Almost a Month Here

My wife's brother just got married last week in Washington DC, so we spent a week out there - unfortunately we still haven't explored this lovely State much.  It was nice to drive 7 hours and be in the Nation's Capitol.  Being from the west, everything is so close out here.  At West it is at least 10 or 11 hours between major cities, I am just thrilled how close so many places are.

Pig Pickin' - not a Western BBQ
Our Church is going to host a Pig Pickin' next Saturday.  A Pig Pickin' is cooking an entire pig (in this case 150 lbs) in a pit and people eat it and bring sides to accompany.

There has been a lot of education as what is appropriate to bring to a Pig Pickin'.  There are a lot of transplants from the West at our Church and apparently there were quite a few faux pas committed at last year's pig pickin'.  People showed up with green salads and jellos.  Someone even brought Kraft Barbecue Sauce to last year's event (even I don't think I would make that mistake) a slow cooking a heresy of the highest order!

Today at church someone was naming items that were black listed, someone yelled out "If it isn't fried or doesn't have Mayonnaise, don't bring it!"

Okay, I think I got it.  Jenny and I will be attempting to create a worthy Cole Slaw.  I will let you know how it goes.

Southern-Northeastern Hospitality
I am not sure how we got on the list but we are a part of the "Welcome Neighbor Program".  It must be set-up by the Chamber of Commerce or something, because it essentially businesses that give you a first time coupon to earn your business.  The two people that have come as part of the program have been from New Jersey and Long Island.

To be honest you are just flattered when someone rings your doorbell when you have just moved somewhere, but it still makes me chuckle to replay in my head the "Welcome to North Carolina" in a thick Jersey accent.

There are quite a few transplants from the Northeast here.  I call it half-retirement because they typically move here halfway through their career for a better lifestyle (bigger house, less congestion, slower pace, warmer weather, etc) and they make it half of the way to Florida - half-retirement.

Cat Update
We still have it, we are trying to find a home for it.  The poor cat does not get any affection from me because of my allergies and Jenny is somewhat of a germaphobe (and not a animal person) so it doesn't get petted, just fed until it finds a new home.