National Night Out...Who are the People in YOUR neighborhood?

                                                                                                    (photo courtesy of star94fm.com)


Last week, I hung 49 door hangers inviting people in the Lost Creek subdivision to attend my open house.

I actually printed 50, but ended up with very smelly dog feces on the last one.
Just so you know, don't try to take your dogs with you when walking door to door, tying fancy curling ribbon invitations to each and every door knob.....in semi-high heels.

Talk about ruff!

Thinking I was smart, I brought an extra plastic bag along, just in case they decided to poo poo in one of the yards.

Not only did they want to poop in one of the yards, but being in new territory, they wanted to poop in all of the yards!
They wanted to sniff every driveway, pee on every bush and lick the dried up, flattened frog carcass in the street.
Then of course, there is the general dog world meet and greet which usually entails.....butt sniffing.

Needless to say, I ran out of plastic bags and had to use my last pretty invitation with a catchy, "Who are the people in YOUR neighborhood?" greeting at the bottom.

I love, love, meeting new people and although it poured and poured during the open house last Saturday, a few of the neighbors did stop by.

So, I stuck my nose in their lives a bit and we chatted about the area, retirement, life in the military, the artisan platter at Sandstone Cellars Winery, cake, dinner parties and how much we love shopping at HEB.

Continuing the "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself" theme week, tonight is National Night Out in Texas.
I'm making four loaves of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread to take down to the apartment lobby to share with the rest of my fellow temporary apartment dwellers.

Many of us are in, ummm?, transition, but I'm hoping they will embrace the meet and greet, minus any actual butt sniffing and join me in a fun game of, "Who are the people in your neighborhood?"

I'm pretty into that kind of thing.

I love the idea of getting together and making new friends and sharing our lives. So many times I think we restrict ourselves by just hanging out with people who are just like us.

We tend to group together with people who believe the same things and look and act the same.
Quite honestly, I find that super boring.
Why not mix it up a bit and get outside of our comfort zones? Maybe meeting new people who are different than ourselves?

I want to know who lives near me and what their needs are.
I want to lift up Chris, the Vietnam Vet who lives downstairs with his 24 year old son who doesn't seem to do much but chill on the balcony and smoke from his hookah all day long.
I get that.
The stress of living with an adult child, I mean...I'm not even sure what a hookah is.
I think that's what it is. Again, I'm really not sure.

Honestly, I love all of my new neighbors, and was totally unaware of the verse that says, "If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse."

What the heck? Really?
Yikes. I better quit yelling, "Have a great day!" to everyone from my balcony.

I enjoy knowing Andy and Sherry and talking about the roller coaster of real estate, even though they work for Keller Williams and I am a RE/MAX girl all the way!

Or Bob and Sharon who made us the most delicious chocolate rasberry cupcakes last week and are building a new home.

Then there's Camilla, right below me bless her heart, who has to hear the thumping of 70's music and my earthquake like footsteps, gliding across the floor when I wake up at 3 am 'cause I can't sleep.
She was sweet enough to bring her beautiful grand daughter to my book signing.

Ricky and his big slobbery dog, Roberto who tool around on his unicycle kind of thing all day...I'm not sure why....he has a stinking gorgeous sports car, but he chooses to spend most of his time rolling around on the pavement.

There are the twins and their young mom and dad who occasionally get a little loud, 'cause that's what young families do, and also the "perfect family" one floor below who home school their kids and are always taking one wonderful outing or another together. They always come back smiling and happy.

I'm really only familiar with outings that result in slamming doors and name calling, but, it's nice to see a family functioning.

These are just a few of us, cohabiting and doing this thing called life together in very close quarters. Sometimes it's difficult or challenging, or monotonous or joyous.
But we are all just people, sharing in a journey.

"You have heard it said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matt 4:44

I take that to mean that even if the guy next door chopped off part of your pecan tree because it was hanging into his yard and you haven't spoken to him in years because of it....take him a pie.

Or the people across the street are collecting junk cars in the driveway that make your blood boil every time you go to the mailbox....take him a pie.

Many times, the answer to peace is.....pie.

My hope is that tonight, all over Texas, despite our differences, people will meet and greet those living around them in a loving and neighborly way....truly embracing the concept of "loving our neighbors as ourselves."

We are great lovers of 'self' are we not? :)

Oh, wait...I just thought of this....
While you're out there loving on everyone, it's especially important to remember...
DO NOT covet your neighbor's wife.

That's a pretty big no, no.