Something's fishy....

Blaine grew up on a cul-de-sac full of friendly people with lots of children. One of the first times I went to the cul-de-sac was when my friends older brother was dropping everyone off there, I heard him refer to the cul-de-sac as the "Celestial Circle". Like a little secret place where life was simple and people were good and no one had to be afraid. It was a reprieve just a quarter mile away from my own house, where there were drive by shootings and homeboys running amok.

Sometimes I regret the house we bought. Especially since house prices have tumbled in the two years since we have lived here and if we would have only waited two years we could have gotten eight thousand free dollars and a much better interest rate on our house. Sometimes I wish that we had an island in the kitchen. When I am pregnant (which has been about 90% of the time we've lived here) I wish that we would have opted for a one story. When there is a storm I wish we would have gotten a house with a bigger under the stairs closet. When I mow the lawn I wish we had a flatter lot or a smaller yard. But I will tell you what, I have never, ever, not even for one second, regretted our location.

On our last day of house hunting we saw five houses, all the exact same price. Three of them were in this neighborhood and two were out in a different city. Some houses were bigger, a better deal. But when we drove up the street to the house that we almost bought (instead of this one) there was no one outside, on a Saturday morning no one was out washing their cars, no kids playing, dead. When we drove up to this one tons of people were outside, mowing their lawns, kids playing catch, etc. More specifically all of the people in our circle were sitting outside talking to each other while their kids played. I was sold.

Who needs a kitchen island? Vaulted ceilings? Not me! I have landed myself in my very own Celestial Circle, and that is something that money can't by. I trust my neighbors with my life (literally, some of them are Paramedics), I trust them with my kids, I just absolutely love them. Tons of kids, lovely adults, Christmas parties, fun. I am confident that we could not have chosen a better place to raise our family!

That being said one of our neighbors is moving. Actually they moved this morning. And my heart is breaking. There are still plenty of other awesome neighbors, but oh how I will miss Annie! I'll miss her boys running outside in their BVDs, I'll miss the smell of their bbq dinner wafting through the air, I'll miss helping her chase down her dog...and her helping me chase down mine! I've always been the one to move, the one to make promises of coming back and visiting often. I am also the one to know that those promises are often forgotten.

Man, it's hard to be the one being left behind!

This wasn't meant to be a sentimental post about our neighborhood. It was meant to be a funny post about how Annie came over yesterday to return our fish. We got a fish at the beginning of December last year. Then we left for vacation at the end of December and had Annie pet sit.

Guess who forgot they owned a fish? Annie pet sat for six months. SIX MONTHS. Now that is an awesome neighbor.

That being said, anybody want a beta fish? Anyone? It comes with food and a bowl, I have more living organisms to care for in this house than I can handle : )