Of Crudites, the Bright Side, and 9-1-1

As I sit down to type this, I am in a great mood... the sun was out today, we had a terrific dinner with my parents and my lil' sis and her family, and the girls are downstairs watching Elmo ("Melmo," as Callie says). But when I think about what I want to type, I realize that I've got some downers to report:

*Ben got booted from the spelling bee in the second round with the word "crude." I could not believe it. He just got ahead of himself and then after three and a half hours of waiting for his round, it was over in 15 minutes. :( He was so mad at himself. It was one of those critical parenting moments where I knew how I reacted could make the difference between a future of self-confidence or a one-way ticket to years of therapy... I just held him and told him it was okay to cry, that he did great, that everyone makes mistakes. Then John took him to the sports bar and grill for lunch and a game of pool, and by nighttime, he was all better. There's always next year, right?

*Only two people came to my class. :( My sis, Mindy, came, and it was her first time scrapbooking! She had a blast, and I just may have managed to convert her. We'll see. And I met an adorable woman from Argentina who was so fun. So even though the turnout was low, we had a great time. How's that for lookin' on the bright side?

*We had to call the police today. We live on a very safe, child-infested street in a calm town. We were out for an afternoon walk when we passed a couple by a parked car. The girl was clearly intoxicated or wasted -- she could not stand, her eyes were barely open, and the guy she was with was trying to hold her up. We know most of the people on our street, but don't know this family at all. John was firm that we needed to do something, as the girl was in bad shape. We finally decided that I would go back on my bike and get the house number. As I was riding past the house, another guy came out and ran down the street, waving his arms in the air wildly and kind of dancing all over, yelling to himself. He looked like one of those "manumanum" guys from Sesame Street. OOOookay. I zipped back home, gave John the update, and he called the fuzz. Told them the scoop, then we all headed out on our bikes. Just as we were turning the corner, the two guys plus another jumped in a car and went careening down the street, music blaring, windows down, shouting weird things out the windows. It was really kind of scary.

I'm no prude, but I do fear for the safety of the kids in the neighborhood -- as well as the safety of these kids! I am so glad that John insisted on doing something, even if it doesn't amount to anything. We don't want to get the kids in trouble -- we just want some responsible adults to be aware of what's happening in their house.

What would you do? What should we have done? I wonder if we should have rung the doorbell, but we truly didn't know what we might find -- we didn't want to do anything risky... but I still feel a little bad about calling the police. I think, though, that I would have felt worse if we'd done nothing.

Best news of the day? John took my car to fill it with gas and get it washed. WahooOOO! Now THAT is romantic. If you've ever read "The Five Love Languages," I'm plainly an acts-of-service kinda gal. If you haven't read it, READ IT! It will change the way you look at relationships and how you display love.

Happy weekend!

Comments

[tonya]

Hey, I just checked out your FO for 2006! You've already got quite a little stash of them! Good for you! LOVE the socks (no, I still haven't done one, and honestly probably won't.) But I did try the one long circ thing a couple years ago and thought it was perfectly ingenious. Would have to practice to get the hang of it again... (and find my super long circs.)
ANYWHO...also got Maggies "Knitting in Plain English" AND her "Crocheting in plain English" based on your mention a few weeks ago. Now seeing the finished baby sweater I'm glad I did! Looks great! I just finished this: http://www.etsy.com/view_item.php?listing_id=56209.
Filled it with beans instead of fiberfill and made it of much larger Lamb's Pride Bulky. Came out cute. Of course, I didn't take a pic before I gave it away, you'll have to trust me!
hugs, t

[tonya]

OK, that link didn't work, try this one: go to roxycraft.com and click on the "Slow Poke" turtles.

[cheryl]

Ok - I would have called the police too.

Poor Ben - I am STILL traumatized over my 2nd grade spelling bee - it came down to me and one other person and I spelled POISON wrong. GRRRR...it still ticks me off. LOL. Sounds like you handled it perfectly.

Oh - and you've been tagged dahling. Check my blog!

[Karla]

You were right to call the police! I live in a small town and most people look out for one another. I was walking home from the library with my children one day and noticed my neighbors' front door was open as I walked by. No vehicles in sight, and while the glass door was closed, the main wood door inside was open. I sent the girls on home (right next door) and knocked on my neighbor's door. There was no answer, and while I almost thought to go inside to make sure noone was laying on the floor hurt or passed out, I thought twice about it this time since I was home alone with the children. Then my second thought was it might be a robbery, and I certainly didn't want to walk in on it! So I went home, got my cordless phone, walked back outside so I could see my neighbor's front door, and called the police. They were there in literally a minute! It turned out to be nothing, and later was decided that the hubby just walked out of the house to drive to the store or wherever and forgot to shut the door! This was not normal for him to do. My neighbor's were very appreciative of me calling the police to be sure, though.

We all have to look out for one another. Like you said, not only for the children playing in the neighborhood but also for the young ones you were calling the police on. If noone stops suspicious activity in the beginning, in no time it will grow and fester into a bigger, much harder to solve, problem.

I'm so sorry to hear about your son's spelling bee situation. I think you and his dad handled it just right, though. :)