A house on our street had been for sale for the past several, several months, but we didn't even notice when the For Sale sign disappeared! When we got back from our trip to Fredericksburg, my MIL mentioned that our new neighbors had moved in over the weekend (she had seen the U haul and boxes, etc). We were a bit shocked at first because we hadn't seen the sign disappear, but then we were delighted and I immediately wanted to go meet them!!
It turns out, though, it would be over a week before we could get down there as a family. Seth was out of town all week (M-F) and Austin had (what they think might have been) Chicken Pox, so I wasn't even leaving the house. So, come Friday, I baked up some oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies with stuff I already had on hand, with the hopes of taking it to them on Saturday. I put the cookies on a plate with ribbon and a note with our contact information should they ever need anything.
Then, early Saturday afternoon, we headed down the street. Two doors. The husband was in the yard trimming trees (the wife arrived home shortly afterward) so it was easy to start talking to them. I am just thrilled to have them on our street! They seemed very nice, are in a similar life stage, and have an 8-month old lab puppy. We had Georgia Mae with us (of course) and we all commented on how they could be best friends. It was very fun.
I'm always a sucker for things like this... things that build community, things that foster connections, things that make your heart warm. With all the ways people have to connect electronically, I feel like we've lost the ability to connect physically (in the PG way!) ... By actually going to the new neighbors and saying "Hello! Welcome!" As a person who believes in snail mail, plates of cookies, and hugs, I challenge everyone reading this to pick one thing you could do for someone else that doesn't involve a computer, the internet or your cell phone, and do it this week!
The only problem is that they have a large OU flag in the front yard. ;-)
1 - this is one of the things about you that has made me a better person. Love that you do things like that!! I'm sure that it made the whole ordeal of moving a lot sweeter for them (even beyond the cookies)...
ReplyDelete2 - I've got to find a picture I saw on facebook and send it your way. It fits with the whole OU banner (although not really in Texas's favor)... :-)