The Danish Neighbor

An update on the annoying Danish neighbor next door!

A few weeks ago, i got completely fed up with him. I know I've mentioned him here and there on my blog. Some good instances, and some bad. I guess a little backstory is in order:

In July of 2006, Michael moved in with his girlfriend, Yolanda. Yolanda was at least 15 years his senior, but a very sweet Mexican lady with grown children in Texas. She made the most amazing homemade tortillas, beans, rice and any other kind of mexican delight you can think of. And she was always sharing it. Michael went back to Denmark for a couple of weeks in August to get some things worked out with his Visa, and Yolanda was all alone in a strange city with no job, and knowing nobody. The neighborhood really took her in. She instantly became family to alot of us.

Michael's trip of a couple of weeks turned into a couple of months. He returned on Halloween. By the first week of November, things had gotten bad next door, and Yolanda had left. Another neighbor confirmed that he had seen Michael smacking her around on the front porch and dragging her in the house, and she had seen the bruises, too.

Since then i've been pretty leerie of the next door neighbor. He's had a slew of girlfriends, all much older than him (he's about 35), and many with small children. And often, one girl will leave, and the next girl will show up an hour or so later. It's really quite disgusting.

All through the shenanigans of his crazy love life, Michael's biggest hobby/pain for us has been his collection of cars. He buys broken down cars, fixes them up, and ships them to Denmark to resell. He's a mechanical engineer, so he has loads of tools and knowledge to do so. However, having 7-8 cars at a time, he has very little space to put them. So he has been parking them in his yard for the last several months - front and back yard. On top of it all, he changes the oil and dumps the motor oil in the grass and makes MY yard stink for days, not to mention what a sore sight it has become!

Right after Christmas he pulled his truck (one of them) into his driveway, but was parked on the median between our driveways. A median with grass that is my property. He has since rutted the thing so badly that the grass won't be coming back on its own, and we have a nice lawn job on the yard we work SO hard to care for. So i wrote him a letter. I was afraid to confront him, because I really don't trust the guy.

I found out yesterday from another neighbor when discussing it that Michael has rented a garage space to store his cars. As of this morning, there were only TWO cars, and they were in the driveway.

I may sound like an uber bitch, but I feel like i've won a major battle with this guy. At the very least, I won't need to feel so embarrassed to have people over to my house!

GAAHHHH

I really need to get my head back on straight. Seriously. I feel like I need a week break from work to reassess some of my own goals, both personally and professionally. The events of last week (boy it was a bad one, i won't even go into it) really are hitting me hard and I'm just exhausted.

I really can't afford to take more time off of work with all that's going on, but i'm really not motivated to start tackling it all. Alot if it's very exciting, and I have a good opportunity to make some impact with my colleague.

Anyone have any suggestions for renewing of the spirit?

At LOOOOOONG Last!

I got promoted today!

A New Blog

This was in no way a resolution, but just a necessary part of what I want to accomplish this year.

I've started a weight loss blog to help me track my own journey, and a way to solicit some encouragement as well, i guess!

Check in if you're interested, here.

I can't wait to look back a few months from now and read my own journey.

A Happy New Year?

2008 has not been off to a good start in our house. It's really quite frustrating. I won't go into it, but we took this weekend to just relax and slow down. So far, so good.

I took this coming Friday off to invest in myself. I need it. And i'm spending tomorrow preparing for that. Elusive? Yes. But hopefully, there will be good things to share soon!

A PERFECT Day!

Chris and I took the day off today. It was an awesome day. He took me to my favorite breakfast spot, and then my favorite coffee shop to stock up on beans.

After we got cleaned up at home, I went with him to get a haircut, and we bummed around a few shops, my favorite being the best record shop in the world! I used a gift certificate that my parents' gave me to buy some much-needed new music.

We had dinner with our neighbors at a new Korean place that was JUST fabulous. I can't say enough about how delicious it was! I only wish it was a little bit cheaper, so we could justify going there a LOT more.

Afterwards we went driving around to see some very unique Christmas light displays. And back home for a nightcap. All in all, a wonderful day. I hope it's an indication of a VERY good 30th year of my life! It sure has started out right.

A Few Updates

1. I definitely took the cake on the "asshole of the year" award this afternoon at my work holiday party.

2. I'm officially done with my Christmas shopping tonight -with the exception of needing to get a check to my Aunt soon. I'll have it all wrapped and under the tree by tomorrow! Hooray for me!

3. I'm a bad mom. My dog has another ear infection, so I need to go blow $80 or so at the vet tomorrow to get him the meds he needs. And it's my responsibility to keep his ears clean so this doesn't happen.

4. Work has been taking over my life. I actually FORGOT to pay last month's gas an electric bill. It just completely slipped my mind, and I can only chalk it up to my mind being constantly occupied by work.

5. Chris has been sick with a tooth infection and two sinus infections collectively for 6 weeks. If he doesn't call the doctor tomorrow, I might just strangle him!

6. I miss my friends. Online and off. I've been selfish and preoccupied, and I'm sorry. I want my life and my friends back!