National Night Out

A big thanks to Jenny and Ellen for organizing Nokomis Ave's 3rd Annual National Night Out. (There was a third lady who helped but I can't remember her name and I didn't meet her - thanks though!!)

The first time they organized the National Night Out was in August of 2007. We've been invited each year but have never made it. This year I told Joe we were going no matter what. So at 5:30ish we wandered down our block, nervous (because we didn't know anyone) and met our neighbors.

There was a steady stream of people stopping by to introduce themselves and say hi. They made us feel very welcome and we never realized how many kids are on our block! We stayed for a little longer and then decided to walk to the block behind our house. We have two backyard neighbors and Cool Mary had invited us to attend their National Night Out as well.

The minute we set foot on their street Mary was yelling to us how glad she was we showed up. We met Bea (whose driveway the party was in) as well as another backyard neighbor (Tom) and a few more people on their street. Mary took Joe and I around to every single person and personally introduced us. It was quite cute.

Joe ended up telling Bea (who has lived in the neighborhood for 47 years) he was a cook and that he wanted a recipe for her dessert thingys. Well, she came out with a plate full of them and gave them to Joe and announced that "He's a cook and we wants my recipe." It was adorable.

After being in our house for two years, it was nice to hang with both "sets" of neighbors. It was a great getting to know people and the neighborhood definitely feels more "neighborly." Heck, we've already been to a party that Bea throws every year (we were told to mark the calendar for 9/26).

I'm gald we went and I can't wait until next year.