Everyone should get a dog.....

We moved to our new town not knowing a soul. Unless you count the sales people who sold us our home. Eventually our neighborhood will have 186 homes, but right now there are 19 families living here. And about 35 homes going up all around us, so that we're all climbing over mud and mess, and waking up to the sound of huge pieces of yellow equipment that beep when in reverse.

It seems they are always in reverse, especially at 7 am.

I've decided everyone who moves should get a dog.  Walking Lily every day, we're out and about and have met at least half of the people who have moved in. And having Lily with me is like hanging out with the cheerleading captain or homecoming queen. She's so stinkin' cute everyone stops to pet her, whether they are dog lovers or not. For many at our stage of life, dogs are much like grandchildren. Fun to play with for a little while, then send them back home where they came from.



So we've not only met our next door neighbor; she and I have gone shopping once, then Cub Sweetheart and I had lunch with her. He's gone over several times to check out her AC or get the lid off a paint can that is firmly stuck, etc. etc. We found out through casual conversation that her birthday was yesterday, so we invited her and some neighbors over for cake and candles on our covered patio.

The wind was blowing hard enough we couldn't keep the candles lit, but still, we sang to her, and sat out long enough we had to turn on our cute Edison lights. An hour later the birthday girl took home the rest of the ice cream cake, to share with her grandkids who are coming this weekend, and we all felt like we knew each other a bit better.

As she was leaving, we gave her the code to our home, showed her how to use it on the keypad, and where we keep the pickle ball paddles and balls, so she can borrow them whenever her Littles come to visit her.

Community is feeling nice. Enough so that we're choosing to think of the 7 am beeping as a gentle wake up call. Get up sleepyhead, there's life to be lived and a cute little dog to be walked!