We have a circus variety of neighbors living next to, across from, underneath and above us. Never a dull moment around here. Below I've listed a few stand-outs of my cast.
The fat man we call Leather Chest. In the summer he spends his days at our pool. He sits in his lounge chair, his stomach getting darker from the hours in the sun and bigger from the beer he puts away one after the other as if in a trance, all the while staring and ogling all of the women. He doesn't have a type, he stares at all of them. Younger girls in skimpy bikinis, old ladies in skirted bottoms. To him it doesn't matter. The pool is his buffet of women to visually feast upon, some dishes better than others but all worth the taste of a stolen glance. There is also the fat man in the next building over who cooks bacon outside on his deck. He does this shirtless and everytime I see him I wonder if his big stomach gets burned by the sizzling grease. It took me awhile to realize this is the same man as Leather Chest.
There is the lady across the common ground from us. She occasionally has crazy outbursts where she kicks and punches the walls of her townhouse while shouting "rot and burn in hell". She rarely leaves her home. She chain smokes outside all day, everyday. In the winter she sits out there with a blanket around her shoulders like an American Indian with a peace pipe. I think to myself at least she's not smoking inside.
The nice, older woman across the hall from us. I walked John out to his car one morning and upon returning realized I was locked out. She invited me inside her home and offered me coffee and her cell phone. She works from home and has a little tray table and chair set up in her living room facing the tv where she sits to do her work from her lap top. Her place is a mirror image of our place. Her life looks a lot like mine. Drinking coffee in the morning, watching the news, working from home. She even has a large persian cat. The only differnce is I have John, Bauer, and TWO persian cats.
There is the man who lives above us that is a real life Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. One day he is nice as can be, making pleasant small talk then the next day ranting and raving and yelling things we can't even understand through his deck floor down to ours. I believe he is an alcoholic and I think this is why we see such conflicting personalities from him. Often times we hear him fall down. One time he fell on the stairs going up to his place and knocked out part of the railing. John hates him. I feel sorry for him. He seems very sad and lonely. My dad always taught me that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, so I tell John we should kill him with kindness. John thinks my kindness is wasted on him. He might be right.
Good neighbors, bad neighbors, either way I can't wait to move. John and I are counting down the days until we can move out and into an actual house. Our owns walls, ceilings, and floors. Ahhhh such bliss. Bauer is getting bigger every day and needs more room to play. We are planning on starting a family soon and god willing we will need more room for that as well. Life is good, better in fact than this time last year when I was heartbroken from my company closing. Change is always scary at first but in the end you look back and see it was for the best. Sometimes you just need the distance of a whole year before you can see things clearly.
Ps Today is 11/11/11. Cross your fingers, hold your breath, and make a wish.
Love,
Tina
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