We've lived in this house for six years. We are friendly with our neighbors to the west—another gay couple. The house to the east of us used to be owned by a former co-worker of mine (with his boyfriend). We found and rented our house without realizing who the neighbors were.

Over the years, we've stayed friendly with the west boys, but we don't hang out. We wave and say hello, but that's about it.

So I was surprised that we quickly became friends with the new neighbor to the east. She moved in a few months ago, and is gregarious and fun. She also has a charming old Irish wolfhound as big as a house. Last night we had a boozy dinner of chicken kiev, salad, and cookie dough pie. Fun, but I woke up with a horrible hangover this morning. I've been shakey and woozy all day. Wine is bad. That is all.