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| when we first moved to the central district neighborhood (CD) of seattle, i was a little scared. i had done a little research before moving here and found that it did have a history of crime, etc. however, when we did move in, i was pleasantly surprised by how safe i felt, especially during the daylight hours. it is the kind of neighborhood where i have jokingly said that you could be living next door to either a really nice house or a crack house. so, now that we've been here for almost a year now, i really started liking where we are...close to downtown, international district (cheap eats), within walking distance from lake washington, and just about near to everything cool in seattle. and, i guess i really got used to being in this "urban" place, and i kinda found it surprising when just about every visitor would mention, "oh, wow...you really do live in the___(insert whatever variety of words used to describe an urban area)!" and, i'd respond, "oh yeah...we do."
then, just the other day, while we were on our way to take a ferry to whidbey island (a bit north of seattle), we get a call from the alarm company--our kitchen window is open. such dreaded news for me. we headed straight back home and found the part of the latticed window, next to the front door, shattered in the front entryway. the perpetrator was trying to unlock the front door through that window, unsuccessfully, though. then, this person went around to the back and somehow got the kitchen window open, which would have totally set off the alarm (which is LOUD) and we guess that was enough to make this person flee. so, nothing was stolen, but it was still very disturbing for us. moreover, i called 911 twice and was told that NO ONE was available to come out to take the report (since it was all said and done already without anyone getting hurt). at first i was really annoyed, and then i later found out that my friend 4 blocks away got hit really hard (thousands of dollars worth of stuff taken including her little boys' piggy bank...how do you explain that to a kid?). and, apparently, the bad guys were really out yesterday as the cops were slammed with all this activity all in broad daylight--our attempted break-in happened around 10:30 am, and a cop came by 2:30 pm (the bad guys seem to do more stuff during the day here while people are at work, etc.).
anyhow, i'm now feeling a little more on edge. this kinda brings me back to a summer i had in richmond, va, where i was house sitting and someone broke-in while i was asleep. he woke me up and asked me for money. though he didn't hurt me, that whole encounter haunts me even years later. i think what bothers me the most, though, is that lupita is affected by this. she saw all the broken glass, and we were honest with her. she keeps asking why someone would do something like that. last night, she was frightened, and i had to pray with her three times. we prayed for this person--most likely a teen in our neighborhood--that somehow God would help this person and keep us all safe. the funny thing is that lupita thought that someone should make sure that this person goes to school for four days (and that would somehow be a part of the remedy). she kept insisting on that with a shaky and almost tearful voice. yeah, we'll be in conversation about this for a long time. in the meantime, i'm a part of a block watch now...not sure what that'll entail, though. the good thing is that most of my neighbors are connected through one of many online groups that are quite vigilant about support.
anyhow, that's the latest from my neck o' the hood.
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| i like this pic taken yesterday before church...O just posed...it was really funny. i also like the shirt she's wearing--it's actually a baby dress from when she was 3 months old. lately i've been recycling some of of O's baby dresses as shirts cause frankly, it's just economical. i'm thinking that maybe O is lookin' a lot like her aunt Helen. and, she's super athletic like her aunt. this one's a fearless climber.
here she is with big sis lupita...don't know why there's a pink fuzzy thing on the side.
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| Happy Birthday, J. P.! We love you!
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| well, i blink and it's july! so much has happened and not happened in the past couple months. i guess it all depends on how you look at it. one thing is certain, though...it's beautiful summertime in seattle! i'd have to say that seattle's a great place to live with kids in tow--tons of parks, wading pools, great libraries on just about every corner (with free dvd checkouts), good places to eat, etc. now, if i could just be closer to my family & friends scattered everywhere....
lots of milestones, and i'll mention a few:
-olivia started walking in mid april, and i'm still looking for good walking shoes she won't rip off.
-lupita finished her first year of preschool and walked over from spring to summer in a bridge ceremony.
-i went on my first SOLO weekend trip to the bay area for my college roommie's wedding (too short but sweet).
-we started a small business called My Mac Hero LLC (mymachero.com).
-j. p.'s been helping a friend start a nonprofit (fightglobalpoverty.com)
-j. p. and i celebrated our 8th anniversary in june and we went on a dinner date without the kids.
-we took lupita out for her first movie theater experience (WALL-E)!
-lupita is learning to read and swim!
we usually update our picasa photo album monthly, but i haven't been great about letting everyone know! so, here's the latest with links to videos and even a recipe for "no knead bread."
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