I Am Attila The Hun - Watch Me Dial 911!

In the wee hours of the morning, I called 911 for the first time in my life. I was so groggy, I didn't even know what to do, I went all the way downstairs even though there's a phone in the room I was sleeping in. I had been up earlier because I was hungry and unable so sleep. I must have just fallen asleep when I heard glass breaking, and I opened the window so I could hear better where it was coming from. It was coming from up the street, so I called 911 and they were getting 2 other calls for the same thing right about then. The guy chose that moment to run away and shout some stuff, so I recognized his voice as the stoned/drunk/cognitively disabled man (it's unclear if it's any or all of those) that woke me up a few nights ago, beating on the neighbor's car and getting yelled at by them. That night he ran away wailing and shouting obscenities too, after a long confrontation with our very loud neighbors. Now I wish I'd called the cops that night - but it seemed no one was getting hurt and with my very vocally loud neighbors, I never know if they're really seriously angry or just being very seriously loud. See, when I hear yelling, I think that hitting is next and if I hear lots of yelling then I think that lots of hitting is coming up and it makes me very nervous. I always assume that someone is about to get badly hurt. A friend of mine explained to me that it's a cultural thing, these neighbors of mine are just loud that way, and after observing them for a while, I can see that they don't seem to be physically violent, just very verbally expressive. ( I think.....)

At any rate, this time the cops nailed the stoned/drunk/cognitively disabled man. Actually, I was still in Attila the Hun mode, I wanted to run out into the street when I saw him running and take him down, steal his bat or shovel or whatever he was using, and make sure he didn't get away. But I realized just soon enough that I was without glasses, I was in my PJ's, barefoot, and 5 months pregnant. Not so much of a great time for running down and ass kicking - except in cyberland.

Everyone's fine, except for the porch windows he broke in the neighbor's house. I'm so glad no one got hurt. It took a long time to simmer down from that though, so it was another long night. However, I did get to read a really good article that my husband brought home for me to read. If you've ever seen the movie The Other Sister , it talks about this topic. The article was about Carrie Bergeron, a woman with Down's Syndrome who is getting married to a man with Down's syndrome. Their families have specific concerns and they have a lot of determination to make it on their own. You can read more about their story at that link if you want. I find it fascinating to read about people with disabilities who are determined to live independently and how with the help of a community of people, that is often more possible than once thought.

In other news, (because I know you're wondering) Attila the Hun conquered the Visigoths, the Alans and the Western Roman Empire yesterday. It was a long, bloody, and costly battle. I lost many many armies of men (and women) but ended the battle 24 calvary strong and with 4 trebuchets still intact. I demanded my dowry and received it. Still, I am restless. Today we will march on Rome in the last battle of our campaign. Details at 11.

Incidentally, Blogger's Spellcheck wants to replace Trebuchets with Therapists!!! HAHAHA!!