Neighbours

M and I moved from MetroWest to Hunter's Creek about a year and a half ago. When we moved into MetroWest we thought it was paradise.... 'gated' community , pool, gym etc etc it was all good.

After the crime rate skyrocketed.... we moved.

A few months later we saw one of our neighbour's on the news. We used to call him 'Jimmy Dime-bag' because, well, you know. Well, I guess you don't.... he totally used to smoke it up under the stairwell and the smell would waft up to the 3rd floor where our apartment was and linger by the front door (as it had nowhere else to go).

He was the most redneck of all rednecks.... gold teeth, white and he wore an orange prison jumpsuit most of the times we saw him. I think he was on the news because he was arrested and proclaimed that the arresting officer was racist because he was white (Jimmy, I mean.) Interesting.

Anyways, moving over here we had different neighbours...

Our first neighbour when we moved into this new apartment complex was a nice young mother and her little boy. They were the best neighbours ever. They moved out when I was about 5 months pregnant.

The neighbours that followed were a little less fun, a quieter, older couple who we didn't see much of. Unfortunately they tended to park illegally, which was OK in the beginning.... but after the 30th time it got annoying (they blocked our front entrance with their car, M complained to management and they moved shortly afterwards).

A young family moved in about 2 months ago, with 2 young kids. These kids (maybe 8 and 10) antagonize our dog a lot. Although it doesn't take that much to set him off. Simply walking passed our front window will do it. Or talking loudly. Or coughing audibly. Or any sudden movement at all will make him bark non-stop until you leave the immediate premise. It makes it really hard to open the windows or even put the blinds up.

So last weekend, as I was unlocking my front door (with V on my hip and a duffel bag over my shoulder.... I was totally overburdened) Chewie lunged out of our front door and straight across the way to the neighbours who were also just getting home. He chased their son around their patio, until the little boy started screaming and crying at the top of his lungs. As it turns out, he is terrified of dogs.

Now our dog is only about 5 pounds, but regardless. Poor little man. His mum carried him into the house shrieking and wailing while I shouted at Chewie, who coward at my feet and was pathetic and submissive until he reached the interior of our house (whereupon he totally spazzed out and barked his face off.... such a turncoat).

I apologized profusely, and my neighbour admitted that her son was terrified of all dogs. I tried to explain that Chewie hates everyone (unless you are meeting him on his turf, ie our apartment, and then its all ok). She wasn't upset at all, but I felt awful... and we haven't seen hide nor hair of those neighbours since.
(Melvin 2, Neighbours 0)

Probably means they are going to move soon too. Probably we should buy a house, which would make it easy to unleash the beast.

Art fest

V slept in today until an almost unheard of time of 7:30. Delicious.
I can handle 7:30, no probs man.... that made this the best Sunday ever.

M was up early, and sort of well rested and we ended up at the Winter Park Art Festival.

I love Winter Park. It's this posh part of Central Florida, north of Orlando that has cobble stone streets, boutiques, endless coffee shops and this air of luxury about it. It just feels rich. It's practically tangible. It even has it's own train station (you can go from NYC to Winter Park, FL if you want....it'll cost ya though...)

I hadn't been before and so was kind of expecting a Sidney Sidewalk Sale plus evening market times Downtown Victoria Sunday market kind of feel.

Not really. Not really at all.

Super tanned wealthy-looking people everywhere. You know those people that look like they just stepped of a yacht? The women so carefully dressed in a casual 'I-just-threw-this-together-at-the-last-moment-seriously' kind of way. The men eying (is that really spelled right? looks so wrong) anything in a skirt/shorts/pants or that moves. Lots of navy blue, crisp white and careful gold accessories.

And the art! Geez! I mean, it was art!

It wasn't anything like this gorgeous piece of work (spotted a few weeks ago in Mt Dora).....

And it was all shockingly expensive. I had said to M as we were walking in "Let's buy something tacky!" and he had cautioned me that it could be kind of pricey but I was confident that we would find something awful. Perhaps painted in oils. And maybe even of a manatee. Awesome.

How disappointed I was to not see anything like that at all, but to see some rather mediocre photos going for "2 for $175!", like it was a bargain or something! No oil paintings of manatees anywhere. How disappointing is that!

Since M is currently standing over me with a full plate of food staring at me with no expression on his face (and I am in the bedroom typing with the lights off) this is a clear indication that I should go and have dinner with him before he loses it even further....
I thought I would leave you with what I was imagining we would find and hang in our livingroom.... Although I would really like to find this. So awesome.