Footprints make me smile

Look what happens when you request sidewalks in the neighbourhood.....!!! 

Don't get too excited.  They aren't sidewalks.  NOPE... Instead I guess they learned that there's nobility at the end of the road.  Now I'm getting a moat!  YUP!!  A MOAT! 

Wait, maybe it isn't a gift for the Nobles, perhaps it's a message... Yes... it must be... I mean I'm getting it loud and clear.... how about if they make my life miserable by making it impossible to even park on the street where I live while I have visitors for the week, I'll lay off on the sidewalk campaign.  100 degree days and we have to cart kids and stuff back and forth to the car a block and a half away and then at the end of the street just in front of my house there's a moat that has to be LEAPED over. 

Or perhaps they're just inconveniently fixing the grade of the road....

After construction workers pour a new driveway, the right thing to do is NOT to leave the teenagers home alone while it dries.... unless you want a permanent reminder that some fun lovin' teenagers got barefoot and ran across the driveway.... Now every time I LEAP across the moat I see the fun footprints on the driveway and I smile. 

Trick or Treat

Appropriately for this time of year, I got spooked.
Last night after cleaning up from a session of applesauce making fun, I had just dried the last bowl and was hanging my towel when the door bell rang. Typically this isn't an odd occurrence. But it was odd at almost 10:00 at night. I couldn't think of anyone who might be at my door. The children were all sleeping... except Whittaker of course. I approached the door rather tentatively. I don' t normal feel any sense of concerns when Patrick is out of town... but tonight I rather wished he was approaching the door instead of me.
I glanced out the window for a hint of who it might be. No person was visible and I didn't see a vehicle either. I turned to go back to the kitchen and then realized... the door bell had rung.. I wasn' t hearing things, although I wondered if perhaps it was malfunctioning. It is in fact a wireless remote door bell that runs on rechargeable batteries. Perhaps it was just ringing for a new battery. I decided to open the door and test the bell. As I unlocked the door I vacillated regarding waiting until morning to test my door bell dead battery theory or just open the ding dong door and get it over with. What did I really think was out there... the Loch Ness?

As I slowly opened the door a crack and reached my hand around the frame to push the button a bag on the ground caught my eye. Suddenly I knew what had happened. We'd been door bell ditched by the Halloween Ghost. A bag of cookies and a note about the spirit of Halloween and passing it on. I didn't bother to test the doorbell. I picked up the bag of cookies and locked up again.

Here’s the poem they used to spook me;

Happy Halloween!
The Phantom Ghost… has visited you!
This is the time for goblins and bats,
Halloween spirits and ghosts and cats.
Weird happenings and witches brew,
These are the things we wish for you!
May the only spirit you chance to meet
Be the spirit of love and warm friends sweet.
May the only goblin that comes your way
Be the NEIGHBORHOOD PHANTOM,
Whom you’ll want to give away.
So by two days hence, pick two friends sweet
And give them all a Halloween treat.
You only have two days, so hurry!!!
Leave the treat on the doorstep and
Flee in a hurry.

Now these are the things you’ll need to do:
1. Make two copies of this letter and the Phantom Ghost.
2. Post the Phantom Ghost on your door until Halloween. This will ward off the Phantom Ghost from returning to haunt you and yours.
3. Take your letter and Phantom Ghost and deliver them to two homes that do not have the Phantom Ghost posted.

‘TIS BETTER GIVING THAN RECEIVING,
WE ALL KNOW THAT’S TRUE,
SO SHOW YOUR LOVE TO ALL THE WORLD
AND REMEMBER…
NOW THE PHANTOM IS YOU!!!!

I returned to the kitchen where I poured my self a glass of milk and enjoyed my share of the cookies.... it was just what I needed to calm my nerves! So I was tricked by my own imagination.. and treated by a good cookie maker out there somewhere in the neighbourhood!!

Aren't they lovely!

When the neighbourhood, and their families consist mainly of boys, it can be difficult to maintain a bit of femininity. Or so I thought!

Sarah and Kenzie wanted to set up a Beauty Parlor yesterday. Unfortunately if they were the stylists, who would make an appointment? Summer holidays having begun... there were an extra few children at the house... 10 extra to be exact and only 2 of those were girls. But to my surprise their appointment schedule filled to capacity and I never even made the list!

