Would you like to walk about?

For the past 10 months, in addition to adjusting to Seth being on a mission in Paraguay, I've also been adjusting to being in a brand new ward. I really think it would have been easier not to face both these adjustments at almost exactly the same time, but no one asked my opinion. Now this new ward seems to have lots of traditions that date back all the way to the restoration, so we Sixth Ward transplants need to catch up. One such tradition is called the "Hostess Dinner," which happened a couple months ago. That was a good evening although I kept wanting to go sample the food from the other tables. I refrained.

Another tradition happens in the summer and is called the "Walk About." They put signs up all around the neighborhood, encouraging everyone to come out and, well, walk about. Then they ask three families to host. These families put up a "Stop" sign in their yards, set out some chairs, and have treats ready for people walking about. That sounds easy enough (WAY easier than hosting a table for the Hostess Dinner, coming up with a theme, decorating (eeek!), and planning food (double eeek!). So when the bishopric counselor emailed and asked me if we would be one of the hosts for the Walk About, I quickly agreed.

Then I thought, "Wait, what did I just agree to???"

You see, I love hosting people in our home. My annual Christmas cookie exchange is one of the highlights of my year, and I welcome other opportunities as well to share our home with friends. Our home, NOT our yard. In fact, whenever we're expecting guests, I pray they will just pull up to the house, look neither left nor right, and quickly make their way to the front door and inside. Why? Because my yard looks like crap. Always. It pretty much looks like the house is abandoned, and I'm not even kidding. I try so hard, but I'm not good at yard work, and I basically hate it, so yeah. It's terrible.

So just after I agreed to host this Walk About deal, it occurred to me that I just said yes, not to people coming to visit my house, no. I just said yes to people coming to visit my YARD! Ahhhhhhhhh. What was I thinking? Enter my favorites Eli and Amanda, who came to my rescue and tried to help. Amanda edged and weed-whacked like a mad woman, while Eli pulled weeds and clipped branches. I mowed the lawn and raked up foliage into the dumpster.

Truth, it still looks like crap, but slightly better crap.

The night of the Walk About it was a tad stormy. Wind blew, and at one point rain threatened to dampen (literally) my chairs, tables, and plates of brownies. But that didn't last long, and ultimately the event was lovely. Several families came by, some from the ward, others from the neighborhood and not members of our church. There were lots of hungry kids who liked brownies; good thing I made three pans. It was really such a nice time. No one mentioned my crappy yard, but then of course no one would. I didn't think about it too much either because there were so many nice folks to talk to.

I hear they do these Walk Abouts a couple more times during the summer, so if you live in the neighborhood and see the signs, I highly recommend you come.

Would you like to walk about?