The inflatable gargoyle

Last weekend I went with the honey to Lowe's. As we were walking around I saw this.

I fell in love. The head moved from side to side. The thing was huge and it was cheap. I told the honey I wanted it and he just laughed. But I knew if I worked on him long enough he would end up getting it for me the next weekend. I am kind of spoiled that way LMAO!!!
So after we went home I started working. Ok I kept talking about how much I loved it. How cute it would look in our yard. How small of a space it would take up since it is inflatable. After three days of talk talk talk he said he would think about it which in our house means FINE just Shut up and we will get it next weekend.
(By the way this works both ways. He tends to get what he wants too)
The neighbor showed up on Thursday. She likes to bring over her son who is two. I guess for adult interaction lol. As we sat in my living room I told her (ok I gushed) about how excited I was about getting the gargoyle. I went into great detail about it's glowing eyes and moving head. I told her how cheap it was and how I couldn't believe that because normally things cost a whole hell of a lot more then that. And I told her I couldn't wait to go back to Lowe's to get it this weekend.
I must have sounded a bit like a crazy person but look at it!!
Friday night a group of neighbors ended up outside chatting. It was me, my next door neighbor, the neighbor with her son and husband and the across the street neighbor. We were talking about the house the across the street neighbors just purchased and how she was going to move but her husband was going to stay until he retired. The other neighbors husband picks up their son and says "We better get going if we are going to get that gargoyle you want from Lowe's"
My mouth dropped. I had one of those moments where you swear there was no way you were hearing what was actually being said.
She says to her husband, "well we have to go to babyland too. We need to get the riding toy."
He says "Well we can't get both. Do you want the riding toy or that gargoyle you have been talking about"
She says " The gargoyle"
And off they go to get ready to leave.
Now this woman had no idea about this gargoyle before I gushed about it. She never told me she was going to get one. She knew I was going on Sunday to buy it for myself. But here it was Friday and she is getting ready to go get it for herself.
She knew how much I wanted it. She should know it will look stupid with two giant gargoyles two houses apart.
Her husband would think I was some kind of copy cat if I put one up.
UGH!!!!!!!!
I have to admit to feeling incredibly irritated and somewhat weirded out.
Why would she do something like that?
Or
Am I just being overly sensitive? I mean she can buy what ever she wants right?

I still don't know if she has it or not. In fact I am not even sure I want to ask her. It really bothers me. The honey said it was rude of her but I am not sure if he was just petting me on the head to make me feel better or what.
So Sunday passed without me getting my gargoyle. I have to admit to being a tad bit sad about that.

Operation flowers

I went to Home Depot today and found four one gallon pots of flowers. Two of these.

One yellow and one purple.
And two of these.

A red one and a pink one.
I cleared out the dead things under the neighbors window and planted them. It was freaking HOT outside.
It looks much much much better but I think it needs one more flower.
The best part? It only cost me twelve bucks. Twelve bucks for bigger bushes that won't die over the winter.
The lantana (first flowers posted) will spread across the ground like a carpet. While the geraniums (second flower) will grow up and into a nice bush. It should look really good in a few months.
He had a few snapdragons that had past reached their prime so I cut them back so they would grow next year. I pulled out some crab grass in the bed and I think it looks nice.
I may or may not go get that last flower I think it needs tomorrow. I am not sure. I will look again with fresh eyes when I go water the lawn.
Speaking of that. I took over a frog sprinkler we had and don't use since we installed a sprinkler system. I have seen Howard out there watering his lawn by hand for years. And let me tell you after one time of watering it by hand myself that sprinkler is going to live there lol.
I think he comes back on Thursday. I really really hope he doesn't think I overstepped my bounds by planting them. But it looks better. Honestly.

The economy via my neighborhood

You know those nights you can't sleep and your mind goes I have a perfect blog then you fall asleep again, wake up and can't remember a damn thing you wanted to post? Well I woke up and remembered.

So welcome to a snapshot of my neighborhood. 10 houses all connected. Well not connected but next to each other lol.

I live in Silicon Valley. My county has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. My city is huge. My neighborhood is like a thousand other neighborhoods. So I figured mine was a perfect example of how the economy is affecting us all.

House #1 (my side of the street)
A thirty/forty something couple moved in about 3 years ago. They just had a baby about a year and a half ago. She worked for a family business and he worked for a company going on around 6 or 7 years.
Fast forward to now. Her family business had to let her go. They couldn't stay afloat with the family as employees. She is now making jewelry and hoping that she makes enough to supplement their income.
He lost his job but was lucky enough to find another one with their competitors.
In talking the other day they are supplementing their one person income with credit cards and are afraid of the balance that just keeps going up.

