Love thy neighbor

We are so fortunate to live near people who are intelligent, witty and thoughtful - much like ourselves, of course.

As I write, Jerry and Bunyan, (Jerry is our very dry humored neighbor across the street who is also Bunyan's BFF and Bunyan is our neighbor to our right who has been living in the states with his wife, Chantan, since the late 70's when they fled Cambodia) are building a shared fence between us and Bunyan & Chantan. (Jerry is a contractor - giving a good deal since they mostly just stand there and drink beers while smoking cigars) We've been talking about doing this for a few years now and finally have come together. Anywho - I went out to say hello and confirm our dinner plans for tonight with Bunyan & Chantan (sushi and sake at Koji's - mmmmm) and we all got talking about politics. This is always a favorite topic for Bunyan. he is a die hard republican & church goer - very much the opposite from us which makes debates that much more interesting among the drinks and thick accent. They both think the democratic representation is atrocious and Jerry threw in his two cents about Hillary. Apparently, he met the professor at Lewis & Clark whose signature Hillary forged on a letter of recommendation (his reasoning for calling her bad names) and thinks he's uber cool. I asked him for his autograph. He walked away. I told them to come get me when they start the next round of beers. :)

I also spent a few minutes talking with our neighbor to the back who is watching the fence go up since we have also decided to halvsies on a fence with them. This neighbor is pretty strange. He's super nice and his wife is normal, but he's just a little off. Poor guy - lol. I walked over as he was talking pictures of my dog. yes. he was taking pics of MY dog. strange. Then, he proceeded to show me ALL OF THE PICTURES on his camera (all of his yard - weird) while pointing out that I have three different kinds of grass growing in my yard (he knows everything about grass) and told me all about his plans to asphalt his driveway. I think he's lonely... I had to use the excuse of the children to slip away. I felt kinda bad since he really is nice, but at the same time, he's a little creepy.

there really is no point to all of this aside from hopes to inspire someone to meet their neighbors, spend some time talking to them and being neighborly, invite them over or out for dinner, build a fence - something. It's nice to be surrounded by friends.

riddle me this

what do you do when...

after spending 2 hours at OMSI and decide it's time to head home, your devil child - I mean, DARLING child, chooses to lay on the floor and refuse to leave just as a school field trip is forging through the museum... at which point, you, being a loving parent, think it would cruel to allow your child to be trampled by other well-behaved children and try to coax her outside by having a rational discussion about why we need to leave. At which point, she, the sweet little thing she is, begins crawling and rolling around on the floor - in the midst of the crowd.

PAUSE

OH! don't let me forget to mention that you are carrying your lunch in a paper bag because between trying to keep her food on the table or in her mouth while nursing her infant sister during lunch with your friends, you didn't get the chance to eat. And you are carrying the baby in a wrap on your front.

RESUME RIDDLE

Now... in order to get outside and to the car and to protect this lovely little girl from being trampled you decide to get tough and GET 'ER DONE. In horror, you grab the sweet princess by the arm as she dead weights herself and DRAG her flailing, screaming body outside. I say "body" because it seems an exorcism may be necessary. Now, just as you get outside, your lunch bag rips and food is now all over the ground. Your soda explodes. And the cutest little girl ever is laying on the ground screaming. Your face is turns bright red,n you start sweating and you wonder "WHAT THE _____ DO I DO NOW?!". (insert expletive)

So... riddle me this folks - what do you do?!

You thank your lucky stars that your friend forgot her coat upstairs and exits the building just as you are standing there looking absolutely mortified and wondering how the hell you are supposed to now make it another 2 city blocks to the car and is able to help you get to your car even though she has TWIN two year olds.

Or, you learn from your mistakes and realize that Murphy's Law will come into effect 99.9% of the time when young children are involved and you bring a freaking STROLLER. Isn't that a bright idea.

I'm a f'ing genius.