Peer Pressure is a Motha!

Remember when your parents said "If all your friends jumped off a Bridge, would you?". That was a famous one in our house. Saturday was a beautiful North Carolina day. As you read in my previous blog I did yard work. Well Texas' husband did my yard work. After the yard work was done, we met up in Cali's front yard to let the kids play like we do most nights. Apparently Cali had gotten onto her husband about cleaning out the garage. He deploying and if she was anything like me there would be no way in hell I would clean that out by myself! So Cali's husband pulls out a pretty steep bike ramp. Being that he has been around BMX all his life it made sense. So he decides to start jumping it and the neighbor across the street Josh (don't know where he is from!) joins in. Josh rides his bike to work and back. He was a pro. Well pretty soon they start taunting Texas' husband to jump the ramp. He went to jump it a few times and bailed at the last min. Then the kids started chanting "Do it! Do it!" Well he did it. He looked good in the air, but the landing was a little shaking. You know you should do something when your own wife says you are going to get hurt and end up in the ER. He came down hard. His tires slid and he smacked with force right into the end of my husband's Ford Focus. It was like slow motion replay. It was beautiful. It was one of the greatest things I ever saw in my life. After he hit I couldn't help but run up to him with a smile. I had to hold back the "Dude that was flippin awesome" line. I didn't want to seem to insensitive. But it was awesome. He didn't have any outward signs he had been badly hurt. Just his pride I think. Poor guy. After he took a minute, he got up and surveyed the damage to the bike. You see, it wasn't his bike. He just borrowed it from his friend two days before.  He got up and said, "I just bought a bike!" I felt so bad. I wasn't even concerned with the focus. It has a scratch in it from the handle bars but I was just happy it was there because if it wasn't, he would have slammed his head on the concrete. With no helmet.  Its never a dull moment in the Bataan neighborhood. Just last week we had a girl back her car into a car parked directly behind her. Few days later, there was a DV (domestic violence) in that same driveway. Couple days after that, a car was repossessed a few house down from us.  If you front porch sit in this neighborhood, you will have no need for T.V.  After everything calmed down, we made supper. Had to give Texas and her husband a steak. That was more entertaining than a PPV and cheaper!!! I feel bad because as we were eating I said "Holy crap you have a Quasimodo eye!!" (FOOT IN MOUTH DISEASE.) We all got a laugh at his expense. Nothing a couple jello shots can't cure!!! Typically Saturday night. Sitting in Cali's front yard, kids playing, Olkie brings the jello shots, and Cali makes the margaritas on their gas powered blender! (Oh yeah, picture to come, I know my dad would be impressed with that!) You gotta love my neighbors. They really are our best friends.  We have become mothers and fathers to each others kids. And aren't they some great kids!!

The Bataan kids. Minus a few. So what is the lesson we learned today: If children (Ages 7 and below.) Are chanting for you to do something you think might be slightly stupid, you probably shouldn't do it!!