Technically speaking....

Some of you might have wondered what's up with the neighbors. So here's a brief update.

The daughter and her 3 youngest did move out. She left her oldest son in a psych hospital and the next oldest son with her brother. She moved to Chicago with the new BF but was seen a couple months ago, back in the area and had visited her son in the hospital. I knew it wouldn't last long living with the new BF's Mother. There has been legal maneuvering and she cannot sign her son out of the psych ward. Best thing for those two boys was her leaving, without her, they have a chance. I pity the 3 she still has custody of.

I recently found out that she left her mother with $30k of hidden debt, it continues to grow as more is found out. All has been very quiet next door with them gone. It's peaceful. I haven't posted a video of me dancing a jig because, technically - Grandma's still there. Although she has stated that she'd never let her daughter and grandchildren move back in, you cannot believe a word out of any of their mouths. The only guarantee will be when Grandma leaves.

Grandma's plan is to fix up the place and try to sell it and move into a retirement home. My guess is, she'll move in with her son. It's only been since the skanky daughter left that a different son has been by to visit. A son I never knew she had, a son who didn't want to subject himself to his psycho sister. If Grandma can't sell the place then she'll let the bank take it. She has cleaned it up considerably inside and out. There's still a long way to go, but I'm not going to complain.

I still plan to dance a jig when she's gone and there will be video involved!

Dancin in the Streets

Things have been fairly quiet with my neighbors, fairly. They rearranged the vehicles in the driveway (Two that are undrivable & one belonging to the brother that doesn't live there). They parked the LOUD Camaro about 12 inches from my house, right under my living room windows.. Kirk (14 year old) likes to start it up and rev the piss out of it while blasting the stereo. Nice.

When I arrived home last night there was a sheriff parked out in front. I noticed some kind of paperwork stuck in the door of their house. Obviously they didn't answer when he knocked.

Dare I hope that he was serving an eviction notice? There is another home in the park that has eviction notices from the court posted on it that is up for sale now. If you get evicted by the court, the sheriff serves you and sets a day & time to move you out. Once that happens you cannot live in the home any longer and you have 120 days to try and sell your home.

Is it really possible that one nightmare could be coming to an end?

I'll dance a jig in the middle of the street the day they go. Maybe even get together with the neighbors and throw a block party.

Not Dead Yet

I heard a rumor Saturday. My son was talking to a neighbor while shoveling our driveway again. This neighbor said he heard that the bad neighbors had to be out by March 10th. No idea what the reason was, but they will usually only evict for non-payment of rent. It's tough to evict someone just because they are inconsiderate pigs. They did evict another family because they were always in trouble with the police.

I'll believe it when I see it though. If it does happen, I will dance a jig on the roof of my house.

I worked from home last week (school vacation). All I can say is, I'm happy to be back at work. I ended up working about 10 hours a day - always checking E-mail. I felt like I couldn't sit down and relax or I'd be slacking off.

Son has a girlfriend. She's cute and seems very nice. They've been seeing each other a couple weeks now. I have suddenly turned into a taxi service. I'll post more about this later. I'm not sure my kid is mature enough for a girlfriend.

I've got some other stuff going on too, but that deserves a post of it's own.

I'd better get busy.

Progress

Julietta is settling in quite nicely. Her appetite has picked up. The cats have settled down and just glare at the beast that had invaded their home. Julietta still tries to be friendly, getting closer each time before being hissed at. She actually got close enough to touch Tabitha, who reared up on her hind legs and batted at her nose. Julietta thought this was a cue to play and immediately dropped into a play stance with butt high in the air, ears up and front legs down. Tabitha gave a Screw you! I am not playing! hiss, and that was the end of that.

Wednesday, I left to pick my son up from the bus stop. I was gone for 15 minutes. I left her loose in the house. Upon our return all we could hear was a mournful wailing and crying emanating from the house. She doesn't like being separated from her people. Going to work Friday would be tough.

Bedtime is going much smoother now. Her first night she cried for 45 minutes in her crate. I had to reverse position on my bed and left my hand hanging through the crate bars. Now, she will lay in my bedroom doorway, waiting for me to go to bed.

We left the house at 6:15 AM Friday. Julietta was in her crate. I was already feeling pangs of guilt for leaving her. I had planned on leaving work early, only doing a partial day, but I got hung up in a two and a half hour meeting with my boss. I didn't get home until 1:45.

I heard meek winces from my bedroom when I entered the house. I immediately went to her and was very surprised by what I had found. The king sized sheet and bedspread that I had left on top of the crate had been pulled in through the bars and torn to shreds. Ouch. She was supremely pissed at being left alone. Guilt overflowed. I can only imagine what she went through. She must have cried and wailed and thought we had abandoned her. The bedding was soaked with saliva and sweat (greyhounds do sweat). She was pleased to see me and I did my best to reassure her. We immediately went for a walk, for the first time she was pulling on her lease to get to her toilet. She peed and pooped and felt relieved enough to finally dance a jig of joy and express how happy she was that I was home. Poor thing must have been so uncomfortable. We started back home and she peed & pooped again!

For the next hour I couldn't turn around without her being right behind me. If she could have climbed into my back pocket, she would have. We both went to pick up her boy from the bus stop. She collapsed on her living room bed once we were home. I think she was emotionally exhausted. We both spent a lot of time brushing and scratching her last night. I was almost ready to start calling her Thumper for all the spots we hit that caused her legs to start going involuntarily. She reluctantly went into her crate for bed.

My plan is to leave her for short periods today and longer periods tomorrow. Greyhounds can develop separation anxiety and I want her to know that we will always be back and will not abandon her.

The love that has developed so quickly in my heart for this gentle soul has filled a void as only a dog can. When her intelligent brown eyes look into mine, all the annoyances of the day melt away. To watch her toss her stuffed mouse high in the air and play like a puppy is a hoot. She actually rolled on her back and was kicking her long legs high in the air. Surprising behavior from a 5 year old dog. This was one of the best decisions I've ever made.