Getting 'Plugged In' in Perfectville

I may have mentioned on a prior post that making friends in perfectville is not the easiest task I've undertaken, even for those of us who consider ourselves quite 'the catch' as a friend. It can be so difficult that someone(probably an ex executive or prior litigator turned stay at home mom, coined the phrase) 'getting plugged in' to describe it. The phrase reminds me of some our home office uses, words like drill down, or cross pollinate.
Apparently growing up in perfectville is such an amazing experience that many kids return to the community to raise their own families, buying a home right down the street from mom and dad, or possibly their best buddy Joe from 1st grade.
This speaks volumes for this community and is one of the reasons we chose to raise our kids here. But when you are new to such a close community making new friends can be like a political campaign. You find yourself being on your best behavior, choosing your words carefully and making sure that you are meeting the right people who can get you in 'plugged in'. It's exhausting!!!! And did I mention looking your best????
My hubby and I moved to perfectville from downtown Atlanta where we went to the corner coffee shop hung over and unshowered every Saturday and Sunday. Downtown, we fit in quite nicely, and sometimes appeared overdressed. I still remember the first time we went to the local coffee shop in perfectville in between unpaking moving boxes. We showed up on a Sunday, unshowered and sweaty only to be greeted by a crowd of moms and dads with their 2.5 kids in their best sunday dress. Although no one said it, or even looked for more than a split second, I am guessing that if we could have seen the bubble over their heads it would have read something like, 'oh those poor souls, they thought we made a wrong turn off of the interstate, while looking for the homeless shelter, I wonder if I should offer directions. :)
In the first months I found myself wanting to reject perfectville and all of its trappings to show I was still hip and cool and did not need to conform to the community norms. But then I saw my son being embraced by the kids next door and at school. I saw him follow the trail to a new friends house and be welcomed with open arms, and watched his eyes literally light up the first time he saw kids his age playing in the yard with their moms and dads. So I guess the openess and the generosity of the kids surrounding us opened me up to being able to embrace the adults as well and to stop being such a child myself with all the insecurities you feel when you are introduced into a new situation.
It's taken over a year of shaking hands and kissing babies and I am now beginning to feel plugged in. And the more moms I meet, the more I realize that we all seem to have more in common than we or at least I first thought we would. HOWEVER, I do have some funny tales to tell about some of my life in perfectville, but this entry is getting a little long so I will enter again tomorrow.