Oh boy do I feel for you! If I were you, I would stay as far out of her way as possible. Ignore her. Don't respond back to her in any way. Don't make remarks about her mental illness. Don't let her see you get upset. Go about living your normal life and pretend she's not there. When she starts in on you, turn around and walk away. Don't open your door when she knocks. If you have caller I.D., don't answer the phone when she calls. Better yet, get a nonpublished phone number and don't share that number with any of your neighbors. You see, this woman wants and needs to get a response out of you, and she'll continue confronting you as long as you keep responding. But I cannot guarantee that she'll start leaving you alone immediately when you start ignoring her...it will take some time. As long as you're following the condo rules, you have nothing to worry about and you are doing nothing wrong. So if it comes down to calling the police, you can tell them that you have been ignoring the woman, yet she continues to harass you. Therefore, if you completely ignore her, she will not be able to blame you for harassing her, because I'm sure she'd come up with some sort of defense as to why she's acting that way towards you. It's great that you've been keeping a log of the events. If you can catch her on tape destroying your property, you can call the police and even bring her to court. She's obviously harassing you and she has some serious problems. You can make an anonymous complaint to social services stating that this woman is acting irrationally and you are worried about her mental health. Are you able to sell the condo and move if things don't improve after a while? I don't think it's fair people have to move because of lousy neighbors. I want so badly to sell my home and move because of the neighbor next door, but I cannot afford to move now. Well, I wish you peace...

Thinking back on these memories has brought to mind perhaps the funniest prank I was ever involved in. When I was a Sophomore in High School there was a store in my home town called the Fiesta shop that sold all kinds of high end collectibles from around the world. In one corner of the store they had a small area with rare gourmet foodstuffs. One day while browsing through the store we found a can about 5" in diameter and 2" deep that contained a whole canned octopus. Understanding that it was at least 500 miles to the nearest sea shore it then goes without saying that we had never seen an octopus except pictures in a book or on TV. The can was $7.00 and this was at a time when men on top union labor contracts were only making $1.75/hr. At least once a week we went by the store to see if anyone had bought it yet, but it was still there so we got the silly idea to pool our money until we could buy it, just to see what an octopus really looked and felt like. It took us nearly three weeks but we managed to get the money together and we bought the can. There we were walking down main street tossing the can back and forth and trying to figure out how we were going to open the can when my buddy Tom S. got the silly idea, lets go to the Sears store and use one of the can openers on their display rack. Off to Sears where we opened the can, then went out to the alley to pour the liquid out and see what an octopus looks like. We pulled it out of the can and took turns holding it, examining it, then it hit us, what in heavens name do we do with it now? We surely were not going to eat that nasty thing. Suddenly my buddy Norm grabs it and say "Come on guys, I got an idea". Back into Sears we went, this time heading to the appliance department. There it was, right in the middle of the appliance department, a brand new Kenmore wringer washing machine. In those days they used to put water in the demonstrators and drop some poker chips in so the ladies could see the action as the water sloshed around inside. Norm casually walked by and dropped the octopus in the washing machine, then we went and sat on the stairs going up to the second floor and watched the action. About ten minutes later a lady was innocently browsing through the appliance department when she happened to look in that washing machine and saw the octopus swimming around in the water. Instantly she went ballistic, screaming, hollering about monsters and such. The salesmen ran over to see what the problem was and they went nuts too. What the hell is that thing? How do we catch it? Somebody call the cops! The cops arrived and by that time one of the sales clerks had gone to the hardware department and got a pair of huge pliers which he used to grab the octopus, heaving it out on the floor where the cops pounded it with night sticks, then stomped on it until they were sure it was dead. By this time my buddies and I were nearly falling down laughing as we scrammed out the back door of Sears and ran home.

