Speaking of highlowaha. We had a fabulous day yesterday. I love that so many of you participated in sharing some of your favorites. It was fun to read and I actually feel like I know some of you better. Others.. I feel like I know you less well. HEATHER, I thought you were an American Idol junkie like me. What happened?!?! If I wasn't so out-of-pocket, I'd be calling you up right this second to get the low down.
The rest of my answers from all of yesterday's great prompts...
Hugs or Kisses: Hugs
Cats or Dogs? Dogs if I have to, but honestly my preference is neither
Beach or Mountains: Mountains
Email or Phone: Phone
Warm or cold weather: Warm
The Book or The Movie: The book
White or Dark Chocolate: Milk
Flip-flops or sneakers: sneakers
Kids or adults: Adults (unless they're mine and CSP grad is willing to babysit twice a month).
Italian or Mexican food: Italian
Thanksgiving or Christmas: Christmas
Homebody or Travel Junkie: Homebody
Cake or Pie: Cake
PC or Mac: Mac
Hot coffee... Starbucks, Cinnamon Dolce, non-fat, no-whip, heated to 180 degrees.
Chocolate ice cream
A couple more quick announcements and then it is on to today's creative idea for the day.
- First, it has been drawn to my attention that Richard (my husband) and Matt (his best friend, author of May 1 blog, and husband to Cristine) are boycotting our blog. It seems that on the few occasions they have posted a comment, we have not given them enough attention by replying directly to their posts. So please, join me in giving a special "hello" and "we appreciate you" to Richard and Matt - two of our loyal and valued readers. Maybe a Richard and Matt Appreciation Day is in order. Hmmmmm... I'll think about that and get back to you.
- Second, Cassie (not "P") had surgery yesterday. Let's all send nice thoughts her way for a speedy recovery.
- I have no concept of days (it's Day 3 in my curriculum -that's all I know), so while I just realized it is supposed to be Whacky Wednesday, I am going to need to postpone until tomorrow. Sorry. Today's idea is too much fun to postpone.
- Friday is the day we will all want to vote for Gwen Beauchamp for America's Favorite Mother. I will provide directions on Friday.
- Taste of USA... coming your way SOOOOOOOOOON! Stay tuned.
Today I was sharing a future blog idea with someone at Leadershape and he was telling me about the neighborhood in which he lives. It is a street with about 20 houses, 8 of which are on a shared cul dae sac. He rattled off about 10 or 11 major events the neighbors did together every year. SOME of them included things such as: Annual Pumpkin Decorating; neighborhood Easter brunch and egg hunt; road trip to the mountains for Christmas trees, followed by a tree hop the following night to view each others' trees; a New Year's day pajama party brunch; and numerous "Open Grills" throughout the spring and summer (people bring their own meat, drinks and a side dish and cookout on the grill of someone in the neighborhood).
I want to be a resident of Snowbrush Court! Don't you? He told me the reason there are so many events is that basically each family in the neighborhood has developed their own "Signature Event." Do you love that? So how about it? How about we all work on developing our own "Signature Event" for our own neighborhood... and then watch the ripple effect. If you already have one... share it with the rest of us. If not, get those wheels turning and claim your day of the year!
This, my friends and fellow readers is the Value of One and the Power of All. If each of us committed to starting just one Signature Event in our neighborhood, we would be planting seeds of community ALL over the country. And wouldn't the country be a better place if we learned... really learned... how to live in, and celebrate, community!
That is our challenge...
Signing off until tomorrow...
Posts
22 comments:
This is stolen from one of my most creative friends. Around February or March (before St. Patty's Day), she has a St. Practice Day party. This could work in a neighborhood. Everyone could bring a green drink, green food, or green game, and wear green outfits, etc. And speaking of "green," maybe neighbors could get together to participate in their favorite "green" activities: recycling, turning the TV and lights off to play outside, distributing energy saving light bulbs, eating organic food...you get the picture...
Thanks for the well wishes but the surgery is not till Friday. I'll take a repeat on Friday!:)
Claudia, first of all a "signature event' on my block would have to be called "smack down" (ha ha) Everyone here is so nasty and most of them elderly....
I am the only one on the block with kids since I moved in and my son was born here and will be 18 soon....
