Overhaul

It's funny the things you don't really notice until they start changing. Like neighbors. You don't really notice until you have some. And then once you do, you don't really pay attention until they throw fiestas until 3 am. Every weekend. And once you've called the cops on them enough times that they've stopped, you don't really acknowledge the long stares (glares?) until....hmmm.... or regard the absence of interaction until there is some. And then you wonder, what brought this about? It couldn't be that for the first time in almost 5 years they notice me doing something I haven't done before...like yardwork?
So we're trying to refinance the house. And that takes a loan. From a bank. Who thinks our house is worth it. Doesn't go over too well if the house doesn't look so hot. So I decided it was high time to attack the mess that is our yard and see what could be done. 14 hours, 3 trimmed shrubberies, 10 bags of leaves/sticks/weeds, 6 bags of bark compost, 3 flats of flowers, 2 tanks of gas for the weed whacker, a bucket of bleach, a borrowed hedger, a fixed edger, brooms, rakes, shovels, a pick-ax, and a whole tube of IcyHot later, our yard is looking pretty dang good!
And ya know what? Suddenly my neighbors are waving "hello!"