Neighbor Woes...

I usually am the one saying how much I love my neighborhood and neighbors. I know almost everyone on the street and my kids love having friends on either side. However, the ivory tower crumbled a little today. My girls were out playing with their friend who lives next door and I was chatting on the porch with her mom. The kids were drawing with chalk on the driveway and I was throwing an occasional glance their way. I looked over and saw that they weren't in the driveway but I could still hear them so I wasn't too worried. It sounded like they were in the backyard and they were screaming. Now being a mom to girls, high pitched screaming just doesn't get me moving too fast anymore because it happens a lot. My only concern was that my neighbor has a pool in her back yard. So I say "does it sound like the kids are in the back yard?". She agreed but said "don't worry about the pool, the fence is closed". I said we should probably go see what they were up to anyway. So we go through the house to the backyard and this is when my adrenaline skyrockets. The fence to the pool is open and Natalie is walking along the edge of the pool. Aubrey is screaming and crying because their dog (a lab mix) is out and jumping all over her--she is on her knees trying to hit the dog to get away. I freeze for a minute because I don't know which one to run to first. I try to calmly but firmly tell Natalie to come away from the pool NOW! I don't know how I did on calm, but I was definitely firm. Then I ran to Aubrey to get the dog off of her. And in case you're wondering, my neighbors idea of helping was to say "Anna, stop it, stop jumping". yeah, that was not working. So I grab this dog by the throat and pin it to the ground. My neighbor is like "be careful, you're pregnant I don't want her to jump on you". And I'm thinking you'll be lucky if I don't break this dog's neck. I told both the girls to go straight into the house. I didn't see any blood on Aubrey so I'm hoping she's just scared and not hurt. Now here's the real kicker. My neighbor's son (if you've seen the movie "A Christmas Story", think of a 7 yr old Scott Farcus...) is on top of their BBQ laughing this whole time. Apparently he's the one who let the dog out while Aubrey wasn't looking. So the girls are now in my neighbor's house and I have to let the dog up to go in after them. As soon as I let the dog up it runs into the house and jumps up on Aubrey again. I run after the dog, grab it again and tell the girls to go to our house I'll be right there. My neighbor is following me this whole time saying "I can't believe she's doing this, my heart is just pounding, oh my gosh, I can't believe he was laughing about it". And I'm just trying to stay calm and get out of her house as quickly as possible meanwhile I'm having visions of drowning the dog and smashing that kid's face into the mud and yelling "who's laughing now"--very mature, I know. Thankfully Aubrey was okay, just some scratches and mud and thankfully Natalie did not fall into the pool. So we had a SERIOUS talk about going into backyards without Mom around and about NEVER going near pools. I keep having flashes of Natalie at the bottom of the pool and Aubrey covered in dog bites.

My problem is I really do like my neighbor she's fun to visit with and the girls like playing with her youngest daughter. I've tolerated the rotten fruit in my yard that this same son throws, the mangled plants because she lets them play football through my front yard, the incessant "can we get our ball back" because they are constantly throwing balls in my yard and various other annoyances because I want to be a good neighbor and friend. But today I have to say something inside me broke. I really don't know how I am going to look this woman in the face again without yelling at her to get control of her kid! I realize I should have watched the kids closer and gone to investigate sooner when it sounded like they had moved into the backyard and believe you me I WILL NOT make that same mistake again. But to see another person's child maliciously laughing while my child is being hurt just makes me shake with anger!

So here's my question how do you stay friends or at least stay friendly with someone that you like when their child(ren) and/or their discipline absolutely sends you over the bend?

NOW the playroom is done.

According to Jared now that his TV is installed the playroom is officially finished. Here's his latest prized possession.

Of course I'm not in much of a position to tease Jared about his quirky obsessions. JoAnn had a killer sale on flannel this week and I bought um....well...now remember it was a REALLY good sale (25 yards) and I saved a TON of money. It's always good to have around, you never know when you'll use a couple yards of flannel. Seriously, it's not that bad right? But I have made four receiving blankets and a "wubby" for the baby since I brought it home. I have a few more blankets cut out and plenty left over for bibs. Also I had to let the girls pick some for jammies--a girl can never have too many jammies. At this Jared points out that a boy can never have too many TVs. Hmmm... I don't know about that, but I didn't get into trouble with the fabric so I'm gonna let it slide.

Nothing like a good book

So one of th few things I accomplished in the last few weeks is catching up on my reading habit. And I have to admit, some were better than others. By far the best thing I read was Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen. It was a great story, with a fantasy quality similar to Like Water for Chocolate (remember when she cries into the wedding cake batter and it makes all the guests at the wedding cry, that sort of thing). Having a good book to read brought back fond memories of my Chula Vista book club. It is so nice to get book recommendations from people you know and whose tastes you share. Anyone else enjoyed a good book lately?

Playing Catch-up

Well it's been a crazy couple weeks. Turns out that pesky side/back pain was more than just dehydration. I was back at the hospital a week later with the same problem. Turns out I had fluid backing up in my kidney (from a kidney stone) and that was the source of the problem. So once that passed life got much better. Let me just say that drinking a gallon of water each day is not fun. So after all the excitement I've been playing catch up around the house. And both my girls get a BIG pat on the back for being such great helpers to their mommy. A couple of nights Aubrey took care of feeding Natalie for me--what a trooper. And during the day Natalie had started sneaking up with a bottle of water and saying "mommy, I have a surprise for you..." She's seen me drink so much water I think she's under the misguided impression that it's a treat. Thankfully it looks as though I'm back to just normal pregnant woes (i.e. swollen feet that I can't see or reach, an aching back and just enough energy to feed myself...ha ha ha!).

Oh and Jared would like me to add that on Monday we are achieving playroom perfection when he brings home the blessed T.V. he's been waiting for (serious eye roll from me). He's actually skipping work so he can get there when Costco opens to pick it up.