I'm not sure what the reaction was when these boys returned home for dinner but they were all lined up for a chance to have their feet massaged, their cuticles worked, their hair styled and yes even have their toe nails painted! Perhaps it was the goodies that the high-class salon offered each of it's patrons that lured the boys in, or the Wii in the 'waiting room'!


Any complaints from the boys were met with comments from Sarah of this nature...
"If you took better care of your cuticles, this wouldn't hurt so much."
and my favourite...
"I told you to go potty before your appointment, because once you have your feet and hands soaking in the warm water, you often feel the need to go!"

Rush Hour Noble Style -- part five

On one particularly busy morning for me, I was madly trying to put a roast in the oven, for a dinner party I was hosting that night, in between the time that I put the pylons out and the time that I needed to be back out to the cross walk to cross children.... I was rushing so fast that as I was trimming some of the fat off the roast I sliced the skin off the top of my left index finger! (Not sure if I want to thank Dad now for giving me a set of knives and sharpener for Christmas... I keep them sharp thanks to Dad.... hmmm) Fortunately nothing serious... no stitches or anything would be required... but oh how it smarts!... another time I'm reminded how important every little inch of the body is and how often you need and use each body part! But I digress....

As I hurried out with my bandaged finger a little late for crossing kids, my kids started excitedly telling me, "look at the pylons"!!! Sure enough they had multiplied since I had put them out only 30 minutes earlier. Now there were 11 tall pylons and 4 short ones, instead of our usual 2 tall and 4 short. There were also some odd paint markings on the street. If these were gang tags... it was a safe gang (not that I'm looking for a gang to join). I didn't have much time. After the kids were safely at school we had to hurry home to get ready for an orthodontist appt. I was just brushing my teeth when I heard noise in the hall and came out to see Gina... my partner in crime... She was excited about the extra pylons too only she knew why they were there! The city was painting today! We were about to see some progress! Hooray! They were painting a red line for a safety zone around the crosswalk so it would be more obvious to the drivers where they could and could not stop and park!

I wished I could have stayed to help the guy paint I was so excited... and to think I helped in some small way to make those street edges get painted! It was a very gratifying and encouraging moment. But we had to go... we would be late!


When we returned home 1 1/2 hours later.... we were excited to see how the curbs were going to look. We saw as we turned down our street a new sign!!! a NO OUTLET sign... I didn't know we had won that issue also! WOW... and then we saw the red curbs... they had painted the entire gutter area... So these red lines are over 1' wide! VERY VISIBLE Have I got friends at city hall!

During afternoon pickup time that day the city was back. This time over by the other crosswalk. They were repairing the road in preparation of the next weeks projects... We will be getting bike lanes and a yellow line painted on the big road! Have we made a difference or what?

Rush Hour Noble Style -- part three

What next?
The afternoon was equally as crazy with many officers, the principal and all of the neighbourhood out to discuss the issues. Nothing resolved on the street corners but lots of ideas and suggestions of things to try.

We went to the city council the next night. The city council only allows for each person to speak for 3 minutes. Some of the frustrated parents also spoke although they only had complaints and we proposed some solutions. When the time cut off and we hadn't quite finished our speech the Mayor requested that we call his office in the morning and schedule with his secretary. He wished to discuss this matter further with us.

When we called the next morning, she said that he would be available to meet with us in half an hour... could we be there? Uhhhhh... sure! So we went to see the Mayor! We presented the problem to him. We showed the maps of the school boundaries, the map of the neighbourhood, the map of traffic flow concerns. We discussed our main concerns and our proposed solutions. He was patient and kind and listened to us. We arranged to have a meeting with all the needed individuals to pinpoint some feasible solutions. The meeting was scheduled for 2 weeks away.

Until then, we assisted children crossing the roads and we observed the traffic flow and pondered any further solutions. The city conducted some traffic studies of their own. The school opted to wait until the outcome of the meeting to do anything further.

