Neighbor Encounter

We have lived here now for almost 8 months and our neighbors have always seemed very friendly.  Our 'Asian neighbors' are funny to watch and the Mom was really interested to meet Norah when she arrived!  So, once we were home and semi settled we brought her over to meet Mei Ling.  She invited me in, which I wasn't expecting at all, and we sat and 'talked' for quite some time.  She was so impressed at how big Norah was and with so much hair!  She has three daughters, 11, 8 and 3 and they were interested in Norah as well.  Mei Ling doesn't speak a whole lot of English and I was talking through their oldest daughter as a type of translator.  It was nice to try and get to know our neighbors!  Eventually Norah got hungry, so it was time for me to go home and feed her.

Their youngest 2 watching My Little Pony

Later in the day the older daughter came over and asked something and I agreed and then I realized that I had just agreed to babysit her kids.  It wasn't a big deal because her kids are older and she just wanted to run some errands, so I just went over there and stayed.  They watched My Little Pony the entire time... something that I probably won't have the kids watch because it was ANNOYING!  Originally she said it was going to be for 30 minutes because they had to pick up a bed for somebody but then that time came and went... and then an hour went by and she still wasn't there and I didn't have a way of getting a hold of her.  At least the kids were being good so that wasn't an issue... and then she came home.  :)  During our talk I found out that they are actually paying the rent bracket below us, and because our rent is controlled by how much one makes they have to be making nothing.  She was very kind and tried to pay me but it wasn't that big of a deal, so I kindly declined and just headed home.  I was glad that I was able to help her out because I know that having the option in case of an emergency of your neighbors being trusty is wonderful.

Well, the next day she came over with gifts for Norah and Lucy (because it was her birthday) and she had made us dinner!  It was this delightful fish dish that she had prepared and the kids loved it.  It was very thoughtful of her to do that and it made me feel kind of guilty that she had spent money on us knowing that they don't make hardly any.  But, it would've been a slap in her face to not take it, so I graciously took it and happily consumed.  :)  The outfits she got the girls were adorable.  Lucy loves the skirt (which you will see her wearing at the beach) and Norah was quite content with hers too (haha).

The hoodie that the neighbors gave

Cute Beatrix Potter outfit for Norah

I love the community that we live in right now.  It's perfect for us because of our family situation and everybody around us seems to be in the same.  :)

JVG