Oct 30- The neighborhood Halloween Party

We got the invitation about 3 weeks ago and I thought to myself that this would be an excellent challenge. I've not had much of a chance to meet our neighbors so the idea of meeting them for the first time, all at once, while dressed in costume, sounded like torture. So I made Tom RSVP that we would be there.

Last years Halloween Party was in Colorado with a group of my co-workers and that will more than likely be nothing like tonight's party. I can't pre-judge since I don't know a soul who'll be there, but from my casual observations I'd say that the crowd was going to be middle aged and ready for bed by 10pm. I was half right, they were all between 40 and 50 with teenage or college age children, but they were not ready for bed when we left at 11pm. Some were heading to other parties and others were going to a local brew pub for a costume contest. What's wrong with us...we couldn't get home fast enough to get to bed.

We kept getting introduced to everyone like this, "have you met Colorado yet?, they're actually normal". So finally I had to ask and was told that everyone else who has moved onto our street has not been normal. For the next 2 hours I heard about every freak, drug addict, jail bird, womanizing neighbor who is apparently living just a few houses from us. How have I missed all of this gossip living and breathing around me? Why is this the first time I've heard about our semi crazy neighbors who share a street with us?

Oh, and everyone else is from Buffalo. I guess you move to Tampa from Buffalo because it's a huge upgrade but if you move from Colorado there must be something wrong with you. We were asked that too. All in all I did feel like we met some very fun and interesting people even if they were from Buffalo. Neighborhood gossip is part of the fun of living in burbs, right? I'm just a little more paranoid now about "Jimmy" who is due of out prison anyday now and has been known to pick fights with the woman in the neighborhood. Where have I moved to? I know it's Florida but it's still the USA, right? So bizarre.