I put together a block party but only 3 families actually participated... more like a block get-together...
As for Richard and Matt.... Im sending a great big hello from Long Island , New York.....
Heres some "guy" questions for you to make you feel part of our group
football or baseball?
tap or bottle?
blonde or brunette?
SUV or car?
fishing or golf?
PS3 or XBOX?
War Hawk or Halo 3
Dane Cook or Larry The Cable Guy?
As you can probably imagine having 3 brothers I could really take this places but I will be a good girl and leave it here...............
Cassie- hope everything goes okay on Friday. If you need anything, please let me know.
Do you listen to Kidd Kraddick in the morning? Have you heard Andrew and his favorite saying? It goes like this in a high male voice, "What are you talking about?" I'm of course referring to Richard and Matt. I loved their input! First, I had a very funny discussion with my friend-boy in Utah about Richard's post. Second, I can really appreciate being single from Matt's post. Come on guys! Stick around! I hate when people feel left out.
I loved Maureen's suggestions and I want to play.
football or baseball? Football
tap or bottle? tap
blonde or brunette? brunette
SUV or car? SUV
fishing or golf? Golf, no fishing but not really early in the morning fishing, no golf.
PS3 or XBOX? Wii
War Hawk or Halo 3- I don't know what these are.
Dane Cook or Larry The Cable Guy? Well, this is a tough one. I'll pick Cletus T Judd.
Now all of that was me procrastinating about discussing todays topic... when I read todays topic and about all those get togethers at Snow Brush Court I was resistant. I immediately put up a wall.
See, I know this about me- I'm shy and awkward in some social situations. (I know it's hard to tell by this blog.) And, I'm sometimes selfish and lazy. I cherish my alone time. I don't always like everyone. And I can be judgemental though I try not to be. Now that I've pointed out all my negative points I can also say that I love our monthly neighborhood bunco parties. I feel comfortable around everyone. I'm new in my neighborhood and so far I like everyone so why wouldn't I embrace this idea. And what Claudia is really talking about here is picking one day a year. We don't have to jump in with both feet right away if that's not in our comfort zone.
I have found that I have more fun at spontaneous get togethers. I guess because I don't stress about the planning. Something I plan on doing this summer at my house is "The Pool is Open." I'm going to rig up a flag system this summer so when the flag is up, the boys and I (or just me) are hanging out at the pool and would welcome company.
Claudia- I have two words for you: Board Shorts! They're the answer to not wearing a bathing suit!
holy crap that was long...sorry.
cassie, hope the surgery goes well on friday.
some neighborhood get togethers in my subdivision are an annual easter egg hunt, 4th of july parade (where all the kids decorate their bikes, and we all take a lap around the subdivision, which takes about 30min, tooting horns and waving flags), and about twice a year, we do the neighborhood yard sale! our "dues money" helps pay for advertising, and whoever wants to sell their old junk can and there are TONS of people who come out to it that day. one person's trash is another's treasure! the only bad thing about our neighborhood yard sales is, it never fails, it is always either freezing cold or raining... or both! UGH!
Hey Claudia,
Sorry for being away from all the fun of this blog but things have been crazy on this end over the last couple of weeks. Flat Stanley has been through much with me from touring downtown Toronto, to being at the OB when we found out we are expecting a new addition to our family, to holding my hair back during the morning sickness, celebrating my birthday in Mexico to now finally being back on my feet but having lost my camera with all 675 pictures. I look forward to providing you with an update before the end of the week and sending Flat Stanley on his journey to your next reader.
Once again sorry for being away for so long but glad to be back into the swing of things... Who knew the first trimester was such a challenge ;)
Helena
Aha! Stanley was partying in Mexico and he got Helena pregnant!
Beware Tera & Treye! I told you he was a party animal!!
Welcome back Helena and Congratulations!
On second thought...maybe we don't want to take Stanley on our honey moon ;)
When I was growing up, we didn't have many neighborhood traditions...and now I work at a college so there aren't any "neighborhood" events.
One of the things I do with the residetns in my buidling at the end of ever semester during finals week is give them nightly study breaks. I get pizza or ice cream or tacos or breakfast to give them a little bit of time away from the books as well as some time with one another before they leave for break. The students really enjoy getting to spend time together and they are working on building community as well (which can be tough because we live in apartments...not typical dorms).
