Southern Hospitality

The large truck pulled up to my house at exactly 9:27 yesterday morning. I know this because I looked at the clock after getting my son to sleep for his morning nap.

Perfect timing.

Apparently we had 183 boxes of household goods.

183?

I thought we'd have around 50. Of course, the dryer counted as two.

Don't ask. I spent the whole day trying to figure it out and I have a headache.

Or maybe that's from my moldy fridge.

I nearly fell over dead after opening it. It was like a bad chemistry lab. Or Erin Brockovitch's house.

Regardless, our house is now full of shit. Ha. Full of our shit. The shit that my daughter has no memory of, so every box of toys is like a whole new world. And thank goodness they packed that empty bottle of baby food. And the two nasty kitchen rugs that reek of dog. And the 14,932 toys I could have sworn I threw out.

Note to self: Never leave your husband with the packers.

And it's so great that the movers clearly mark all the boxes -- like the one that said "hats." Try "helmets." Or the one that said "toys." Try "chairs." (not even close there).

I was really hoping the one marked "Boos" was accurate.

Yeah. No such luck on that one.

So just when I couldn't scrub another spot of mold, a friendly neighbor drove by.

"Can I bring you dinner?" she asked.

"Absolutely," I said, not even thinking twice about being demure and waving her off with a kind word of thanks. I've been eating Hormel meals for the last four days and I'm tired of everything tasting like soup. It still scares me that they require no refrigeration. How is that possible?

I digress.

And so she arrived later this evening with scrumptious pesto pasta, a salad, homemade cookies, and beer.

I nearly cried.

We talked about our kids, the weather, the neighborhood, and our work. She's a writer. So am I. She's a culture and arts writer. So am I. Well, if you call dildos culture and arts.

We hit it off, and vowed to meet again for a playdate. "Come over and have some wine," she said.

Indeed I will, I thought.

Maybe Southern hospitality isn't a myth afterall.

Except they're from Philly.

Comments

[liv]

Welcome! Southern hospitality is real, and maybe you'll even start to like it here. For the past 30 years, GA has been good to me.

[Julie]

Your story is like porn for lonely housewives moving to a new city. It sounds so wonderful and at the same time, so unbelievable.

[Stephanie]

you crack me up! we people from philly...we are all special!

[TB]

Awesome that you'll have someone cool close by. And I'm so glad you didn't have to wait until the 22nd for your furniture.
Sorry I missed you in the ATL... we'll catch up next time when things aren't so crazy.

[helen]

We just moved and have an unopened box in the garage marked "babies". As a soon to be mother of a newborn and a two year old, I am not touching that one, no way.
Congrats on the neighbor, that so much helps.

[MsRebecca]

lmao! I almost died when you said the Philly part..

[haley-o]

Wow, hospitality indeed! I wish I had neighbours like that!

We had packers move all our stuff, too. I still wonder if they tried anything shady when they packed my lingerie.......

[Kelly]

See? The City of Brotherly (or Sisterly) Love isn't a myth!

Wine and beer and playdates...off to a smashing start!!

[Christina]

Hooray for a good neighbor!

And there was a box marked GRAMS? Did they pack up your MIL on accident?

[river]

when the australian Army moved us from Brisbane to Sydney back in 1974 the house they sent us to was brand new and not even finished. It had no stove among other things. Then we were told our furniture had gone to Melbourne by mistake. So we were camping in the living room with two babies,our new across the road neighbours loaned us their portable hotplate, two camping beds, a cot for the baby, and also brought over a bar fridge with milk, eggs and butter to put in it. We loved them for two years, then we were on the move again.

[Lady M]

Hooray for that neighbor!

Perhaps there is a secret society of Philly expats to whom she can introduce you?

[jen]

friends already. how perfect is that.

[Mom101]

You found your people! You found your people!

There is no greater joy - unless you count sharing a bottle of "boos" with your people.

[lildb]

oh, that's *hilarious*.

and beer? + wine? she sounds dreamy. can I borrow her?

[jozet]

When we moved to Pennsyltucky and told our new neighbors that we were from Philly, we were eyed suspiciously. Hmmmph! And guess who is the person in the neighborhood who brought over lasanga and salad and dessert the next time someone new moved in? That's right: the Philly Girl.

Congrats and finding a Friend From Pennsylvania in the south. That's a good mix.

[design mom]

There's just nothing quite as lovely as someone showing up with dinner after a long, hard day. Good for your good neighbor. And good for you.

Hooray for settling in.

[MU]

I'm thinking it's BOOKS sans the K --

Although I was just hoping it was BOOZE misspelled.

I'm thinking GRAMS might be Games?

Who the hell knows at this point...

[jeanie]

You do know that movers/delivery guys and the ilk don't get their licenses until they can arrive at the EXACT moment they will be most inconvenient.

