A So Cal Girl in the Desert

I was telling my brother-in-law on the phone last night about how we were getting ready to go to the house of a friend of our new friends, Mr. and Mrs. D. How we didn't know the people, but it's really great to have the opportunity to meet new people through our new friends and all that jazz. He said "You guys are dating again!" So true. We're like dating friends. Moving to a new town and entering the "social scene." Only it's not the singles arena (thank GOD), but the family one. That's even worse, if you think about it, because there's so many more people who have to get along in order for the relationship to work.

So far we're great at this family dating thing. We met such cool people last night! Some real characters. And they have a killer pad. The guy works for one of the prominent home builders out here, so he got this extra large lot with a bunch of upgrades on the house. They bought three years ago when there were only nineteen new homes in Maricopa and you couldn't even walk from one to the other. So their house has pretty much quadrupled in value. Nice. They have a huge grassy backyard with a trampoline, air-conditioned play house, sand box, swing set, a full basketball court, a huge freeform saltwater pool with built-in bar stools and hot tub, and a ramada complete with BBQ, bar, seating, and a TV. Good thing the people are so nice, 'cause if they weren't we'd have to pretend we like them and use them for their backyard. There's a fairly large group of friends that gathers there every Thursday evening, and we've earned a standing invitation! I'm so glad, 'cause it was a BLAST. The kids played and swam, the dogs fetched and swam, and the parents drank beer and swam. We ordered pizza and stayed out entirely too late. We didn't get home until midnight. We can't wait until we live in their neighborhood. Our new friend said, "You guys can come back any time. You're terrible parents just like us, staying out past eleven with your kid." I took it as a compliment. They're GREAT parents. And the kid had the most fun of his life and couldn't stop smiling and laughing the whole entire time. On our way to school this morning he asked if we can go back tonight. I think he wants to live there. Who could blame him? The first words out of his mouth this morning when he woke up were "We partied too hard last night, but it was worth it." So, yeah, we kept our 3rd grader out until midnight on a school night. Hey...it's only the first week of school. They don't even have homework, yet. He'll be fine!

On a side note, the super-loud dishwasher in our apartment plays the background accompaniment to Queen's "We Will Rock You."