In an effort to validate the Hillary-like pandering, I'll go ahead and answer the guy questions (the same way I would take advantage of the gas tax moratorium.)
football or baseball? - Football
tap or bottle? - Draught
blonde or brunette? - Brunette - Love ya Claudia
SUV or car? - Jeep - Claudia made me sell mine.
fishing or golf? - Yes
PS3 or XBOX? - Lawn mower
War Hawk or Halo 3 - More yard work
Dane Cook or Larry The Cable Guy? - ??? - Weed eater
Richard your life looks bleak.... get a landscaper for goodness sake.....
please note .... I was one of the few that thought of you guys .....
and to think they say New Yorkers are nasty LOL
nice to see you back!:)
PS I will tell Claudia you want a new Jeep for Fathers Day ......
I have a question that seems to go along quite nicely with today's post! Much to my disappointment, we don't know people in our neighborhood. Just seems like people keep to themselves or only associate with people they've known for years. The only people we did know moved away recently. Last night we received a letter in our mailbox from someone who lives down the street from us. It was a form letter telling us "Bob and JoAnn" (no last name, no address) had recently found out that Bob has ALS. The letter suggested that we donate money to the family in the form of a gas card because they would be making many trips to a clinic in a different state. The letter seemed to assume that we would know who Bob and JoAnn are, although we haven't a clue. I have mixed feelings - I don't want to ignore the request, but also don't feel like purchasing a gas card for someone I've never even met. I guess I wish someone would have rang my doorbell, introduced themselves, and told me the story. Any suggestions on others would handle this? It seems a good opportunity to create community, but not sure how to proceed?
Helena! Welcome back...but question are you the Helena from the Corner? If you are you will know what I'm referencing.
Sorry I have been out of pocket until now...it was a rough day in KY.
CKB...this season of Idol has left me not really caring to watch. Sad but true.
Lily's crying so I'm out.
when i moved onto my block it was brought to my attention that every year they had a breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert tsble just for the residents on the block. i was shocked to hear that because the neighbors were much older than my husband and myself and we were the only ones with children at that point on the block. they said thst they had been doing it for years and one neighbor was an electrician and took power from the light post in front of his house during the evening hours. we had joined the people on the block for 2 years it really was very interesting to get to know the people that live on the same block amd what they were like. after the second year that we had joined them it had stopped because people either moved or passed on and it has not been the same since.
Katie... interesting dilemma. While I am the one advocating for community, the scenario you described leaves me a little skeptical. I hate the idea they could be running a scam to receive money.
How about replying with an offer to provide a home cooked meal, pick up mail when they are out of town... something that gives you an opportunity to know they are for real. Once you've verified (through a non-monetary overture) then you can make a decision as to whether or not to donate a gas card. Thanks for posing the question.
Katie, ask the mailman if he/she knows who they are. Im sure they will know. It may be someone you know by face.... I would do some homework before giving out any gift cards.....
We've never had a really great community in our neighborhood (something I've regretted). It's more of a "say hey as you're walking to get your mail kind of a place". However, I do remember one year a neighbor of mine one a free neighborhood cook out for all. It was something you could enter to win through one of the local TV stations and she won....Grillin' with Tim was it's name. Also, when I was younger, on the 4th of July, everyone on my section of the street used to come outside and light off fireworks in the street. Not exactly safe, I'm sure, but it was still fun to be out with everyone.
No coffee at ALL for me!
This is why I enjoy working in a college residence hall environment on a daily basis - community! It's so amazing to see my students grow closer to one another and to form their own community throughout the year.
If only our neighborhoods could adapt these methods.
-Brian R.
Resident Director at Univ. of Pittsburgh at Greensburg
Brian R. Oooooh, but our neighborhoods can grow to become these thriving communities your are working so hard to achieve in your residence halls! That is the beauty of your job and so many other talented people who choose to work in higher education. We must, however, view the teaching of community development as our responsibility. The feedback from our readers should serve as reinforcement that these are important skills to teach! Thanks for the work you do!
Mike K. NO coffee. You sound so emphatic, one might even think hot beverages depressed you or something.
Post a Comment