The day of the meeting arrived all too quickly. Many of the neighbours were in attendance. The Mayor, the traffic engineers, the code enforcement officers, the DARE liason officer, the Sherriff, the crossing guard coordinator, the city council member over the area, the PTA, the Principal of the school were all there. The meeting lasted a little over two hours! A lot of discussion... some a little heated and others fairly productive! It was established that all our concerns were valid and needed to be addressed. The city committed to do any and all of the proposed solutions as funding would permit. The school apologized for not having informed the School Board that there was an issue and promised to fill them in so we could find out what the schools intentions were. The police agreed to continue weekly spot surveillance of illegal parking and traffic violations in an educational capacity. The crossing guard coordinator helped us know what things we needed to do in order to qualify for a crossing guard. The Mayor made it clear he wanted to see some steps taken ASAP to resolve this issue. The PTA argued that they had tried to help before... it hadn't worked and they didn't have any other options and the Principal backed them up. We pointed out many things that we'd like to see that would require the support and assistance of the school. We were only met with arguments.

While we went away from the meeting feeling as though the city was on our side and we would see something soon... just what we didn't know. We also left very frustrated with the school. Without their support, even the efforts of the city could be for nothing.

Doing my civic duty is exhausting work... and keeps my phone ringing. I finally turned off the ringer and went to bed that night.

Rush hour... Noble style -- part two

I had no idea what I was starting... a rumble was on! And somehow I was the new ringleader... HEY.. WAIT... I'm a shy, reserved person... who home schools her children and reads a lot of books... I DO NOT talk to all the neighbours nor do I make waves! But here I was over the summer making plans to bring about change for our neighbourhood!!

• I contacted the school and voiced our complaints... Response...Oh... we'll have to see what we can do..... equals... nothing.
• I questioned many of the neighbours asking for what has been tried over the years... Response... repeated requests of the school, petitioned the city for signs and crosswalks and sidewalks... (it should be noted that 10 years ago we did get crosswalks and that 4 years ago we got a sidewalk from one crosswalk to the corner of the street, so this gave me hope)
  
• I wrote a letter to the neighbours asking that we all be united as we make waves and try to evoke change... Response... the neighbours all banded together to put their garbage cans lining the street so that people couldn't park along our streets...
  
• I bought large orange pylons to put in the two crosswalks, I got myself an orange vest and looked for a hand held stop sign without luck. I made large signs that said "Not a pick up or drop off zone, Thank you" and "Please use 2700 West access to the School parking area" (I thought I should try to be polite still.) I printed up a flyer for those parents coming into our neighbourhood behind the school with a map highlighting the actual routes they ought to take to go to the school and explaining that this simply isn't a safe access for the students nor is it courteous to the people who live here. ... now I was ready for the first day of school...

I had 200 copies of the letter for the parents, I'd posted my signs out of the way but still very visible and put my pylons on the crosswalks... I chickened out of wearing my fluorescent vest but I did wear an orange shirt... There were eleven neighbours out watching that morning interested to know what was going to come of our actions... The other two ladies most involved with me Susan and Gina had to get their children off to school and then they met me at the main crosswalk where I stood in the middle of the road and handed out my flyer to each car as they came by.

We received many mixed reactions to our flyer, signs, pylons and us... many people were confused... "but this is how I've always driven to the school?", and "did something happen?", "doesn't this road go through anymore?", to "I can't believe this.", "You've got to be kidding me." to "@$%$... "... yes.. some were quite rude... others wouldn't even roll their windows down to take a flyer. We began at 7:50 and we were still handing out flyers until 8:15 and I might add without much of a break between cars... often there was a line of them... (I only had 30 flyers left when I was done) School starts at 8:20 so we knew that we were nearing the end when one lady rolled down her window and said "Hi, I'm the Crossing Guard coordinator for this district can I help you guys with something?"... She pulled over and parked and we met on the sidewalk to discuss things... She was a very nice lady and said this isn't the first time I've heard about this school's issues. Then the police started to show up... First the DARE officer assigned to this school, then a code enforcer officer, then a traffic officer, then another officer... who I guess didn't want to feel left out!

Mum who happened to be here for a very brief stop on her way home was also involved. She had taken a copy of our flyer and Duncan and had walked over to the school and was just milling around near the office as a fly on the wall to get a sense for the reaction that we were getting at the school. It wasn't too long before some complainers arrived and the principal was alerted to the action taking place. Mum volunteered that she had a copy of the flyer being handed out and that it was a peaceful request taking place in the neighbourhood to the north. She left and came to find us out on the streets.

The parents felt that we were causing a nuisance on the first day of school. The code enforcer let us know that while we had every right to make a stand and get this issue out in the open, we can not legally put up a sign, and that we had really gone about this all wrong... so get this... we're the bad guys! The other officers said...'well hold on... this has been an ongoing issue... we've been called out many times over this and as for going about it all wrong... what should they have done?' Apparently we should be taking our concerns to the city council... not the school and parents driving in? Ok... so the city council meeting is the next night we'll be there. Yes we'll take down our signs and what else do we need to be aware of and what are we to specifically ask of the city council?

