Thank goodness for neighbors!!!

What did Mary said about plans? And I think Christina had something to say about them recently, too... Well, now it's my turn!

Travelling for work/leave, the plan was carefully laid out. The hubs was supposed to leave this morning for a week-long deployment, and I was to return tonight from my week-long boondoggle, um, I mean, TAD/leave trip. At the last minute, one of our fabulous neighbors volunteered to take the hubs's deployment to make up for one he'd missed earlier in the season (while he was busy being a hero), so the hubs was slated to be home when I got there, ready to pick me up from the airport.

Notice I said "was." So, what actually happened? The hubs got sent out for a "down-the-chain" medevac, leaving a day before my scheduled return. The car got dropped off at the airport, so we're good there, but what about the dog!? That's where the neighbors come in... specifically, Christina's husband!

Without missing a beat, he agreed to keep an eye out for the dog, letting him out, feeding him, and giving him a little attention until my return. While this is nice all in and of itself, there are two critical elements he did not count on, and which qualify him for the "Neighbor of the Week" Award. The first is sort of minor - due to a lovely November blizzard, my Wednesday night return has now been delayed to Thursday morning, if all goes well. For a minute there, while I was sitting on the plane, on the ramp, I thought I might get home tonight afterall, but then we were promptly de-planing, and rescheduling flights. So that is hiccup #1. Hiccup #2 is definitely where the award comes in. That poor guy got stuck looking after not just a dog, but a SICK dog. It started while the hubs was home, so it wasn't a surprise, but I'm sure the neighbor didn't really expect his dog-watching duties to include cleaning dog vomit up off my kitchen floor.

So, to my wonderful neighbor(s) - thank you for being the wonderful neighbors you are! Although I shared only one very specific reason why neighbors are awesome, the list could go on for a lot longer. This is the first place we've lived where we've really gotten to know our neighbors, and I can't imagine life without them - especially in a place like Kodiak. When you move 5000 miles away from everything you've ever known, it makes things so much easier to know you can rely on your neighbors to be your support, your help, your entertainment (the hubs and I have been labeled the "dinner and a show" house due to our good-natured sniping while prepping dinner), your FRIENDS.

The only bad part? We'll all move on one day, and we'll all have to start over again somewhere else. I can tell you this, though - my current neighbors' future neighbors are some lucky people! (Oh, and my former neighbors' current neighbors are also pretty lucky, too, Mary!)

So, if you can't plan, have good neighbors!!!