dunmoanin, I am so glad i have read your post. My situation is not what you have discribed but i see some similarities. I had a blow out with my husband last week. I understand that men from divorce are stuck between two families...but last week just took the straw for me. I'm lucky , very lucky in one sense because my sd does nto live with us. She comes EOW. BUT she manipulates and tries to hog alot of time from her father when it suites her. IE she is very jealous of her own brother when he spends time with his dad when they both come over. My dh puts her in her place but this jealousy has been there since i'm met her when she was 5 years old. She definitely was jealous when i came into her dads life and he again put her in her place. So in none sense , dad doesn't put his daughter all the time on a pedestal BUT he does favor her above both his sons...which i find disgusting. He does share way too much info...i mean, all daily activity with her on the phone when she phones. She use to phone all the time...but thankfully that has stopped because she is older, in her teens and fights with her dad because he now has opened his eyes. But what happened last week really stabbed me. I have been testing her by telling her about plans ahead of time...and she sabotages them. I only told my dh 2 days ago. I blew up...God help...i've never been so angry in my life and some of the things i said were so vile towards him and his daugther but i just erupted. i basically said that he should marry his daughter and go......i wont say it further...but you get the gist..... i told him she says jump andhe says how high...that he backstabbed me as a wife and friend. He knew we had plans but the dear daugther phones and he promised to take her to lunch and watch her game and dumps all the plans out the door for the entire family for her! Well i told him off , told him my feelings..and also told him to keep his plans wih his daugther and that i would make other arrangments. i slept separatly for 2 nights We spoke, mended...and low and behold she phones again..says someting to him that shocked him and he defended me..and told her to stay at home ... I'm drained....i'm unhappy...not at my husband...but at the events that unfolded. The stupid games...andi todl him last night that i'm starting to hate her, resent her and not care....its building. I wnat to let it go..but i do not trust her and she plays games.....Been taught by her mother , she's influenced by her mother....so there is nothing i can do about it....but i do notsee it gettign any better when she is older. I just see more games...i just pray that my husband keeps his eyes open. He does buckle from time to time. He said he wanted to give a diamond necklace for her sweet 16....keep in mind he doesn't havea penny to his name! He wont give jewellery to me but he wants to do it for his daughter!!!!????? I'm not jealous. Honestly i'm not. BUt i just do not think its normal for a man to share every detail moment of his life with his daugther....he's also pulled back from doing that now as well. But how long will this happen? After reading your story, i just cannot believe you stayed that long and took so much disrespect. I had one incident last week and i made sure he knew exactly how i felt adn i told him he goes down that path, i will be out the door...no lie there! I encourage him to see his kids and be with them....but not to leave me hanging because of sd manipulations. To make him choose between me and her..or now...her and my son. I hate it. I hate the games. Its disgusting me this week and i'm sooooooo upset about this. I really have no interest in seeing her next time. I need a break

This is a fun thread! Two perspectives to share: When I moved to FL from NY I kept all of my mixed woods, metals, colorful furniture and rugs. Definitely did not want the tropical white/rattan furniture mentioned above. One of my kids recently purchased a house and her millenial choices have been a deep indigo sofa, teal chairs, a MCM dining table and media cabinet (house is MCM), colorful dining chairs, and will keep the original, beautiful hardwood floors even though two GC’s have come in wanting to stain them gray. She adopted one of my vintage Karastan area rugs which perfectly highlight the colors in her sofa and chairs. She has a long way to go in decorating but definitely is not going for gray and beige. She has a bar area that needs an update and she jokingly said she could reface it in shiplap...NOT! We have seen almost all gray or cream furniture in the stores so colorful prints are usually offered as an upgrade. I think her home will definitely feel like her own, not cookie cutter. Editing to add: the home is not open concept so I guess it’s easier to add color, although cohesiveness is still a goal. And, we are lucky to live near an awesome MCM vintage furniture store. The prices are comparable to what one would find in the reproduction stores but the furniture is solid wood (teak, rosewood, etc.), and pieces like dining chairs have new upholstery if appropriate. It’s always fun to see what’s new in store!