, but same problem. I did manage to make some cute little strawberries out of felt, but I still felt tired after completing them. Ugh.

For New Years: didn't do anything really. Sat at home watching video games. Drank some sparkling cider and went to bed. The highlight was giving our cat Matrix a bath. After the ordeal he immediately went to comfort himself at the food dish. Poor, fat kitteh.

My House

Last Sunday my in-laws came to my house for dinner. My husband's aunt Mary is visiting from New Jersey, and we wanted to have her over to see our house for the first time. It's only the second time the in-laws have seen the house as well. Normally the house is a huge mess! We live like slobs mostly, so having it this clean is a rare. Only the living areas are clean, the storage rooms (2 spare bedrooms), garage, and man-cave (den) are still a mess. Anyway, I took pictures, so let me show you around!

Here is a picture of the outside of the house. Please excuse the weeds in the driveway. I recently read on the internet that you can sprinkle table salt on weeds that grow in cracks and they'll shrivel up and die. I did this and the weeds grew twice as big as before in one week! I'm guessing this home remedy is false. I also read that vinegar works too. I'll try this, maybe. You can see how unruly the rose bushes are! I forgot to trim them this year.

The entrance way. It's a split level house. The downstairs goes to the man-cave. The garage is accessed down there too, and there is a full bathroom. The bathroom down there is used for Matrix's litterbox, and my husband's friends when they come over and play games in the man-cave. You can see Matrix at the top of the stairs here. He's thinking, "whoa, the door is open!"

Shoes aren't worn in the house. Normally they pile up here. It's a tripping hazard, but I haven't found a shoe caddy that fits in this tiny space. I hate the ugly brown carpet in the house. When we first moved in, it was flea-infested from the previous owner.

Here is the kitchen. It's tiny.

The dining room. Normally the table is used as a catch-all for whatever. It's nice to finally be able to see the surface of the table! Matrix eats in the corner here. This is also where I display a kimono. I switch it out occasionally. Also is a picture of me, some fake bonsai that I made, and other display stuff.

Here's a close-up of the picture displayed with the kimono.

Outside is the new BBQ. It was a nightmare putting together! We put it together the day before the in-laws came over to visit, and we found out we didn't get the screws or instructions. Bobby had to go to Lowes to get replacement parts. We were also told that it included the propane, but it wasn't so, so we had to buy that as well.

Here is the living room. The TV is new. (^_^)v We never use the fireplace. The tiger plushies were won from carnival games. Matrix was frightened of the large tiger, it was so cute! Now it's Matrix's punching bag.

The main hallway leads to the bedrooms. Behind the couch is my doll case. The bonsai on top was also made by me, as well as the camelias hanging on the wall in the center of the picture.

Sorry for the shine from the glass. Bobby got this case for me. These are all my Japanese Barbie dolls. I have most of the good ones so far. The top 2 are New Year's Barbies. The bottom two are geisha Barbies that I made myself.

The rest of the Barbies. The very bottom one is a vintage Barbie, wearing the first true Barbie kimono. Rare and expensive, found for cheap and good condition! I'm such a nerd...

The bedroom. I love the bed spread. I got it at Walmart (lol!). Matrix's bed is on top of the dresser.

One of many sword sets. This is the newest set Bobby won at a tournament. I'd love to display them all, but Matrix loves to chew on things. How pretty my house would be if Matrix didn't chew on things...

The windows in the living room and bedroom are very deep. I can sit on them very comfortably. Matrix loves to sit here and watch the world.

Company Picnic

Last Saturday was my company's picnic. Every Summer the picnic is held at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA. This year's picnic was BBQ ribs and chicken.

The weather was really mild, and seemed to be on the verge of raining. We were lucky and it did not rain.

There were games set up for the children, as well as a playground on the picnic site. A co-worker had brought a homemade game for the adults. I don't know what it was called, but it involved tossing large metal washers into holes, kind of similar to horseshoes. We played this game for hours!

Piñatas were set up for the kids. Sticks were not used, since it is dangerous for a work function. The piñatas were busted open taking turns pulling a string from the bottom. Picking the correct string broke open the bottom and poured out the candy. I had never seen this kind of piñata.

SpongeBob and Transformers.

The wonderful thing about Point Defiance Park is the location next to the ocean and the zoo. The picnic site was right behind the lion holding area, so roars could be heard. The ocean is accessed from a rustic staircase. The beach was rather cold, but there were plenty of hiking trails!

It was a fun weekend!

Asian inspired garden

Recently I was at Allenmore hospital getting blood work done, and I was impressed by the gardens. The main walkway was lined with rhododendrons, and occasionally the hallways would open up with glass windows or doors revealing a garden. The waiting room I was in has an Asian garden with many statuaries. Here are some pictures I had taken.

Garden pics

Spring is here, and everything is in bloom. I'm not a gardener by any means, but I do have things growing in my yard. Mostly weeds. I have a bunch of giant rose bushes that have apparently been planted by the original owner of my house, 12 years ago. The rose bushes are tall! I am no good at taking care of them, so they tend to grow wildly. Here are some pictures taken today:

Most of the roses bloom pink. All shades of pink. I do get some red primroses. I have one bush that is itty-bitty that just bloomed a red rose, and I have one plant that always blooms a lovely peach color.

I have no idea what this plant is, but I like the flower. The flowers are too heavy and they end up on the pavement. This one is beginning to lean. There is a similar plant that blooms yellow flowers similar to these, but bigger and the leaves are a different shape. I also have a new one that sprouted up this year that seems to be blooming pink versions of this flower. They haven't opened yet, though.

Did I say that I'm good at growing weeds? I have no idea what this is, but I think it's a weed. It sure grows like one... I've trying to cut it (thick stalk!!) and I've trying to kill it, but it's still growing strong. It's much bigger today after a sudden rainfall last night, and this is the wildest it's been, so I decided to snap a picture. If anyone can identify, please let me know!