Won't you be my neighbor?

We had the pleasure of meeting our neighbors behind our backyard wall the other night. It all started when my kids were outside playing and their son heard. Their son is 7, and his name is Buddy. They also have two daughters ages 15 and 9. After Buddy, Alex and Ty talked for a little while with Buddy standing on the wall (it is about a 6 or 7 foot wall, by the way), Alex and Ty were invited over to play. How else do you get to the neighbors when you have an 7 foot wall between you....



Of course, you get the ladder and pitch them over. There was a trampoline to catch them. We can also walk through a sandy alley to get to their house, which is exactly what Scott and I did once the kids were bouncing around.

Our neighbors are Jacques and Sharon. When we met them, Jacques had just finished a run, and I found out that he runs with the Creek Striders which is the same group with which my friend Natalie does her long runs. Dubai sure does have a small town feel, sometimes. Sharon was bursting with energy and revealed that they have been living in Daubi for 13 years! We look forward to getting to know them, and we are all thrilled that Buddy, Alex and Ty clicked so well. So well, in fact, that Tyler looks for Buddy every day, and yesterday they played again for a while.



The highlight of Scott's Sunday was sitting down on the couch after the kids had gone to sleep, surfing our limited cable television channels and locating the J-E-T-S playing on live TV. Not only that, he got to see them score... a lot. We are enjoying all the new and exciting things here, but the comforting reminders of home feel good, too.



P.S. So, I ran the Predictor. Although I thought for sure I'd finish last, I didn't! It was a great night, and I was so happy to run again. I plan to make it a weekly event. While I ran, the kids played in Safa Park, but they came out in time to watch me finish and even run with me at the end.