Score 1: New Neighborhood

We got new neighbors last week. I had a couple of panic attacks over this.

We moved from our first house because we hated the neighborhood from pretty much the first week we lived there. During the first month we lived at our old house a man from across the street did not for the life of him understand why I didn't like listening to his blaring music. He didn't understand it so much he parked his car in front of my house blaring his music at me and screaming, "Is This Loud Enough!" until I called the police. So that was a nice housewarming.

He moved after I filed a police report or two, because I felt oddly threatened with a large man bellowing at me from the sidewalk. But that was the best thing about that terrible neighborhood. There were always more assholes to replace the ones that left. Like the guy, who it turns out had a raging drug problem, who drove his truck back and forth on the sidewalk outside my bedroom windows. 

Oh and then the rental next door which was filled with various loud people. They'd head to the bar at 11pm, as Logan and I rolled off to bed, having a newborn baby.  Luckily our daughter slept through the night, unluckily our neighbors returned from the bar at 2am and then the real party started. Oh boy that was enjoyable night after night.

Picture it: Middle of winter. Me in my bathrobe, glasses and bed head holding a 2 month old infant on the porch screaming, "DO YOU THINK I LIKE STANDING OUT HERE TELLING YOU TO STOP PLAYING TOUCH FOOTBALL ON MY LAWN AT 3 IN THE MORNING!?"

And don't get me wrong, we tried to be reasonable. When Maddie was 8 days old they asked if they could put us up at a hotel so they could have a party. We spent the night with family just to cut them some slack. But then the next weekend there wasn't a "party" but somehow "not a party" sounds a lot like a party to the sleeping adult.

So you can imagine how scared we were when we sold that house and moved to a new neighborhood. We knew the house we ended up moving to was a quiet neighborhood with other families and people who care about one another. How novel!

Of course that didn't work out well and last year we nervously left moving to another neighborhood totally afraid we'd end up on another block where I'd be standing out on the front lawn screaming at overgrown fraternity boys to stop playing touch football on my lawn.

But I guess I worried about it enough because this is a surprisingly quiet neighbrhood. Maybe not as community oriented as the last neighborhood but quiet and clean and nobody leaves a toilet on their lawn for 2 weeks.

Then Monday someone new moved in next door and I spent the next 24 hours creating various scenarios for how awful they were going to be. Oh and I thought they were going to be awful, let me tell you. Of course Logan was convinced they'd be a group of hot exhibitionistic co-eds who loved naked pillow fights and were philosophically opposed to window blinds.

Pillow fights can be quiet so I'd have accept that.

After a week of spying like Mrs Kravitz, Saturday I made muffins to bring over. 

We packaged them up, Logan made a label introducing our family and we brought the box over.

He kept it more upbeat than I had thought about. You know something subtle like, "Welcome to the neighborhood! Please just don't be loud or you'll have to see me in my bathrobe.

Another sign this neighborhood is not like the one we owned in. Actual families move here, not overgrown fraternity boys. Next up: Neighborhood Happy Hour!

*Edited to add link to recipe: I used this one for lemon poppy seed muffins.

Comments

[kim]

Just so you know, if I got a box of those fancy muffins in that fancy packaging, I'd be all intimidated and afraid to invite you to my messy house :o)

[karen]

Those muffins look delicious! Recipe?

[Jessica]

Yes, recipe for those muffins please!

[AmyMusing]

The links you include to make your point are SO worth the visit! I see why you moved. But I would have loved it even more if the muffins were delivered in a basket that you asked them to return, like Brie on Desperate Housewives. It makes me laugh every time she does that.

[Ginnie]

Yeah, but...did they eat it?
Oh, forget it. I'm sure they did.

[Sadie at heymamas]

Congrats....three times a charm right? Wishing you health and happiness in your new hood.

Sadie at heymamas

[Celina]

You must be the best neighbor ever!

[Nell]

What I want to know is how I can find a neighborhood with neighbors who bring you muffins. What are the signs?

[Maggie May]

you are so sweet to make that package. i admit i would be intimidated by any neighbor who had her shit enough together to not only make muffins for the new family, but to label them cute.

[Tina]

oh my God..this reminded me so much of a neighborhood we lived in about 13 years ago...a rental next door... so close we could reach out our bedroom window and exchange pleasantries...if the folks next door hadn't be hopped up on crack most of the time. I used to say that someday we'd drive by and all that would be left was a smoldering black hole. eeeekkkk, we moved shortly after the gentleman next door broke in our home....he said he "needed to use the phone." I suggested knocking next time. BOO for bad neighbors and crack heads.

[Kristen]

I want to move next door to you, just to get those muffins. I am going to file this away for a time when I live in a neighborhood where people actually talk to each other. Doesn't happen much in the city of Chicago!

[Jungletwins]

Great post, and I am seriously jealous of your muffin cooking and packaging abilities. Sorry about your horrible ex-neighbors, but I feel your pain. My husband and I have had insane/freaky/say what?? neighbors all over the world.

[christy]

The anticipation is killing me! What did they do?! Did they come over and say thanks? Throw molotov cocktails at you? WHAT?!

[Melissa W.]

PLEASE tell me how to survive the overgrown frat boys!! We've had some living next to us (their driveway is, of course, on the side of our bedrooms) for 3-4 years in a very family-friendly neighborhood in Ann Arbor. I tried being nice, they stole our bird feeders (in the snow...with damning footprints...not bright). I tried warning them before calling the police, they keyed our cars. The alpha d*** kicked out three of them and got married. Better right? Nope, she's just as bad and just as drunk. I've stolen your "neighbor with voice that could cut tile" description for my own use :-)Wooooooooo! No other neightbors (or their children) seem to care.

*help*

All that said I hope your new neighbors are terrific, return your generosity, and become wonderful friends! That would be grand!

[amy]

We had the same, actually worse, experience in the house we bought in Los Angeles. Add in all the noise but also add in gangsta thugs who park their car outside your house and blast music from their car or blast rap from their apartment with lyrics like, "kill all the cops and white people". Yeah, that made us feel welcome. The parties were outrageous, the drunk lady down the street was a nightmare. We still have the house because we can't sell it.

As nervous as I was to live in a cookie cutter tract development, it is so quiet and most of the neighbors have kids so they get the quiet at night thing. We just got new neighbors across the street and I was terrified but they turned out to be a quiet family from out of state with a mommy, daddy, and little girl.

[Tina]

We had some overgrown frat boys across the street for awhile. The week I came home with my baby, one of them stood outside washing his car with Megadeath (no I am not kidding) blaring. I hated him. He is gone now. And your little packaging makes me feel like a loser. That looks so awesome! I just wrap them in foil...

[lynne]

I used to live upstairs from a guy who had a band and liked to have rehearsals at his place at all hours of the night. And he was the landlord. And he didn't care about the random people who would park behind me and make me unable to go to work. Then there was the landlord at another place who kicked us out because we wanted him to install a lock on our door. And then there was the time our window got egged, the day before Christmas, so it was ice cold and broke. When we looked at our current place, the very pregnant lady next door came out to say hello and make sure we weren't bad people who would scare her future kid. Thanks to her friendliness, we bought the place and 3 years later we're such good friends that I'm babysitting that kid right now as I type this. Good neighbors make all the difference! I think maybe I'll make some of those muffins too.

[melissa]

i've never had scary neighbors but i've had my share of neighbors that liked to pose in front of open windows butt naked. yeah, those are pleasant.
and yum...muffins.