She is the new, single neighbor and you have been divorced for a year and are contemplating re-entering the dating scene and thought you might start by dating your neighbor. Believe it or not this may not be as easy as it sounds. Difficulties and challenges may arise that would not in any other relationship. Of course, there are obvious perks to the situation, too.
Being so close to the object of your affection makes it easy to see them. No driving means you get to save money on gas and wear and tear on your car. All you have to do is hop the fence when you want to see them. Convenient, huh? This could backfire though so be very careful you do not turn this dating into stalking or into peeping. Both could get you arrested.
Then again, if you have an argument things might get a little uncomfortable for the two of you having to see each other constantly over that fence. It would be best to concentrate on those things that you two may have in common before finding things to argue about. Save the arguments for somewhere down the road. No sense in ruining a good thing before it even gets off the ground.
In another scenario, if you have been neighbors for some time then you may have some of the same friends and been at some of the same parties. Maybe that is where the thought originated that maybe you wouldn't mind dating your neighbor. If you do know each other then your first date together should be fairly stress free and should sail along smoothly. Or, maybe the two of you will be so nervous you will feel like teenagers again on a first date.
You two are neighbors, you are bound to see what goes on from time to time and privacy may be at a minimum unless great strides are taken to create that privacy. Not only will the two of you get a pretty good idea of what the other is doing but your other neighbors are bound to see the two of you spending time together and although your neighbors may not be as nosy as the ones on Wisteria Lane they will no doubt want to hear the details of the budding romance at some point. Explain things only when you are ready, let them all speculate about what is really going on all they want to.
Then there is the possible break up if things do not work out. Living next door to one another could be upsetting and extremely uncomfortable. Her is where the jilted one needs to be careful and not become the stalker we talked about earlier.
In the beginning, while the two of you are still living apart, you may want to set some ground rules to follow. You could start by saying that even though you live so close that one should be polite and call the other before coming over. Respect each other's space, do not think that just because you are dating your neighbor that you can come and go as you please unless that is what you agree to.
