About this blog and about Renee

A few blog readers have asked that I write a little about the purpose of this blog and who I am. Here you go.

My family and I have lived in Pinehurst for over ten years. I am married to a very kind and understanding husband (who lets me go to many meetings) and have two children who are in elementary school. I work full time as an accountant and my husband is a stay-at-home dad (or “homemaker” as he says on his tax returns). We live in a small house with one bathroom and have one car. I ride the bus as much as possible. We really love our house and our neighborhood.

When we first moved to the neighborhood, I was concerned about the safety of the playground equipment at Pinehurst Playfield. Together with a number of dedicated neighbors, we organized Friends of Pinehurst Playfield, got community input in what folks wanted in a new play area and raised funds and redeveloped the site (I was more involved earlier than later in the project as my daughter was born midway through the process).

About three years ago, Safeway asked if the community was interested in having a dialogue about possible redevelopment of the Pinehurst store. A number of neighbors came together again and we worked with Safeway to find a way to build a new Pinehurst store that would work for both Safeway and the neighborhood. The solution we have proposed is a LEED certifiable store that would have a coffee shop that could serve as a community gathering space. You can read more about the Safeway project here.

This blog was first created as a test to try to share information on the Safeway project. It has evolved and changed over time. Hopefully, it is getting better and is useful to folks. Readership has increased steadily and has gone up the most since the beginning of 2009. Hits per day ranges between 50 – 350. Not huge, but pretty good for a neighborhood blog that search engines can’t seem to find.

It has been great to have Erica’s Pinehurst Pets posts. I look forward to reading them on Saturdays, and I know many of you do as well because it is the most popular feature on the blog.

If you have news to share or if you would like to write for the blog, please let me know (reneeastaton@gmail.com or 366-9472). It is always good to have more perspectives.