Gneighbor Gnomes

It took me over 8 months to meet all of my neighbors. At one point, they had to attack me when I pulled in to my garage just so they could introduce themselves. It's not that I'm hiding from them, I just didn't take the intiative to knock on each one of their doors and bring over a batch of cookies when I first moved in (I don't think giving them food poisoning would have been the proper way to introduce myself anyways). I've already lived in my townhouse for a year and a half, and I've only talked to my neighbors a handful of times... mainly because I don't think I can really relate to any of them. My townhouse cluster neighbors include:

- Young married couple w/ one kid and another on the way
- 28ish personal trainer (who looks like the Hulk) w/ live-in girlfriend
- Mother and daughter duo who work in the healthcare industry
- Married professional couple in their mid 30's (the wife is named Bonnie too!)
- 28ish lawyer w/ live-in girlfriend who is a Houston Texans cheerleader (he incidentally went to UT with the personal trainer fellow)

All of them bought their townhouses at the same time. I'm the only newcomer, since the guy who built and owned my townhouse for a year (who they absolutely adored because he kept his place immaculate, let them use his fancy appliances, and gave them interior decorating advice) got laid off and had to sell his place.

Now that I've moved in, the place looks horrible. My yard is a weed farm that rivals any good abandoned lot. The grass is dead in most parts... and Tobey has left fragrant presents on the other parts. I actually have a tree sapling growing from some random seed that fell in my flower bed because I never bothered to pull it out. I think you get the picture. Bonnie's place = the townhouse that brings down everyone else's property values.

I suspect that my neighbors hate me. They definitely have a right to. However, once in a while, one of them will bring in my trashcan from the curb before I get home. Also, I had some bushes that lined a corner of my yard - they died (probably due to the fact that I never watered them), and one of my neighbors just pulled them out for me. I have no idea who has been helping me out, but it's definitely nice.

The only thing I'm wondering is if they are doing this because they feel sorry for lil ol' me who lives by herself... or because they are sick of looking at my trashcan on the curb and my dead bushes. I just want to know if I should run in the opposite direction the next time I see one of them.