Its not the things that got there that will amaze and astound - it is the gradual uncovering of the things that will forever be in the vortex between "there" and "here".

Yay on good neighbours.

[lara]

philly's the city of brotherly love, right? not so strange. :-P

[LawyerMama]

Fantastic! And of course they're from Philly.

Yeah, I'm kind of curious about what was in the boos box too.

When we moved from Germany back to the U.S., the movers packed up their empty lunch trash. Yeah, there was an empty sardine can nicely wrapped up in newspaper in my desk. That wasn't hostile or anything.

[Heather]

"Come over and have some wine," she said.

yeah, I don't care what the accent sounds like, those words coming out of anyone's mouth, say even from Boston, would be music to my ears.

Yeeeehaaaww!

[Phoenix]

I'm cracking up at that last line. So, you probably will get along. Sides, any neighbor who brings real food and boos iny our time of need, must be a great person. Plus, wine. ;)

Glad you got your stuffs.

[Gina]

Good for you! I'm far too socially retarded to accept a meal from a neighbor. Oh... I put on the I'm-normal show for about ten minutes upon first meeting them, but as soon as they want to get more involved, I pretend I'm allergic to whatever-it-is-they-wanna-do and walk away looking like the weirdo.

These PPD pills I'm on are supposed to help with "social anxiety" so perhaps there's hope for me after all.

I wanna find MY doppelganger too!

[Jackie]

Sounds like you've moved in next door to you doppelganger! Awesome!

[mothergoosemouse]

TMO doesn't exactly hire the brightest bulbs, but as long as they don't break my shit (which they have anyway) I don't care what they label the boxes.

Unpacking always sucks, but doing it with beer and a potential new friend makes it infinitely more palatable.

[porter]

Geez...packing stinks...in your case literally!
Nice that you have met someone who might become a friend...that's cool.

[brighton]

Yay for the South! (said in my best Texas drawl)

[melissa]

After our last PCS, we discovered that the movers packed 2,387 pieces of paper my son had shoved into his desk, in a box marked "Drewing Pictuers". However they failed to pack an entire cabinet in the kitchen that contained all of my mixing bowls.

It's been seven years and I found another green item sticker underneath a chair last week.

[Jail Diet]

now THAT's a neighbor!

Good for you for accepting the offer!

[Jennifer]

Great to have beer and wine drinking neighbors! How nice to have already made a friend!

[Angela]

Lovely neighbor! Awesome!

And of course the truck had to come during nap time. At least it's all in and you have a real bed again...right?

Although there's something to be said about blowup mattresses...oh wait, no, there's not.

[m]

Wow that is so sweet! I have never had a new neighbor offer us anything :P

Our boxes included not only our stuff but a handful of "waterbugs" and spiders from NC. Plus they lost all the hardware for every piece of furniture we own that they HAD to take apart!

I loved our movers!

[Lisse]

That's awesome, Kristen! You needed a random gift like that. Atlanta's filled with Yankee expats.

[Kristen]

Hate is a very strong word. I never judge a book by it's cover.

Or drawl.

[Mrs. Chicky]

Sounds like you hit the neighbor jackpot. Lucky you!

[petite mommy]

I'll just consider myself an Appalachian then. LOL. I've still got the accent but it's more hillbilly. :)

[Wendy]

So, do you hate all Southerners or just the ones you have met? LOL!

[AndreAnna]

One nice, normal neighbor who will bring your food and serve you wine is almost worth living anywhere.

Those are hard to come by.

[Her Bad Mother]

Dildos aren't art? Whuh?

[Dena]

YAY on the new neighbors! And hey not all Philly people are bad.. I'm from Philly. I enjoy reading your blog... Too bad I didn't find it till a few weeks ago.. Best of luck down South. Im sticking to Philly for now:-)

[Karla]

A neighbour who brings beer and invites you over for wine?

NICE!

Apparently, I am living in the wrong part of this Country.

[BOSSY]

Philadelphians aren't *all* bad. There's your new neighbor... Bossy... Dick Clark...

[Mrs. Chicken]

Yay! Friendly neighbors and no in-laws. Moldy fridge or not, you've hit the jackpot.

My neighbors are busy trying to destroy my property value by being midwestern hillbillies who don't believe in grass as a ground cover.

Hurrah for you, friend!

[Manic Mommy]

She's a spy sent by the sin-laws! Don't eat anything she gives you unless the dog trys a bite first!

What was in the 'boos' box??

[Suebob]

I am in love with your neighbor already.

[divrchk]

Yeah! New friends is a good thing. Especially if they have kids that your kids can play with while you have that glass of wine.

[Kvetch]

They're from Philly...this surprises you, why?

:-)