Warning: Single Gal in the Neighborhood

I'm not sure if I told you this story but I was reminded of it this weekend as I was working with a neighbor to tear down our mailbox structure (which happens to be partly on my property). We got the nifty new mailboxes with locks. So now the mail thieves can bite me.

Anyway, I have lived in my house since late 2000. When I first moved in, the neighbors didn't know what to make of me. I was (and still am) the only single in the neighborhood that I know of. And I drove up to my fixer-upper in a Lexus; which, to my defense, was older but very well cared for. I could have never bought it new. Anyhoo.

When I met my next door neighbor, Rod, and asked what his line of work was (contractor....the building kind, not the orange badge kind), he made it quite clear that I was not to ask him to do any home fix-it stuff for me. I imagine that he thought that me being single (and female...generational differences) meant that I was going to come over and ask for help all the time. Little did he know that I could be bleeding in the street and if someone asked if they could help me, I'd say "no,no, I'll be OK. Gotta shake it off." That's me and probably always will me to some extent. I prioritized my projects and some of them always remain undone (though last year was a big year with the new kitchen and garage door....whee!).

Over the years, I've become really close with that family. Sharing holidays, watching each others homes during vacations, sitting around and shooting the shizz in the backyard with some wine. All that stuff. I went on a trip recently. OK, I don't remember which one it was because of the many travels I've had lately. Anyway, I come home from the trip and after a couple days, I notice that my gutters that were sagging and causing a waterfall on my front walkway were fixed. Rod fixed them while I was out of town. Because he knew that I would never ask for help and had declined several times when he offered. What a nice surprise to come home to!

Interesting how things change. "Don't ask me for help" to "I'm gonna fix stuff while you're not looking". (And the reason I thought about it this weekend is because I knew that Rod would end up taking the mailboxes down if we left  the structure there but he's having wrist surgery so I didn't want him to feel like he had to....besides, hammers and crow bars are fun!)