neighborhood watch

tonight i hosted a neighborhood party (in honor of "neighborhood watch night out"...to bring awareness to our neighbors and looking out for one another) in my front yard. WAY too ambitious for the amount of time i put in and the chaos that ensued...i sent out a last minute e-mail to neighbors and a few nearby friends and the fact that i have NO photos from this event should be an indicator of how it went...looked great with our little round craft table covered with an indian bright yellow tablecloth and the kids' favorite snacks, red dixie cups for red wine or margaritas, i remembered snacks for the dogs who passed by but forgot to pass them out when dogs did arrive, didn't finish making mint tea or even the lemonade i promised...no freshly picked mint from our garden...a few beach chairs were too low for most of the older people and too impractical for those with families who had to chase little ones on bikes, trikes, push bikes, scooters, etc...that would be the main thing that kept me crazy...sea is so excited to be riding a bike now she wanted to express her freedom by zooming off down hills and out of sight...story followed her on his trike, no helmet...then opposite ways...i did get to chat with a few friends and neighbors and was glad many stopped by...

our next door neighbor, miss barbara came down...sea adores her and invited her twice by going over to her house and inviting her to the party before hand and then again when people arrived to let her know she was missing the party...she was wearing an adorable white blouse with yellow and white daisies all over it and came with a camera to take a photo of sea...she reminds me of hazelle in so many ways...so put together and on top of it all but also somewhat vain and not wanting to be in the photos herself...still flattered she came and tried to capture the moment...sea wrote this note (it reads "auntie barbara it is sea. i want you to come over to my house whenever you are ready to because i want you to see my new cat. thank you auntie barbara goodbye") to her several months back and it was the most memorable "neighbor" photo i could find...

i'm exhausted so i'm off to bed...8th wedding anniversary tomorrow so i'm going to concentrate my efforts there and probably not blog again until late tomorrow night...