Help me....Need your advice desperately

Dear Moonlightpath,

Glad you are taking the initaitve to be assertive. Believe me not everyone in this world is good, some are very selfish and care only for themselves. Your neighbor seems to be one of these people. You cannot control her behavior, but your actions are under your control! People can only take advantage of you as much as you allow them to! So be bold and stop letting her take advantage of you. If you have to be rude, so be it. It will save you a lot of headache in the long run.

Let me tell you a little story about me. A daughter of a family friend moved to my city. I had not seen her for about 20 years and due to the family relations, I helped her settle in, taking her shopping etc. She then proceeded to "chipko" herself on me and my husband EVERY WEEKEND! If she was at my house, she would ask me to make nice dishes for her and her husband, and if she invited us over, fed us leftovers! When she was at my house, she wanted my husband's best scotch and told me she had nothing but water when I visited her house! She even went as far as inviting people to my party that I did not even know without letting me know she was inviting them!

Her husband lost his job, so his brother was supporting them financially, and she would just call me to bitch about how her BIL expected her to cook and how mean he was etc etc. then she would start criticizing her husband and her in-laws, all of whom I considered to be very nice people.

I was TTC at that time and all her negativity was having a bad effect on me as she would call me EVERYDAY to complain about her family. She even went as far as trying to get an apartment in the same building as I was so that she could do the complaining in person! When I heard this plan I put my foot down and stopped attending to her phones and emails. She pestered me for a month, called my husband and cried that I was "abandoning" her etc etc etc. She bad-mouthed me to common friends. But I did not give in. I just ignored her. She finally got out of my life ... but only because I refused to be taken advantage of !

2 years later I ran into her at a store and she ignored me completely thank god!

Cheers,

Pooja