I'm Telling Mom!

I bet you're thinking this has something to do with sibling rivalry, aren't you? Nope. You're wrong. Ever get the feeling you know someone is lying in wait for you? Waiting to pounce... After arriving home from a hair appointment last Saturday, I barely stepped out of my car when my neighbor (Who's name is Donna, btw) came out her backdoor.

While standing there with her arms crossed in front of her chest with an aggessive tone of voice, she *told* me several things. She complained about the grass left on the driveway last week. I pointed out the fact that whenever she mowed, she left grass on the concrete where I parked and pulled into the garage. She boldly denied doing it!

She also informed me that she talked to the landlady about the lawnmowing situation. Know what immediately popped into my head? "I'm telling Mom!" Apparently, Donna complained to the landlady about how I "never" mowed the yard. Then she went on with, "Vicki said..." (Vicki is the landlady) I stood there thinking to myself, "Mom said..." Anyway, "Vicki said... We should take turns every other week mowing the entire yard." I responded to Donna by telling her that I didn't have a problem with that, which I don't and never have. It was at this point I shared with Donna how I had made plans to pay my niece to mow the entire yard during the summer... until she (as in Donna) started playing the lawnmowing games. Yes, I said exactly that! Her response? "Well, you didn't tell me that." Straight-faced (even though I was laughing inside), I told her it really wasn't her business arrangements I had made regarding the lawn. Was she going to pay half? I can guarantee the answer would be NO.

I reminded Donna that it was she who segregated the yard duties with her lawnmowing actions and I just followed suit by mowing the sections she didn't as my own. I thought about calling her out on her passive-aggressive actions, but I didn't.

I brought up the labeling of the flowers. She complained that *someone* picked all the "beautiful roses" off it... Which is another bold-faced lie because when the sign was put on there, the bush was full of blooms. When I replied I didn't pick them, she responded, "Well I didn't either!" LOL, I didn't recall accusing her, but hey whatever. She then had the audacity to blame a neighborhood girl. How many teenage girls do you know who carry around scissors or pruning shears in order to get roses?

Since she got her jabs in, I thought it was only fair that I asked when she planned out doing something with the 5ft tall weeds up against her side of the building. Know what she said? "I work all week." I looked her straight in the face and said, "I work all week, too. And I go to school at night." That shut her up for oh about 10 seconds before she spouted off with: "I've been trying to keep up with it. If you don't like it, you can pull them." Such audacity! First of all, if they are 5 feet tall, there is NO WAY she's been keeping up with anything. Secondly, there is no way I am going to clean her side of the building. Sorry, not with her attitude problem.

Don't you find it ironic (I did) for someone to stand in front of me and tell me she's open to communication... all the while her body language (arms crossed) and verbal tone (aggressiveness) told me the exact opposite?

At one point I even called her aggressive tone into question. LOL! I could tell by the look on her face she didn't like it. She again questioned me about taking turns mowing the yard. I simply responded, "I think we already resolved that." She promptly went into her apartment and closed the door. So much for open communication!

If you're not familiar with the background on this situation, it all started HERE. Then we moved on to HERE. And HERE.