So we have permission to assist children crossing the streets, and politely ask people to move if they are blocking our driveways and ask them to slow down in a school zone... and interestingly enough we learned a lot that morning for over an hour chatting with our new friends the officers who kindly didn't arrest us or fine us for our illegal signs. They did see many illegal actions such us parking on crosswalks, sidewalks, the wrong direction on the opposite side of the road, in front of fire hydrants, in front of driveways and mailboxes... oooooh... we were excited with all our info. that we were collecting... So based on what the officers were telling us there aren't many 'LEGAL' places for anyone to park on our street to begin with. 20' either side of a crosswalk, 15' either side of a fire hydrant, 5' either side of a driveway and mailbox.... So although we can not legally stop them from driving through our neighbourhood, too fast and too many at once even though the school lists our neighbourhood as the 'Safe Walking Route', they will happily patrol the area for the next few days and enforce code violations to discourage people from stopping.

We had hopefully made our point and we would certainly be attending the city council meeting the next night... Oh wait... while we were still chatting that morning... here comes the principal.... Finally showing an interest. She said all the right things to us... "Oh yes... I see the issue and we'll have to do something... back to school night is on Thursday we'll be able to inform parents better then and encourage carpooling." We all parted ways and went on with our days... only to meet again later that afternoon during the next rush hour...

Rush hour... Noble style -- part one

We bought our house on a quiet little cul-de-sac. At the time we moved in I was working full time at the charter school where the kids were going to school. We had to leave home by 7:15 each morning to take Duncan to his childcare and then get everyone to school on time by 8:10. School didn't end each day until 3:20, although since I had to run the traffic and carpool afterschool pick up and sometimes had staff meetings, we never were able to leave the school before 4:15 and sometimes even that was a challenge and then we began our commute home and picked up Duncan and began the ever dreaded, dinner, homework and piano practice, scouts and other evening activities... We were dropping into our beds... those who had them...(explain in another post sometime about that!) absolutely exhausted..... So... after living in our home for 6 months we very much enjoyed our quiet little cul-de-sac throughout the summer..... HOWEVER..... we had had enough of the insanity... We weren't going anywhere the next year... I signed up for K12 curriculum and haven't looked back!... We stayed home!...

What a shock it was for us then when we discovered that as of the first day of school for the traditional elementary school that is located behind our street, we no longer lived on a quiet cul-de-sac.... We wondered what was going on that had a constant stream of traffic coming down and turning around in our little circle... and then to top it all off they were stopping wherever they could find a spot... sometimes in the middle of the road and letting their children out to run through the little pathway into the back of the school....

I was puzzled but we went on with our day only to discover at 2:40 that afternoon as we were getting ready to take my kids to piano lessons that we couldn't back out of our driveway... and that the street was completely lined with parked cars... most had people in them but they weren't showing any signs of leaving any time soon. I convinced the lady stopped at the end of my driveway that I needed out and she needed to move but she obviously was put out by it! I then got turned around to head down the street as swarms of children started to exit the little pathway behind the school and all the cars previously lining the street were in motion... it was like an obstacle course played out with small children and cars. For me to drive past the 7 houses to the turn at our street and then drive the one block so I could get to the main road and leave the neighbourhood took me 15 minutes.... usually less than 1.5 minutes is enough! I was flabbergasted! I thought... I am so glad I'm home schooling my kids, this first day of school stuff is for the birds!

When this continued to be the pattern EVERY DAY... TWICE A DAY... for the rest of the school year... I was beginning to feel my blood boil.... I couldn't send my children out to play, I had to plan to run errands around what we referred to as Rush Hour, and the number of times I thought I would have a heart attack as I saw child after child almost be hit when the obstacle course went amuck. As I spoke with people in my new neighbourhood I learned that they also were dismayed by the traffic but that it has been like this for as long as they can remember.... Except for one guy who said he used to go to that school as a kid and it was fine since there weren't any houses or traffic coming to the school 30 years ago.... hmmm... So I learned that complaints had been made for over 37 years regarding the safety of the children and the excess traffic.... So why after all these years was it still so bad?