the island city......my city

Ive only lived in 3 places my entire life. A month before I was born, my parents bought and moved into the house they still currently live in today. This is the house and neighborhood I would grow up in and make so many childhood memories. When it was time for me to decide what I was going to do for college 18 years later, I chose a close-by university. I couldnt imagine leaving my boyfriend family for 4 years. I convinced my parents to buy a duplex as an investment property only 10 minutes from their house so I didnt have to live at home. I lived there for 6 years, all through college until I got married. Then when it was time to buy a house before we officially tied the knot, of course I looked in the neighborhood I had called home for the first 18 years of my life. So what if the house we ended up buying was only 2 blocks away from my parents? I thought, wouldnt this be great, my kids are going to be able to grow up in the same neighborhood as I did as a child.

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Technically, the city is completely surrounded by water, making it a small island city (only 2 square miles). We also just to happen to be ranked 3rd in the U.S. for its percentage of gay residents. It actually wasnt this high while I was a child, but all I can say is that the neighborhood may not have as many children now-a-days, but it has gotten alot cleaner and nicer to live in. Some people refuse to live in the neighborhood because of this, but our mentality was "What happens behind closed doors with your significant other, is none of our business." Plus, I feel extremely comfortable in this neighborhood.

All of my friends parents as well as my own, have always been very involved with the city council. And since my father is a cop, we are also close to alot of the local police officers. Needless to say, during my high school days, it was hard to skip school and not be caught by one of the thousands of eyes my parents had on me and my friends.

Now when we moved into the house we bought as a married couple, I figured although I didnt live on this exact street as a child, I did already know most of my neighbors. Heck, the guy who actually owned my house previously who was getting foreclosed on, just so happened to be my brother-in-laws ex-boss. They are still pretty close to this day. Oh yeah, and did I mentioned, they actually still live in the house right next to us. Turns out they owned our house as a rental property.

Now this is where the real story comes in. You would think that since they used to own the house, and since they still talk to my sister and brother-in-law, that they would come introduce themselves to us when we moved it. Yeah. Negative.On.That.One. Not even a hello, or a friendly wave. Wait, I forgot another detail. The couch in my living room also used to belong to them. It was in their office, but when they closed it down they asked my sister if she knew anyone who needed a couch. FREE. So I took them up on the offer. However, we never really met them, because my BIL took us to get the couch at the office while they werent there.

So, its now been about 9 months since we moved in. The only communication we have really had with them was when my BIL's ex-boss' significant other called the cops on my husband and father for cutting down their trees. Trees that just so happened to be hanging onto my property. And if youre wondering if we cut the entire tree down, the answer is no. We basically just trimmed everything that was hanging onto our property. But they decided to call the cops for some reason. The cop informed them that it was our legal right to cut anything on our property and if they didnt want us cutting it then they should keep their trees trimmed. (dam skippy!)

Anyways, since then, no communication. Now its not like were unfriendly. We talk to the neighbors on the other side of our house. And the guy that lives across the street who also manages the apartment complex, has come over multiple times and just talked with us on our back patio. And to make matters worse, when my sister has been over and we've been in the back with our dogs, ex-boss neighbor has even said "Is that Denise I hear?" My sister replies, "yes it is!" Neighbor "Hi sweetheart! How are you?" doesnt even acknowledge me.  Full on conversation between the two of them through a fence and a densely overgrown backyard.

Now, Im really not the rude type. But come on people? You hear two people talking. You recognize my sisters voice. And you still refuse to introduce yourself to me? And now Im kinda pissed. Technically, even though I lived here for 18 years, Im still the new kid on the block, and you used to own my house, and you know my family, dont you think it would be the polite thing to do to introduce yourself to me?

Flash forward to yesterday afternoon.

Knock.Knock.

I answer the door. Man in button down shirt and slack greets me, "Hi, Im Jim next door." Me "Oh hi, how are you?" Jim "I was just wondering if you had seen or heard anything by my house today because I just got home and it seems like our house has been broken into?" me "Oh my god, Im so sorry. No, Ive been home all day and havent seen anything." By now I have stepped out of my house and we are walking toward his front yard. He shows me his front window that is smashed and tells me that there are footprints on his carpet. He proceeds to tell me that hes not sure if anything has been taken because he hasnt really searched the house yet. I start to think about today and if anything was unusual. If you dont know, I work from home, so there is usually some time during the day that I walk outside even if it is just to let the dogs out. I let him know that there was a point sometime during the day that Ruger (our bigger dog) was barking. I remember hearing a deep voice, almost sounding like someone was cussing. I thought I was our other neighbors because he has a pretty deep voice. I walked out front to check and saw nothing, so I walked out to the street and looked both ways. About a block and a half away I saw a black man walking toward to back part of our neighborhood with a backpack on. Now, Ill mention that this isnt really something out of the ordinary on our street. We happen to live right on a "cut-through" street to get to another neighborhood. So we get alot of people, of all diversities, walking through the neighborhood. So I just walked back into the house and went on with my work day.

Jim thanks me and I let him know if he needs anything to please not hesitate to knock on my door. About an hour later a cop knocks on my door and asked me to give a brief description and takes down my information in case they need to get a hold of me.

So now, not only am I freaked out that I was home all day and some stranger was breaking into my neighbors house and I didnt even notice. But Im again a little upset. This neighbor finally decides his house getting broken into is warrant enough to finally introduce himself to me? Only when he finally "needs something" from me does he say hello?

Im trying not to let that bother me. And my hubs and father keep reassuring me that its highly unlikely that someone is going to try to break into my house when there is a car in the driveway, they can hear and/or see our monster dog, and we do not have anywhere for said criminal to hide while breaking in (*ahem, aforementioned neighbor really has an issue with overgrown trees, including a 9ft bush that covers the entire length of their front yard).

So even though I have jumped at every tiny noise today to look out the window, and have made sure every window and door is locked, I have to remember that I have 2 Ruger's that protect my house. A gun. And a dog.

Hes my protector during the day, while hubby is at work. I wouldnt dare try to do step into my house uninvited while hes around. And thats a promise!