New Neighbor Alert. Two houses down. Whoa. I feel like I’m living near today’s answer to the Clampett’s. People out front smoking, motorcycles parked on the sidewalk, monster trucks taking up all of the parking up and down our street. And did I mention that when they moved in, it was 10:00 AT NIGHT. Ugh. When did people become so self-involved that they forgot there are other people who live here? I just can’t stand people who do what is best for them at that moment and don’t think about the domino effect. Like the people who don’t use their directionals to signal they are turning or changing lanes. Or the person in front of me at Starbuck’s yesterday who literally took THREE MINUTES to place her order (I timed it!) and then when she got to the window, gave it back because her water was not hot enough. And then pulled up to the trash can and took up just enough space so that I couldn’t get to the window. Or the neighbor who every weekend blasts his car stereo while he does God-knows-what in his garage while I’m trying to play in my backyard with my daughter. Or the guy at the ATM drive-thru who gets his cash and then balances his checkbook. And the woman at the grocery market who has an entire grocery cart of food in front of me in the Express Lane, where I am waiting behind her with a gallon of milk, a toddler and an infant (and then looks at me like it’s MY FAULT I didn’t get there before her). I know that to each his own… and I know people have a right to live their lives and all that, but I just wish that once in a while people would look around them and see that yes, indeed, there are other people on this earth!

Dog is dog. He has impeccable manners. He makes me smile. Look how joyous life is for him.