[Opus]

Poolside,

Of course you're welcome! Like niandca stated so eloquently in a previous post, "You can take the gal outta NE, but can't take NE outta the gal!"

So do you miss Mass at all? Its been a fairly mild winter this year, very little snow. Not that I'm complaining...

[Poolside]

I was always reading everyones posts out here. I'm glad to have finally jumped in.
You know, I actually don't miss it.. I love it down here. We are well served by Southwest Airlines and go in and out of Manchester or PVD a couple times a year which is plenty. I love the year round golf, the new construction, the open spaces, the topography. We're not afraid to travel so I feel like we have the best of both worlds. I lived in a small ranch up there with no garage and a gravel driveway. Down here I have 5,000 SQft and a big backyard with a pool I would never have imaged it. No taxes are pretty good too.. All is good down here.

[mrsrodger]

Welcome to the forum Poolside! The more the merrier

Well DH and I became members of ODS/ACONE today.
I'm so excited to have resources and support available in my are. I'm also looking forward to the annual conference in April. Hope all of you New Englanders will make it!

Today was a CRAZY weather day in New England - very high winds and lots of rain and mild temps. Actually this whole winter so far has been very mild - strange but to be honest I really don't miss the snow, especially after the last few winters we could use a break.

Have a good night everyone!

[tookie12]

Tookie from CT....Bio's 18 y/o and 16 y/o. Our little 20 month old Angel Emma home from Guatemala.

[KathrynJB]

Hi...I live in Salem, MA with my wife (Thanks, Activist Judges! ) and our wonderful 16 year old son and two sweet kitties. We are just beginning MAPP classes tomorrow to adopt through DSS. We are so excited!

It's so good to find a whole community here as we go through this adventure.
Kathryn

[Opus]

Welcome, Kathryn. We try to make it to Salem at least once during the Halloween season. The kids love it. Cool town!

Good luck with the MAPP classes. My wife and I took them 10 years ago, and found it to be a great experience. In fact, I would go out on a line and say it should be required of every parent , not just those hoping to adopt from the state foster care system.

[AwaitingBeloved]

Hey, Poolside, I grew up just north of Worcester, in Holden!

[Poolside]

No Kidding? I used to work in Paxton at WSRS Radio, and travel through Holden daily. I have lived all over that area. Spencer, Worcester, and Westminster before moving to Atlanta, then TN.

[AwaitingBeloved]

oh, isn't that funny!

My younger brother lives in Paxton! LOL! I love it there! that's a hoot! small, small world!

[niandca]

Know whatcha mean, Poolside! We lived in a shoebox in Tewksbury MA(the 'burbs after being raised in Malden). Huge driveway, lots of land (a place for the neighborhood leaves to congregate), but tiny older home & no garage.

Got it heavenly here with giant new house and giant in-ground pool for less than old house sold for. Garages are practically standard. I felt a little like the Beverly Hillbillies the first time I pushed the electronic garage door opener from down the street. (actually, it was the only way to find my house that day!)

We fostered out of Lowell, but often got placements from Malden or Lawrence. We are fortunate that we can go back 3 or 4 times a year & have all our favorite restaurant foods (really miss the Lynwood in Randolph, Kelley's on the beach & Kowloon!!!)

Love the wheath-ah, love to feed my "material girl side", but the food here stinks & the education is abysmal. Don't miss snow, lack of parking, constant wind, tiny streets, rudeness, grey skies, heavy politics...but I do miss Red Sox games.

Tom Brady is a "godfather" to my granddaughter. I had to ask them who Tom Brady is...sorry, all you Pat's fans...I LOATHE football (& w/5 sons, too. Imagine)

[JLW99]

Seems like we're all connected here My grandparents lived in Tewksbury and I lived in Malden for a while, myself...went to a local high school there (which no longer exists) in fact! And I went to a wedding in Westminster this past summer....

Kathryn, that is great about the MAPP classes! Let us know how they go... I know that we want to adopt more kids in the future, but am rather open as to where and how. I am interested in the experiences of others, whether domestic or international or via DSS....

Jen

[Poolside]

This is too funny. My husband and I were married in the Westminster Congregational Church. I used to be a member of St. Edwards, but I am recovering.

I think those are the only two churches, but I could be mistaken.

[AwaitingBeloved]

niandca and JLW... dh grew up in Malden, too! YAY!

By the way, Brady's my boyfriend. LOL. OK, in my dreams!

[AwaitingBeloved]

and niandca... How lucky that you have Brady in your family!!! I wish I was in your family, too!!!!!! you just don't know how much I'd love to meet that man!

Ok, I'll stop. :-) DH is wonderful, by the way, just having fun.

[Opus]

This is so funny reading about all of the Central MA references. My old job, as an engineering consultant, brought me out to a lot of towns out there. Isn't there a monastery that sells jam in Paxton? And an inn that has a huge feast a few times a year, I forget the name? I had a project in Spencer, and the locals told me I had to check out Podunk which was somewhere out near E. Brookfield. I thought they were kidding but there really is a village that goes by that name.

Anyhow, my dad was a career Navy man so we lived all over the place. When my parents divorced, my mom moved us back to her hometown in Taunton in SE Mass.

BTW, Tom Brady is the godfather. Or maybe its Theo Epstein?