Bad Boys

On the fiber front, I am plying the first of the rose for my sweater. Yeah, I couldn't wait and want to complete the Ravelry group August challenge of 4 oz. I have decided that September 21st, the official last day of summer, will be the last day to finish my summer knitting goals. I had planned on using Labor Day but if I wait another three weeks I should be able to complete a couple more. I'm afraid if were to say "okay, I didn't get them done this summer", they would never get done.

On the mood front, it has not been so good. I'm in that space where I hate the city. It happens a couple times a year and I start fantasizing about living in a small town where people are nice and we could have space. Except I know that there are crappy people everywhere, and I would miss all the "culture". I've also been feeling pretty isolated. I just don't have anyone who has known me forever that I can call and tell stuff without having to explain. And the one person who I could still doesn't want to have anything to do with me. I do have friends, but I just can't call people up and go out after work and talk anymore, or go catch a movie on a Sunday afternoon. Everything has to be so planned out.

I have a general issue with being a stay-at-home mother, who's trying to help with a small business. It's really not how I envisioned it, at least not yet. I've always worked, ever since high school, being home all day is weird. I thought I would play with my kid, go to zoo, pay bills, and cook dinner. Instead I can't keep up with anything, and going out has to be planned around a two-hour nap at 11:30 (three hours if you include the hour it takes to get him to sleep). I'm constantly cleaning, but the place is never clean. I did housework before, but when two people are working they aren't here all day creating more dirty dishes and messes, so it is really just weekly maintenance. I wish I had a dishwasher and that the laundry room wasn't two flights down, through a locked door, and then another. At least I don't have to go to the laundromat.

On top of it all I still get crappy sleep which doesn't help with the moods, and neither does lack of exercise. My mother comes over several afternoons but those couple hours get eaten up so quickly with bills, cleaning, errands. I did manage to go out and do my errands on my bike twice this week, I hope I can keep that up.

Now back to the title of this post. There was a little, not revenge, but validation, perhaps, today. We have a neighbor in our building who moved in over three years ago. It all started badly with people ringing our clearly labeled doorbell at 3:00 am and then making a ton of noise the day they were moving in, and went downhill from there, a drum kit came in the next day. He took over common spaces that were supposed to be unused, wrote petty notes, stuff like that, we had to have the landlord intervene once. Just an arrogant kid pretending to be a big man. I never liked him and would avoid going to common areas when he was around. I thought something was funky with the family, but my husband said I just don't like people, which is true to some extent, I think people should do their best not to bug other people.

Well, about six weeks ago he left, turns out he was a big bully. My husband was shocked, I was not, my intuition was right (yes, that was acknowledged by Mr. TVP). It has been much nicer here, a bad vibe is gone, I don't have someone giving me dirty looks one day, then saying "hi" the next. The remaining people still blast their stereo from time to time, but at least not at 6:30 in the am, and obviously we aren't quiet with a two-year-old.

Tonight he was supposed to get some of his stuff, escorted by the police. He isn't allowed on the property due to a restraining order. Of course, arrogant jerk that he is, he decides he will go in the garage before the police come. His friends brought a pick-up truck. Two squad cars come and neighbor boy and his friends end up sitting on the curb. In the end one friend drove off with a few bags of stuff (thanks for making us move our truck two blocks away so you could load up). The other friend drove off in neighbor's car. Neighbor boy went away in a squad car. I just can't help smiling and singing the theme from COPS "Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do?" Because it totally is a scene from COPS which features people being stupid. All he had to do was wait for his police escort. Typical aggressive male b.s.

I actually feel bad for the family. Divorce is really hard and there is a child involved. I hope she didn't see her dad in the police car. There's a lot more to the story, but I don't want to air all their dirty laundry. That said I feel a little vindicated. My husband is always saying I am too sensitive, but this guy is an arrogant jerk with a lot of issues and now it is proven.

I know the world can't all be sweetness and light, but is it so wrong to expect people to be civil? That's all I really want. Maybe I should move to the Island of Sodor.