Reason No. 501

Have I mentioned how much I love my neighborhood and city and state lately? No, well, allow me to expound here. Admittedly, I was pretty upset with the weather in June. It was so hot and so frustrating to be inside (no A/C) and outside (hot hot hot and sunny sunny sunny). July was a little better - for at least the nights cooled off a bit. I tend to forget that everything turns around in August - always. Since August, the temps have hovered around 90 degrees during the day (totally manageable) and 60 degrees at night (perfect sleeping weather).

So, clearly the weather affects my mood. But I always forget how many COOL things happen in my neighborhood in August. It's almost as if people are trying to squeeze all the fun left in summer out into different events around the neighborhood. I recently wrote about Viva Streets - an entire day on bikes!

I'm part of what is becoming a wonderful book club. We're celebrating our first anniversary next month! Almost all of the ladies live within a three-mile radius, which is the perfect bike riding distance. On Thursday, a friend of mine hosted. She lives about three miles away. The brisk evening weather practically BEGGED me to ride my bike and wear jeans. So I did both and it was lovely.

Last night we attended Spinelli's Market's 18th annual neighborhood picnic at the local park. Spinelli's is a little gem of a neighborhood grocery store and deli. Every summer the owners close their shop and move over to the park across the street. They provide the meat, which is amazing, and utensils. The rest of the community provides the sides. Essentially it's a big potluck. Last night was our third trip to the community picnic.

Following the picnic, we rode our bikes over to the elementary school where Benny will start kindergarten in a little over a week. The parent organization there was holding a meet and greet. We met some of the kids who will be in Benny's class and met his teacher (remember Ms. Glick?). It was such an exciting, welcoming atmosphere. As we were leaving, Benny declared, "I LOVE this place!" He said, "I hope we don't have to do a lot of paperwork. Paperwork is so boring." But that's neither here nor there.

All this is to say that I absolutely love where I live. I feel so lucky daily. Although we live in a relatively big city, I often feel like we live in a small town.

Eating broccoli from the garden!