Top 10 memories of Tolleson (aka. the ghetto)

Today was the last full day spent in our house. Tomorrow morning the movers will come bright and early and help us take everything to our new house. I'm really excited about the new house, REALLY, but it's a little sad to leave this one. I really like this house. I've been in love with it since the first moment I ever walked in. It's too bad our neighborhood has turned into the ghetto. Just last night I woke up to gun shots! So sad.

So, in an effort NOT to be sad, I've been thinking about memories of living here for the last 4.5 years. I've come up with a top ten list. I will always smile when I think of these things, even though some of them are more annoyances than happy memories.

10. Emptying the pool every spring. In Phoenix the water is so hard, this is something you have to do yearly if you own a pool...there is no way to get rid of hard water, except to replace it.

9. Wasps. We've had a serious wasp/hornet/yellow jacket problem the last couple of years. At first they were just in the big bush outside. Then there were nests on the front porch, all around under the eaves, and in the barbeque. We think they liked being close to the water source...they were always in the pool. Won't miss them!

8. The dead bird birthday present. A few years ago, the day before my birthday, we had the back door open a little so the cats could come and go as they pleased. It was the evening and as we were eating dinner, we heard some kids screaming/playing. We just assumed that they were at the park across the street behind our house. Later, when I went to the bathroom, I found a BIG.DEAD.CROW!!! Later, we realized that the kids we heard screaming was probably that bird dying. And that my cats must really love me to want to get me something so special for my birthday.

7. Planting the garden. Our garden has sort of evolved into something with a life of its own. It's crazy and out of control (ie. haphazard). I'm excited to start a new one and do a little more "planning" this time! But this one has given us lots of good stuff to eat, and I'm glad we had the chance to "practice."

6. Patio Furniture. We spent a long time choosing the perfect patio furniture. We looked at a lot of different sets and when we finally decided on some, I was so excited when they were delivered. I still love them.

5. Skinny dipping. Anyone who has a pool and no kids does this. Don't be shocked. It's especially fun on those hot summer nights.

4. The Nelson Family. The Nelsons live across the street and we rely on them for emergency babysitting, forgotten ingredients, and friendly visits (or a place to escape a screaming child). We're going to really miss them.

3. Painting. Brian hates painting. So, when I want to paint the walls, I have to do it all myself, which is okay because I generally enjoy doing it (plus he just spends the whole time complaining and he's really bad at it). But we have REALLY high ceilings, and at the highest point they're probably 15 feet high. Really scary.

2. The car crash. We live against a street. We're 3 or 4 houses down from the corner of another street. This other street dead ends to the right, and to the left it is straight for almost a mile, and there are no houses on this street. The speed limit is 25, but mostly people rev it up and skid around our corner in order to gun it and go as fast as they can down this other street. It's annoying and it's dangerous. I'm always afraid someone is going to come skidding around the corner from the other street, lose control, crash through our fence and their car is going to end up in our pool. Well, it didn't exactly happen like that...

We are only 1 house away from the other corner, the corner you take to enter our street. One night there was apparently a car chase (did I mention we live in the ghetto?), the car being chased tried to take the corner onto our street, but was going to fast and instead crashed right through our neighbor's back yard. We stood on chairs in the middle of the night and watched the tow truck pull the car back over the steel bars and out of their yard. It was crazy. But I'm really glad it didn't happen in our yard!

I should also mention that when we first woke up to this "accident" that first we heard a crash, then gun shots. Apparently the guy who crashed through the fence, upon realizing that his car was stuck, got out and ran. That's when the car that was doing the chasing fired the gun. Super scary.

1. Our Homebirth. Sadie was born in this house. She was born back in our bedroom. I labored in our tub and in our bed. And that's where the paramedics came when Sadie wasn't breathing upon delivery. That's going to be a hard memory to leave. We may never have another homebirth because of the risk factors that I have acquired since Sadie's birth. You'd think it's a bad memory because of what happened, but I had a wonderful birth with all my best friends around me. I hope that this is a memory we can recreate in our new home.

I know we will make new memories in our new house. I don't know how people manage to move so often. I get emotionally attached to where I live, and it's hard to let go of all the things that have happened there. I hope we never have to move again.