Hit Me With Your Best Shot... And She Did

I'm not sure if I have ever written about my dad's neighbors, but here is the jist of things...

My Dad has owned a house on the same street since I was a year old. Clay Street was a brick, tree lined street where all the neighbors were friendly when I was growing up. I was the only girl on the street, so I was just one of the boys.

As I grew up, Dad moved to Pittsburgh, but still kept the house, renting it out. First to tenants, then to my Gramma. He moved back in permanently with Michael, his partner, about six years ago.

Things were the same as they were when I was growing up. Some of the names had changed, but some were the same. The Rawlins' had lived next door forever and were in declining health, so their grandchildren sent them to a nursing home. When this happened, the olded grandson moved into the house with his brood.

At first, everything seemed fine. They were a little odd, but we can all be that way. As time went on, I noticed odd stuff going on with the house. The ripped the chimney out and left the hole in the roof covered with a blue tarp for a year. In houses this old, it is common for the chimney to also be a support for the floor joists. I can't wait to see the house fall in. Oh well, moving on...

They also ripped out the windows and replaced them with windows that were too small, then stuffed the remaining area with insulation. They did the same thing with the front door.

The grandson, Jon, decided he would build a fireplace on the side of the house. He built this thing really wide, and when he cut the hole in the side of the house for the fireplace, he just ripped out wall studs and never re-inforced the floor. Once he got started on the fireplace, he built up against the side of the house and didn't put any fireproof insulation between the chimney and the siding of the house. In other words, the chimney is right against the siding.

I guess what I am saying is that these people aren't to "with it." Since they moved in, they have set fire to a dumpster in their yard, they poured gas on a fire and have pretty much terrorized the neighborhood. The entire street is terrified and have, on numerous occasions, called the police to complain.

Yesterday was an especially bad day. Lisa, the wife, was in one of her moods and was spouting off vulgarities about the two faggots that lived next door. She was referring to my Dad and Michael. She continued to rant and the neighborhood just ignored her.

My Dad, obviously upset by this, called me to stop by after work. When I got there, she was rambling on about something in the front yard and the F-Bomb was dropped so many times I couldn't count.

I went in the house and talked to dad, who was visibly shaken, he said this had been going on for awhile. We both agreed it would be a good idea to get some kind of evidence of what they were saying.

About the time I was getting everything done, Michael pulled into the driveway. Lisa started her screaming even louder. I was a little concerned about Michael, so I went outside to see what was going on. She was in Mikes face threatening to kill him if he stepped foot on her property or petted her dog. Mike said, I have never touched your dog. She continued with the threatening.

When she saw me walk out of the house, she started with the "look at the fat slut coming out to see what is going on" She was still in Mike's face, so I went up and pushed her - hard.

She stepped backwards, tripped over her own feet and fell. When she got up she was screaming that I threated to kill her and I touched her first - well, yeah I did, I was trying to protect Mike.

Her husband called the police and said there were two females in a fight. She totally went off on me. I have never heard things like that said to a person before. She made hateful remarks about my Dad and Mike. Said I was a fat slut, a whore. She then started in on how Dad calls the police all the time to report them. My reply was that "no, he doesn't, maybe you should be looking at the other neighbors."

While all these words are flying out of her mouth, she is hitting me. Telling me that I have no witnesses to back my side of the story up - at this point there are hald a dozen people watching the entire scene. And she's hitting me, punching the left side of my head as hard as she can - open hand and with a fist.

Then the Police come, I walk away to cool off. Officer Jim comes to ask me my side of the story, then tells me to go in the house. When he gets to the house to speak with me some more, I have ice on the side of my face.

He gets my contact information, asks why I have ice on my face, then proceeds to tell me I am being cited. Yeah, I am pissed. He tells me that I should have walked away - hindsight tells me he is right, but I was protecting Mike.

When he leaves, I slam the door shut and pace. Pacing until I find myself at the back of the house, near the kitchen, punching the wall. I was mad at myself...

After about ten minutes, I go outside to talk with the nice neighbors and they inform me that Lisa has been running around like a lunatic all day. She had a surveyor at her place earlier in the day, the surveyor was on other peoples property, doing his job. When one person questioned the surveyor as to what they where doing, Lisa told her to mind her own fucking business.

With behavior like this, no wonder they all think she is nuts. Anyway, they take her to the hospital to check on her leg - yeah, she's setting me up for a lawsuit. Mike said when she got home, she was complaining loudly in the front yard about how lousy they treated her at the hospital.

