Ross and Emily

This past weekend we got new neighbors. I saw them unloading their moving van on Friday night and on Saturday their deck gradually became buried under cardboard boxes.

It just so happened I had gotten the urge to bake something on Saturday afternoon so I had several pounds of pumpkin fudge to pass off on unsuspecting recipients. ;) I decided to take some to the new neighbors, since they looked nice and I like to start off neighbor-relations on the right foot. :)

"Honey, wanna come with me to take this to the new neighbors?"

"Do you need me to come?"

"Well, I think we should both introduce ourselves. . . it'll only take a second."

So, we knocked on the new neighbors' door. When it opened I started my little speech: "Hi, I'm Angel and this is my husband Dan -- we live next door --"

The man inside the door didn't let me finish; in fact, I'm not sure he even heard a word I said. As soon as he saw us he was smiling, shaking our hands, introducing himself and practically pulling us -- willing or not -- into the apartment. He said his name was Ross and introduced the smiling woman who rushed out to greet us as his wife Emily. I know I managed the words "pumpkin fudge" because Emily quickly declared she loved all things made with pumpkin and she was going to want the recipe. For a few minutes there was a lot of talking and noise from their dogs barking, during which I attempted to say that we hadn't meant to bother them and we wouldn't stay long. It was no use, however, because every time I started a sentence I was interrupted by "Oh no, we're so glad to have you!" or "Oh, we're so happy to meet you!" or "We're just so glad you stopped by!" We soon felt completely unlike the welcoming neighbors and more like the welcomed guests. :)

As we soon learned (and as I could tell immediately from Emily's "Texas A & M" sweatshirt), Ross and Emily have just relocated here from Texas. We chatted with them for nearly an hour before we finally dragged ourselves away (enjoyed every minute of it, I might add). Turns out they have many of the same interests as we do and, as Ross proclaimed them, are "gun-totin' Republicans" as well as Bush supporters. We could certainly use a few more of those around here. ;)

When we finally went back to our apartment Daniel commented, "Wow, they were really friendly!" And I said, "Yes, dear. . . that's how people are in the South. Isn't it great?" ;)