"You Say It's Your Birthday"

Happy Birthday, John!

We celebrated yesterday with lots and lots of cake, including some yummy cheesecake -- thanks, Becky! -- and with a few of our neighbors. Though not as many neighbors as I had anticipated.

I had Conner take around the invitations the day before. It was raining, so I told him to just put them in their mailboxes. When we moved in, a few of our immediate neighbors had been so kind and welcoming, bringing cookies and such, and I thought offering cake and coffee for anyone who wanted to stop by would be a good reciprocal gesture. You know, soon enough after moving that they don't expect you to actually be moved in.

But only one family showed, which was perfectly fine with us, but surprising. Another called to say they just got their mail for the first time in two days and were sorry because they'd had nothing else going on during that time. Another one stopped by to introduce herself right away after she got her mail, but she acted vague and wouldn't make eye contact when I asked if she thought they might be able to make it. Like, um, no worries. It's not like I'm trying to be your BFF. Just trying to be, you know, neighborly. Sheesh.

The worse thing about the surprising lack of response is that we now have tons of cakes and "pupcakes" left, even after pawning a bunch off the family that came. Lovely family, by the way. They're the ones who invited Conner to go try their son's Scout Troop in the area, which Conner enjoyed; although that week their meeting happened to be going to a corn maze, and what preteen doesn't love a corn maze?

The best part about the evening was that it motivated me to hang some things on the walls. We have a lot of wall space. And we have a lot of stuff to hang, so it makes for some time-consuming decisions. Apparently my buzzing around inspired Olivia's inner interior decorator, as I discovered this strategically placed in the middle of the family room:

You might notice the baseball bat lying on the ground nearby. I have no idea where that was found, but leave it Sean-Peter to sniff it out. I am betting that he was gearing up to contribute to his sister's decorating touches, which he was probably imagining as some creative target practice.

I hid the bat away in the garage.