I wanted to go get checked out - at this point I have a killer headache, my ears are ringing and I feel like yacking. I decide that I better not go to the same place where she is. They think I could have a slight concussion, but nothing was conclusive on the CT scan.

I can't sleep and I keep hearing her voice in my head. I have been assaulted, both verbally and physically and I don't like the way I feel about myself.

In my opinion, this is someone who is capable of anything - fortunately, she didn't have a gun.

My Dad put his house on the market today. He is afraid for his life, Michaels and the dogs. These people are dangerous and who knows what they will do next.

Do ya Think I'm sexy?

This is for that friend I haven't seen in awhile - thanks for the call. And since I don't have my picture taken that often, I thought I would share.

This is me getting ready to go see the Dixie Chicks.

Sweeping Up

I have been seeing a therapist for a little over a month. Boy, what a change it makes to talk about things to someone that doesn't judge.

For this reason, I had a dream over the weekend that entailed cleaning and getting rid of the clutter. As I woke up Sunday morning, I realized that I needed to clean out my life. I need to make sure I surround myself with people that treat me with love and respect. In return, I will continue to give them the love and respect that they deserve.

Ok, what I am saying is that I am surrounding myself with people who ask nothing of me, and I ask nothing of them - a relationship with no strings attached.

I have spent the majority of my life trying to please people and not expecting anything in return. I am tired of wasting energy trying to please others, when they will never be satisfied with what I am giving. It's like spinning wheels and not getting a mile down the road.

By expecting satifaction from those I am trying to please, I am only making myself miserable with the waiting.

Take for instance, Tim. When Pete died, my friendship with Tim died as well. It was like losing two people, only one was still alive. I still think of him a lot, but it is not healthy. He has abandoned our friendship, left it at the curb and run over it with his SUV. I still hold out that he will call me, even though in my heart I know he won't. Too much time has gone by and too many words have been said, yet I miss him, his conversation, his friendship. This is one of those things I need to get over, put out with the garbage. It is really hard to do though - I have known him longer than Gordon. At one time, he was my sounding board, the one person I considered a mentor in my professional career. I want to think that he would be proud that I got my Masters, that I am pushing forward in my career. It's sad, but I will never really know what he thinks.

Swish, swish, swish, sweeping up :)

I am signing off, the Steeler game starts in a few and I need to grab a slice of pizza and another glass of wine.

Back to the "Real World"

I spent an incredibly relaxing week at the beach and got home this past Saturday.

I started vacation out by leaving work early and getting on the road around 12:30. My cousin, Karen, came with me and we were in Fredericksburg, VA in a mere 6 hours. We met my Mom and chilled out watching the Steeler game - bad ugly loss that is was...

Saturday we made the final leg of the trip and I was all about hitting the water. The weather was great and the ocean was really warm.

I enjoyed the next four days soaking up the sun, reading and swimming. My other cousin, Melanie, was there so it was fun hanging out with her. Karen wanted some alone time, so Mel and I chatted, laughed and carried on without her. It's been along time since she and I have had a chance to spend time together without the spouses and her kids. It was like we were younger again.



I really think she needed a vacation from her life. She works really hard at being a Navy wife and Mom - toughest job in the world in my opinion. Anyhow, by Friday, she was looking relaxed and ready to face the life again with a renewed vigor.

Thursday was interesting. We had been watching tropical storm Ernesto brew out in the Atlantic the whole week and knew it was coming our way - Thursday was the day. The outer bands hit around 4:30 with some serious rain and that continued through the evening. The brunt of the storm (we were in the northeast quadrant) hit around 12:30 and I never thought the wind would end. The wind pelted the rain against the windows immediately over my head in the room where I was sleeping. I dozed for a while, then would wake up when there was a big gust. Around 3:00,the wind changed to the back of the house (same room, different window). I must say, it was a little scary and it's not something that I would want to do again anytime isoon.

When we woke up Friday morning, the wind was still heavy, but the storm had passed. Mel and I went for a walk down the beach to see how the sea turtle nest faired in the storm and it was gone - sad. We spent the rest of the day reading on the deck and scouring the sand for shells.

Saturday brought me home and the farther north I got, the more expensive gas was - damn taxes in PA.

This is the first time in years that I have felt this relaxed after a vacation. I like the idea of leaving all my problems at home, and dealing with them when I have a clear head.

I'll post some pics later.