House #2
My aunt lives here. She was doing just fine until my uncle passed away and she lost her job at almost the exact same time I did last year. She actually got a new job the same time I got that last job. However, after working there for a bit they took her off salary and placed her on to only commission. She is pretty sure she is not going to be able to keep renting the house. She just wants to be able to afford it until July. My uncles one year death anniversary. Then she expects to have to leave the house she has rented for almost 20 years.

House #3 My house
Right now we are a one income house. As you all know I have been out of work since July. With that one three week period of having a job they never should have hired me for. I consider us lucky right now since we are ok. We are eating out a LOT less and not buying things we don't need but we are not in danger of losing everything.
But then again I am still getting unemployment. I worry like hell what will happen when I don't.

House #4
These are the crazy neighbors. The ones who seem to do the opposite of what normal people do. They yell, cuss and act like asses. They sue every company they worked for and get money every time. I have no idea how in the hell they get away with that. They also have had crazy money troubles since I moved here 20 years ago. You know the kind where you only have $9.56 in the back and a check that is about to bounce. (I have so freaking lived that and live in mortal fear of living it again.)
They seem to be thriving right now. His sister passed away and left them a whole hell of a lot of money. The wife I believe sued her company and came away with a lot of money. They are in the process of remodelling their whole house. There are workers there 7 days a week.

House #5
The elderly lady who lived here passed away alone in the house. Her children put the house up for sale for a song and a contractor purchased it. They have gutted the entire thing and are in the process of rebuilding it with plans to flip it for a profit.

House #6
This house belonged to a family I have watched grow up for the last 20 years. I watched the little red headed boy grow from a young kid to a horrible teen to a pretty damn good adult. The family dynamic changed a bit in the house with new children being born. I have the feeling that there were actually two families in the house.
Well... not anymore. As of the first of last month their house was foreclosed on. This family who has lived here more then 20 years moved out over the last weekend. I have no idea where they went. It was incredibly sad to watch.

House #7
This house was rented by a older couple. Well not that old sheesh they are probably in their early 50's.
He lost his job around 8 months ago and hasn't found work leaving them a one income family.
This last two months their daughter and her two children and her husband moved in with them due to job and home loss. I am hoping they make it with more people in the house.

House #8
Here we have a man whose wife just passed away this year. He is left with three teenage children who want to go to college within the next few years. That has to be one hell of a scary thing for him to be the sole bread winner after all this time. Lucky for him (at least I cross my fingers that it is lucky) his wife's family own the house.

House #9
This family has lived here as long as I have too. The children (3) grew up and left the nest.. well the girls left but the boy stayed. Within the last three months the girls have returned to the nest due to job loss and the inability to afford rent on no income. They have a packed house again.

House #10
The man who lives here actually sent away for a Russian mail order bride. She came and they married and now have two children. I didn't realize that there still was mail order brides. He worked for the family business and she was a stay at home mom. A problem happened within the last 9 months that his family business went out of business leaving him without a job. I have no idea yet if he has found another one. That is four people living in a house with no income except unemployment if he was even able to get it.

So there you go. A snapshot of our economy via my neighborhood. Doesn't look great does it?

Last night

Last night I heard a fire truck pull up in front of my house. I walked outside to see them heading into my neighbors house. Within minutes a second and third fire truck pulled up. Then two police cars.
From the fire truck cb thing I hear their address and that a 58 year old woman was not breathing.
The neighbors started coming out of their houses.
An ambulance arrived and the paramedics rushed inside too.
They stayed in there for almost 45 minutes. All the neighbors banded together worrying. Waiting.
The firemen came out first. They huddled around the truck putting things away. Then the ambulance people came out with a stretcher. We all breathed a sigh of relief. If they were bringing her out on the stretcher she had to be fine right?
Wrong.
She wasn't on the stretcher. It was just filled with equipment.
My neighbor, a woman with three teenage children still in the house, had passed away.
Shock went through us all. The poor family. The poor husband.
All the fire trucks and the ambulance left leaving only the police to wait for the coroner. An hour passed and still no one came to get her body. Her body that was laying on the living room floor.
A police woman came over and asked if I could get a phone number to a mortuary for her. They called the mortuary to come pick her up since the coroner didn't seem to be doing it.

This morning I watched the family get into the car with a "suit of clothes". My heart broke into pieces for them.

That makes the third person on this block to die within the last three months including my uncle.

My emotions are all over the place. It was like being shoved back into the time of my uncles death. I couldn't sleep.

I need to go to the store and get some food to make for them today. I need to show them how very sorry I am for their loss.

This just really sucks.