The Welcome Door.....

I am fanatical about welcome signs on the front door. When we moved in back in 1999, our next door neighbor changed her welcome sign with seasons and the holidays. I, too, had a variety of signs so it became a friendly competition of who would change their sign first when a new season or new holiday approached.

 I would leave for work thinking "I'm going to change my sign when I come home tonight." Only to return home 8 hours later and find Pat had beat me to it. Other times, she would be contemplating getting a different sign up only to walk outside and see I had changed mine. It was fun to see which one of us would get to it first. But we never cheated or jumped the gun by rushing a holiday or season. She moved about 5 years ago and we've had three different renters as neighbors since then.

Lady #1, hung a welcome sign and I thought "Yay! Somebody new to race with." But, alas, it was generic and she never changed it so the thrill was gone.

Family #2 had a small child and the dad worked out of town a lot. I must say, I got very attached to the young neighbors and when they moved to Wisconsin, my heart broke. We still stay in touch. She, too, loved her door signs. When I saw her hang her first one that was a seasonal one, I thought. Oh, yes. This is it. It's on. But, again, there was no competition. She told me she never knew when to change her sign so she just waited until she saw I had changed mine before she changed hers. I did not want this to be a Follow the Leader game. I'm competitive in a fun way and was missing the challenge.

Lo and behold, when they left Family #3 moved in. Day 1, she hangs out an Easter sign. I'm thinking "This is good." After Easter, I was busy and running behind on putting up my Easter stuff. I came home one day to find that The Mom had taken down her Easter and put up Spring. Woo hoo! Could it be? Can we get a competition going? Do I have someone who is with me on this? Come June, I put my beach one up and a few hours later, out came her sailboats. Alright! This is looking good. Fast forward to the end of June...the fourth of July is approaching...I'm getting my decor ready to change...she's outside getting ready for a yard sale...I walk over to say "hi"...she drops a bomb shell "We are moving." Well, there goes my competition.

So here it is the 3rd of August. The new tenant is due to move in any day. But I am going to kiss my competition goodbye. Alas, it is a HE. He is single and he is in law enforcement. For some reason, to me, I don't think he'll move in thinking "Let me get my welcome sign hung."

Oh, Pat, my dear sweet friend....WHY did you have to move!