WTF???

Last week there were police with several cars, plain clothes officers, and various people in suits standing outside the house across the street from us. We didn't know what was going on, but the next 4 days brought more curiosity because there was a police officer stationed outside the house 24/7. Last night I ran into my landlord who lives upstairs from us. He told me that at 4AM that night a couple of kids were playing with a gun on the roof of a house around the corner and shot it through the back window of the house across the street. OK, that's bad, right? Kids and guns are never a good combo and they actually shot it. Then he told me that our neighbor who lives in that house was shot in the leg while she was sleeping.

Yep, our neighbor was shot in the leg through her window while she was sleeping. This house is directly across the street from us. There are kids in almost every house and that bullet very well could have hit any one of them. It could have been way worse for our neighbor, she could have taken that bullet somewhere more vital than the leg. This could have been much worse, but it was still pretty damn awful.

On top of that there was a drive-by on the main road a few blocks up. There have also been many more car break-ins than usual. Lots of broken windows. I don't know what's going on, but our quiet little neighborhood is falling into the same trap that the rest of the city is in - increased crime. It's hard not to associate it with the general malaise and dissatisfaction most people feel for their country right now. I know it's a bit of a leap, but everything being connected and all makes me think that our country's state of negativity must be linked to the upswelling of crime in my city.

Whew

Let's see... in the past month this stuff has happened:

- we were out of town 3 weekends in a row
- I spent 13 hours driving stick shift to DC and back (I had never driven stick farther than 5 miles)
- Kristie moved to LA
- My parents and MT's parents met
- My brother came to stay with us
- I had a stoop sale
- I picked up stuff from Kristie's house to have another stoop sale
- Duke had 2 vet appts
- I got a new client at work in addition to my big, monster client
- We went to Tanglewood w/MT's family
- I dyed my hair brown

I'm sleepy.

Stoooop it up

We did it - we had the first stoop sale. A friend and I sat outside selling our wares for about 4 hours. I made $80 selling items of absolutely no import, most of them for $1. I put out a couple boxes of books, I charged a dollar for each and I wasn't expecting them to move much. The books were the hit of the sale! Almost everyone who stopped by bought a book. I was glad to sell them to people who were excited about reading them. The best feeling of the day was the woman who bought a jacket I had made over the winter and she was so keen on the fact that I made it that she also bought a skirt I made. She took one of my cards and wants to know when I have more inventory. That was very satisfying. I put out a lot of clothes, 4 pieces I made, and all of the ones I made sold. Granted, they were super cheap and all except the jacket were at least 2 yrs old, but it felt good to have people get so happy when they found out I made the pieces they were buying. Especially with pieces I wasn't super thrilled with. Makes me think once I get an inventory I'm happy with I'll get a lot of good feedback.

My friend made some good cash, too. We're going to do another one in September since we have more to sell. I'm going down to Kristie's this weekend because she's moving to LA (I know... LA) and I'm bringing back a few boxes of things to see at the next stoop sale. We're going to print up some fliers and put them around the neighborhood and hopefully make twice as much the next time. It's nice to sit outside on a beautiful day, make some money and get rid of stuff you really don't need or want anymore. Purging felt awesome!