When I was living in Ohio (from the time I was 9 until I was 17) we had neighborhood block parties. We'd partition off the streets, set up games for us kids and everyone would bring food. We all felt like we knew each other pretty well and could count on each other. There's the time my little sister broke her leg while my parents were in London and the neighbor (a nurse) came over and splinted her leg with a dish towel and some bbq tongs and then was whisked off to the hospital. Or the neighbor across the street that had a puppy and they'd have playdates with our dog on the front yard. They also hired me for my first job- feeding their exotic fish while they were on vacation. A whole $20 for a week of dropping fish food in the tank! Or the regular babysitting jobs from homes I could walk to. Neighborhoods are a great resource and it seems today that the neighborhood closeness I grew up with is waning. Until now...
Since we've moved to Seattle we've felt so blessed that we have such wonderful, kind neighbors. They keep their yards and houses neat, they look out for each other and since we've had this terrible road issue (I'll save it for another post) we have all worked together really well to get it resolved. Our neighbors have also put up with a lot from us: toilets on the front yard, bathtubs too. Dumpsters, trash piles, lots of hammering, etc.
To thank them and also to just hang out and get to know each other better Jon and I hosted a neighborhood gathering at our house last night. There are only 6 houses on our street so it wasn't a huge undertaking, plus we like a crowd. I made a huge pot of chili, tons of corn muffins, yummy toppings for the chili and pumpkin cake with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Most of it I made the day before so it was a very relaxing set up. Neighbors told stories of the sweet old lady that lived in our house before and said she would be happy that there was a young family living in it. All in all it was a wonderful evening and I highly recommend YOU plan your own neighborhood party!
PS I'm getting threatened by those I lived by in Baltimore. That was utopia and will never be repeated. I have to mentally block it out because I miss it so much and will pine away for it if I dwell on it too much. I love you Em and Darice!!!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Neighborhood Shindig
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9 comments:
Ok, I'm going to speak for Emily too, but I"m really offended by this post. So I guess all the time we spent together in the cul-de-sac didn't mean that much to you. Thanks a lot!
PS-I'm sure Muffy and Trixie would be offended as well :-)
What a great idea! You have such a great little street, too! I would say my equivalent to your Baltimore was living in our first house in CT. Ohio was fun, though, the way we had those parties and looked out for each other. I agree with you that neighborhoods are getting more impersonal. I barely know the names of my neighbors right around us...but then we are always working, and are never around to get to know them. Life is different now than the way it was when more people were home during the day. XOXO
What a great neighborly thing to do! I wish you were my neighbor:)
you're blocking it out because i never kept my yard looking neat and pretty. i know it! don't worry- i have a great neighbor here that comes over and pulls my weeds and trims my bushes for me. terrible i know.
i do agree that things are different these days... our neighborhood actually did have a big block party, but we missed it. good for you!
Sounds like fun. We including ourselves only have three on our street, so we don't really do it yet, but we hope to someday.
I had my next door neighbors over for dinner on Saturday.
Cher, this is jami anderton (brett's jami, not ryan's!),
I often read your blog as i surf through extended family happenings but i'm awful and never comment! I thought i would this time because i wanted to say thanks for the great idea you (and your family) gave me.
I read back on your blog about simplifying for Christmas and this year (and hopefully years to come) we are going to adopt your "Want, Need, Wear, Read" theme! We are changing up one little item "read." I'm not a leisure reader and brett isn't at this time because all he reads is dental school books...instead of "read" brett had the idea of "seed" to get a type of gift we can use for the little "seed" i have growing in my tummy! :) Anyway, this is a really long comment, but i wanted to say thanks for the great idea! I'll be better at commenting in the future!
--Jami--
thank you for the little post on my blog about homeschooling. That makes me really happy that there are so many cool things going on in seattle.
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