Back and smiling

So I know only a few people in the neighborhood... more of them keep to themselves or to other circles. And I am starting to be okay with that.

That's because I finally DO have a few neighbors I know. The yard sale was the turning point, actually. It gave us an excuse to chat with people, learn (and re-learn) a few names. I had a really good feeling about the family from almost right across the street, so when Joe and I were gone in San Diego for more than a week, we gave them the key and the older little girls watered our plants. The mom said I didn't have to pay them, but I did. What's the going rate for five sessions of plant-watering, anyway? I got a hug back from one of them, aww.

They were coming over only every few days, though, so even though I asked them to bring in the newspapers, the house started to look a bit unoccupied. Our lawn-mowing neighbor from up the street noticed the papers piling up, stuck them inside our storm door, and mowed our front lawn again!

There are a few other people I know well enough to chat with on the street, but I'm starting to think that what helps the most is having at least a couple good neighbors -- people who will notice you (or your absence) and help out if they can.

Now I just need to finish learning their names. The family almost right across the street has four children, and they ALL have long, unusual names that start with the same letter. One day I'm going to ask their mom for a cheat-sheet.

Nice neighbors make me happy. So does an evening without a huge downpour. I even got the back lawn mowed.

It was a good day for it

Our yard sale take:

$27.61 in cash and change
minus $5.12 spent on posterboard to make signs
plus introductions to several neighbors
encounters with a couple more
and a cookout invitation.

I'm pretty pleased.

We also got rid of a couple boxes worth of things, and the rest are dusted off, boxed up and ready to sell or donate elsewhere. Alas, though, we STILL have our enormous white elephant of a spare microwave. We were offering it free, too!

I think we would have had a lot more traffic if all our signs hadn't gotten taken down sometime between yesterday evening and this morning. Maybe they were illegal?

New folks

After Mass was over, someone announced that it was Friendship Sunday and there would be snacks and a chance to meet people downstairs. So we went and got donuts and juice and agreed on a mission: to meet someone.

I tried complimenting a girl on her hairstyle, but she looked distracted. Everyone was in little bunches. We went and sat next to some people at the edge of the room, and though they were talking, we eventually broke in to trade names. It turns out that one of the women lives right in our neighborhood, so we gave her a ride home, talking about crime and the weather and the way the town is repainting the water tower.

Success!