What a sports day!

Things really couldn't have been much better in the Parker sports world Saturday.
The Pack beat those pesky Pirates, the Cubs clinched the NL Central and the Tar Heels choked against the Hokies.
So things are looking good. State, which is clearly rebuilding its program after hurricane Amato, doesn't stink that much (Big fan of O'Brien and new qb Russell Wilson), the Cubs are in the playoffs, meaning they have a shot to end the century-long skid and the Heels aren't the world beaters people were making them out to be after the Rutgers win (Rutgers lost to Navy Saturday, too).
Who's to say things will stay this good for long, but Saturday sure was fun!

Jett's flying around

Last Tuesday, Jett turned 10 months old. Kinda hard to believe, huh?
The child prodigy is up to all kinds of new tricks. Mainly, he's walking....on his own.
It all happened pretty quickly. He's always been a fast crawler and for that matter, a quick learner, but a while back, he began pulling up to the coffee table or our hands and walking. He couldn't take steps without holding something, but in the last few weeks, he's conquered that. Now, he can walk across the room or down the hall, even turn or squat down to pick something up and continue on his way.



He can also carry something with him, a bottle or toy, whatever. Sometimes, he will even turn into a dog and carry a ball in his mouth.

He's now also noticing when we take something away from him. It used to be that he would get distracted if we took something from him. Now, he starts whining. It's so funny because he doesn't cry much at all so when he does, it's actually kinda neat.
Then I do the mature thing. I just make fun of him.

New neighbors

We have some new neighbors.
Well, sort of.
They're new to our street, not to us.
Nathan, Emily and Madison Stutts are moving in two doors down! They just closed on the house last week and they've been down there working.
I'm excited. I mean, I grew up with Nathan just a few hundred yards away and we hung out a lot in those days. We've both been doing our own thing recently and hadn't spoken in months when he pulled in our driveway the other day and told us they were looking for a house. There were like 8 for sale in our little village.
I'm glad to have someone else we know living close by. Perhaps even more, I'm glad because of who they are replacing. Remember the neighbors that called the cops on us, I mean Slider? Well, their house right beside us is also vacant now (thank God), but the next one (Nate's) was their relatives' house. One of them bothered Shan one day, but my girl went off on her!
Anyway, they all left in one group a few months back and put their houses up. I think they all went to the nuthouse. Needless to say, Nate and them being there is a 180 degree difference for the positive.
Fortunately for them, they only had to deal with the crazies a few times.
I could never figure those people out other than to say they are just different.
In my job dealing with coaches, I deal with all kinds of personalities. There are the ego-maniacs, the morons, the ones who don't understand what you're trying to do, the shovelers (so full of crap), and the arrogant. Many drive me crazy, but I can pretty much get along with anybody, coaches or whoever, from any background if they're just adult about it.
I mean, there are going to be disagreements between people. That's fine. I really don't care. My personality is one that I can totally disagree with what you're doing, but I'll just respect your opinion. Then I'm sure we can find some common ground. Hey, leave me alone. You do what you want.
Those people, though, were a challenge. I would've taken some overweight nudists over them if they would've just waved at us when they drove by. Maybe even some Carolina fans.
We actually got to a point where the people beside us would wave. Whether they meant it or not, who knows.
Anyway, we're happy to have Nate dog and his fam on K-street.
It's the second time something like this has happened to us. When Shan and I were living in the apartment in Matthews right after we got married, my old college roommate Tyson, who is from Rock Hill, needed a place to live in that area. There were four complexes there at that time, but only ours had one-bedroom set-ups. So there we are, the newlyweds, and my old roomie a golf shot away.
Sounds like we're an upgrade for the Stutts family, too. Where they've lived, on the road out behind Rehobeth, their neighbor is a 50-year-old speedo-wearing, sun worshipper, as Harold described him.
I probably would've taken that guy, too.