a new hope

some of you may be thinking wow! heather hasn't posted in a week! well, i think i was becoming a blogoholic so i had to taper it down a bit. i guess there are people out there who think that over-blogging is tasteless and leads to nothing but shallow thoughts. perhaps this is true. perhaps those people are just another type of judgemental hypocrite. who knows? anyways, on to the topic at hand. today we met potentially cool neighbors. this is groundbreaking news, people. johnny and i live in a great neighborhood but the only people we've met so far are really old and crabby or just plain rude and stuck-up. all too often its both. so perhaps this was just some good karma returning to us for laboriously cleaning out our trailerpark-like carport but whatever it is this little spark of hope.....this teeny tiny glimmer of hope.....has led me to a mini-quandary. johnny and i left the back fence gate wide open while we were putting john's crap in the shed and totally forgot about it. later, when we came inside the house, i let the dogs out to pee and johnny and i relaxed on the couch and watched some mythbusters. about halfway through the show, i get a phone call on my cell which johnny answers. all i heard him say is WHAT?!? which immediately gave me a heart attack and i jumped up thinking someone had died (men don't seem to realize doing that causes hysteria in women). it turns out our neighbors about 3 houses up the street had called the number on syrus's tags and told us they had our dogs. instantly i remembered the gate was left open and johnny and i began to freak out. i ran outside calling their names and louie came running out of nowhere. we all got in the car and drove (we didn't know they were only 3 houses down) up the street. we knocked on their door and a young couple answered, holding their own brindle mix (pit mix, possibly). syrus and bibi immediately came out to us and we thanked our neighbors profusely for holding our dogs. we were very very grateful. the guy then intorduced himself to us as victor, and his (wife?) introduced herself as sonya. sonya was asian. victor white. they looked like a prettier version of me and johnny. i was so happy to meet them and about the dogs, i just wanted to hug them and become best friends immediately. they seemed like a happy laid back couple. i think we would get along with them great provided they aren't crazy christians. in any case, i began thinking of ways we can show our gratitude as soon as we left their house. this is the problem. what should i do? a simple thank you note will simply not suffice. who gives a shit about notes these days, i mean really? i want to give them something truly heartfelt and something they would like without thinking i was some kind of stalker. so i am thinking about giving them a jar of homemade fig jam that my dad makes. is that too much? too corny? i also thought about making a little basket for them with cheese and crackers but then that seemed over the top. i'm such a nerd - i meet people i like and i'm like love-struck. i should just go over there with a sign around my neck that says "please be my friend?" and give them a puppy dog face. all i want is ONE. one neighbor to be friends with. one neighbor that i hang out with like i did in savannah. have i grown out of that? have i gotten weird or something? how come we don't have any friends in our neighborhood? i hate the fact that i live next to an ornary 90 year old woman who sounds like glen burns and has nothing better to do than spy on people and then on my other side i have MY FREAKING PARENTS! tragedy. well, at least we have a good excuse to move, right? in the meantime i would really really like to make friends with victor and sonya.
i also have to mention another big breakthrough happened today - louie finally learned to swim. it was hilarious and sad at the same time. we took the dogs to lake erin (right by our house) and found a quiet secluded spot to let our dogs play off leash. bibi goes straight in the water and louie will wade in but never go in past his shoulders. this time however, i brought louie's kryptonite - the chuckit. he didn't even think twice - as soon as i threw the ball in the lake, louie plunged in the deep end. he had no choice but to swim - that retard! well, he learned instantly to kick his hind legs and paddle with his front. johnny and i watched with curious fascination as louie practically drowned in front of us. he was scrambling to keep his head above water - kicking and paddling furiously like he was trying to run up out of the water. his head bobbed dangerously low several times as he splashed around like a elephant. i seriously thought one of us was going to have to jump in the lake and save louie but he miraculously made it to shore - a new dog. after that, he was a swimmin' machine. by the 5th or 6th throw, he actually outswam bibi and got the ball. bibi was less than thrilled. i was so proud of louie. i watched him grow today. then we met a very interesting little boy who apparated somehow right behind us. he was wearing a white tshirt that had a lifeguard emblem on it and wore glasses that made his blue eyes look bigger. he threw the ball a few times for the dogs and told us that he liked dogs. then he asked what kind of dogs they were. I always hesitate to answer this cause we get different reactions and i didn't want to scare the boy - but something about him made me think he was a smart kid. i told him that two of them were pit bulls and one is a pointer mix. immediately he asked "pit bulls are the dogs michael vick fought?" i was amazed this little boy knew about that - he seemed like he was all of 5 years old. i said yes - vick is not a very nice person and he fought pit bulls like these. it didn't phase him, he continued to play while his mother nervously hovered several yards back with her dog. she obviously wanted to move on but let her kid talk to us. i asked him his name and his age, he replied (very politely) that his name is brian and he is 9. i thought he looked younger than that and realized this kid is a runt. he's small, thin, wears glasses, had braces, the whole nerd look completely. but he was so damn cute! like the little boy in jerry mcguire but not nearly as contrived. i told him he was a smart boy and he agreed. so cute! i hope he doesn't get tortured his whole life by bullies but he looked like a schoolyard bully's perfect target. i shall send extra good karma his way everytime i remember that kid.
all in all, it was a very nice day. we finally went garage sale shopping and bought some antique dresser and armoire, sewing machine, and some prints. tomorrow i will be throwing clay and johnny will be refinishing furniture.