All's fair in Love and Homeowners' Associations.

HOA's. ugh.

Being a new homeowner opens the door to so many lessons learned. Here's the short of it:
We bought a place.
We bought a dog.
We bought a battle.

"Did you know there are no pets allowed? No dogs, no cats, no fish." Says the emphysema stricken voice across the street.

No FISH??? Really.

Our neighborhood is old. Scratch that. Our neighbors are old.  Some of them are wonderful, some of them are just old. I think no smoking should be enforced before no fish, but that's just me (the naive new home owner who wasn't given the "updated documents" that states no dogs, no cats, no fish). 

So this was a catastrophe in our neighborhood, a place where battles are fought over where to get blacktop for the driveways, and what color to paint the fences. We were practically committing treason here. Our options given to us by the king: get rid of our French bully, sell our place, or tar and feathering.

Okay, I made that last one up. But really, that's what it felt like. We had committed a crime that truly divided the seas. Secret alliances were formed. Lawsuits were in the works. And rumors were spreading like wild fire about our viscous "80lb" canine:

I know. Scary right? And besides the fact he is the friendliest pup on earth, you have to admit, he looks phenom for 80lbs, right?

I was beginning to wonder who the real "bully" was in all of this. We were not made aware of the laws, and we were certainly not getting rid of our 20 pound pup. So what happened?

War was declared. A meeting had been set with all of the congregation. We were put on the chopping block, talked down to, (because we don't know anything being new home owners right?), and expected to bow down to the king.

I was astonished by the unfairness that was circulating around us. So what did I do? Without giving the trivial details, I embarrassed the king. Other pheasants abruptly began to speak up, and suddenly, it was guerrilla warfare. Our bully had opened a can of worms (which I'm sure are not allowed either). Turns out, they were waiting to overthrow the king. They just needed a voice to get there. Our bully had given rise to a world of complaints and without knowing, helped us win the war, (and no one had to be tar and feathered).

We gained a lot out of going through this experience. We found neighbors that define kindness, power that was misused, and a very important lesson:

At any age, don't be a bully.

......or a cat, or a fish.