moving south

So moving from Long Island to Tennessee has been interesting.  Good, and also interesting.  Having been here for over a month, I'm beginning to find my way around (seems easier than LI - traffic, what??) and I'm losing some of those 'weird' feelings of being in a new place.  But here are some differences I've noticed:

1- Our house is normal.

So, so normal.  This is our third house in three years of marriage and the first two were quirky and memorable and had some definite oddities.  One had four full bathrooms, the other had only one, period.  This one has your standard two and a half.  See - normal.  It's in a neighborhood with houses on three sides.  My first night here, I felt the creeped out by those houses and their occupants as I fell asleep.  Quite a difference from not needing curtains for the past 3 years.  But now I enjoy it.  There are always kids out in the cul-de-sac and in some ways, I feel like I just moved to America.  

2- People are nice.

After my first trip to the grocery store here (which is, of course, a different grocery store than I had there), I came home and asked Matt if I looked funny or had something on my face.  As I explained it to him - people were looking at me in the eyes.  I felt like they knew me and I was supposed to know who they were but couldn't remember.  It was nice but unsettling.  I don't feel that way any longer, so either I'm getting used to it or there was an exceptionally personable crowd at Kroger that day.  

3- The wildlife is aggressive.

No longer do I have to protect my garbage cans from raccoons (see #1- I now live in a neighborhood.  And I have a garage).  But my first few weeks here we had an extremely high number of spiders in the corners of this house.  And then there was the afternoon when Matt was mowing the backyard and came tearing in the front door, screaming my name and ripping his shirt off.  He was covered in yellow jackets stingers.  He had run over a nest with the mower and they came out and stung him nine times!  It was terrible.  Hundreds of them swarmed around the mower for the rest of the evening.  Later, when I was taking his shirt to the wash, one came out and stung me on the finger!  Umm, it hurt SO bad . . . some tears came out.  I don't know how Matt got stung that many times.  I am a real baby.  And my finger swelled up like a sausage. 

That was also the night of a certain finale of a certain summer TV hit in which the girl gets the guy and I couldn't watch it because we decided not to get cable.  So we sat on the couch covered in ice packs and were miserable.  And properly terrified of the lawn.  So the grass got really long before Matt could spray them dead and get to grass-cutting.

So that was some drama.  

We've already had visitors - My friend Erin and her little boy Haddon came for a night.  The following is an idea of how the boys have grown since their meeting a year before:

It is no small task getting two toddlers to sit for a picture!

Moose has adjusted just fine to his new home.  One day I looked down to realize he'd gotten all fancy:

These guys are still buddies:

Or at least Bo is in love with Moose.  Moose is just tolerant. 

My little Bo keeps growing!

It kind of seems like he never stops eating. 

I started to get concerned when he polished off his plate in half the time of his older cousins.  

And then started to eat what was left of their food. 

Like he's going to be a bully who steals other kids' lunches in the cafeteria. 

My sweet little guy?!?  I hope not.