3 Things I Love about the Boston area

1. Peapod! Back in the days of the Internet boom, I tried out the now long-gone Webvan and thought it was a marvelous idea back then. Sit at home, order your groceries online and someone brings them to your kitchen table!

Now, with two little ones and three flights of stairs between my car and the kitchen table, I think Peapod (BTW - a wholly owned subsidiary of international food provider Royal Ahold - the Royal part referring to the Dutch royalty) is absolutely one of greatest ideas of all time. I usually shop after the kids are in bed, pick a delivery time for the next morning and viola -- its as if little elves run up and down the aisles of Stop & Shop for me and magically bring it all home.

love, love, love peapod.

I also love that Trader Joe's and Wholefoods are found in nearly every community. From Coppell it took some work to get them, but now their treats are within easy reach.

2. Being near the water - We've been to the Atlantic shore several times and often stroll around Horn Lake to see the geese, ducks and swans.

3. Scenery & History -- Some places around here are just so beautiful and picturesque it hurts!

And, anyone familiar with American History surely knows places like Lexington & Concord where the Minutemen militia bravely fought the British. Well, I can go to Lexington & Concord any time - they are just around the corner. We've been to the Minuteman National Park - walked the very roads they galloped and seen the very taverns where they conspired!!! I'm a bit of a history nerd, so I think this is all very glamorous :-)

5 Things I Miss about Texas

1. Smooth rides on the roads and highways - Bouncy, bouncy, boom goes the car wherever we drive here! A pothole here, manhole cover there and then just indiscriminate lumps & bumps cover all the roads. Plus, in Texas, it was always pretty easy to tell when you were on an interstate, main highway, larger city street or in a neighborhood: the roads got progressively smaller and the speed limits dropped. Here you can be on a major thoroughfare, yet its path cuts through neighborhoods with cars speeding well past the posted 35 MPH.

2. Mothers Day Out! - No such wonders for moms around here. Really, no one has even heard of an MDO. Childcare centers and preschools abound - most offering full time care. A state guideline age of 2 years 9 months which delineates a preschooler & means a program can have a ratio of 10 children to 1 caregiver also cuts down on the number of programs willing to staff programs that require 1 caregiver to 4 children under 2. 9 months.

The costs have also been a shocker. In Texas, Peanut went to a 2 day/week, 9 am - 2 pm MDO at a church for $180/month and later to a child development center program for around $230/month. Here, roughly equivalent programs of about 4 hours/day range from $440 --- $600/month and up.

3. A friendly chat at check out - I know it sound cliched, but I don't mind a nice little 'hello, how are you? isn't it hot today? how cute your children are!' at the check out line at the store. We usually get a perfunctory 'hi', an occasional 'aw, the baby is sweet' and a rare "Aw, what the hell!? Are they nuts in the deli putting this label here?! Geez!"

4. Wild times at the library - Peanut, Tex and I have been going to the weekly storytime at the local library since we arrived. The first time we went the librarian in charge made a point of telling all the mamas not talk to their friends while in the circle. And, then in the dimly lit room, she began in a very hushed voice to sing slowly "open, shut them". If you listened very closely, you could hear other moms whispering the words to their children. After the song, it was time for a story -- and quietly, obediently the children sat in their mamas laps. The tempo never really picked up and the closing song had me wondering if we'd wandered into a commune. I now know its by Raffi, a beloved children's musician, but at first I didn't know what to think of the swaying and slow spinning.

For those of you who know Peanut, it may mean something to hear that she was the wildest & loudest one in the room racing around me in circles, laughing as she danced.

Back at the Coppell Library, storytime was a social affair for all and sometimes even totally Out of Control when the Kindermusik lady arrived with her instruments and soaring operatic singing!

I appreciate that the library is a quiet place for enjoying books and have come to enjoy the storytime in all its mellowness. It means Tex can come along and not be overwhelmed by the noise and action and that Peanut leaves satisfied for singing, dancing and hearing stories, but not totally wired.

5. Our Friends, Ms. Kim and our little-bitty backyard.

The Atlantic Shore

One of things we were most excited by when moving to Boston was the idea of being close to the water again! Peanut's papa & I are both water people so it was hard being land-locked in the heart of Texas.

Over the weekend, we made the 45 min drive out to Hampton Beach, NH, and cruised along Highway 1A to Portsmouth, NH.It was a wonderful feeling to dig my toes into the warm and course sands of Hampton Beach while papa and Peanut walked along the waterline. The beach was ideal for families - still fairly quiet, clean sand, easy access to parking (25 cents/10 minutes!) and a long lazy coastline. Behind the beach stood rows of houses and seashore restaurants, shops, etc. Lifeguards watched over the few brave swimmers.

After playing in the sun, we stopped at Little Jacks for lobster and steamers (steamed mussels). Peanut stayed away from the seafood calling the lobster a "monster" and focused on tucking in all the french fries she could grab.The Highway winds up the coast past mansions, State beaches, a retaining wall which is popular as a sunning alter and salty marshes on the inland side of the road.

Glimpses at a few harbors showed deep gorges that must be filled with the tides. We didn't see it come in, but it must be a sight to see the sea levels rise and fall by several feet.

Oh, give me a home.....

...any home, just a home, please!! We've been searching for our new house nearly non-stop since we arrived a month ago and I'm at the point of just saying 'Yes, yes, we'll take it whatever the price -- please just make the home tours stop."

House hunting can be a overwhelming process for anyone, but with a toddler and infant along as further opinion makers it can quickly wear down the most fervent home shoppers. Though Peanut and little Tex have been just as patient and spirited as you could ask. Peanut often asking in the mornings if she could "see houses with Mr. Tom" that day, and then exclaiming "nice yard" or "big house" when we pulled up to the next property. Tex -- well, most of the time he just slept as we carried him up and down staircases.

Going from the new housing developments of Texas to the older, wilder housing of New England has been a jolt. My punch list for homes has come to include such local particularities like:

• lead paint - if the house was built before 1978 (or in the years shortly thereafter when builders and stores still were depleting their paint supplies), there's a good chance its there
• mold - our inspector says 30 - 50% of homes here will have mold in the attic or basement. Some kinds can be re-mediated and your home certified "mold free".
  

• septic systems - for houses not on public sewer (which btw limit the use of garbage disposals)
  
• basements and sump pumps - basements are expected here. Some are finished (ie, just like upstairs living space), some half-finished (maybe have a floor and some wall panels) and others are just concrete
  
• capes (see top photo), colonials (second photo), split-levels (third photo) and ranches - the main housing styles
  
• well water - for houses not on the public water system
• radon - a cancer-causing radioactive, invisible gas emitted by the granite in the ground. Radon tests are done for air and water. If high levels are found, you can install a radon mitigation system.
  
• oil vs. propane vs. natural gas vs. forced air vs. electric heating - oh, the options! Electric is expensive, natural gas requires access to a city gas line, propane & oil are delivered to a special holding tank at your home and forced air is what I'm accustomed to. On the cooling front - most homes we saw don't have central A/C and rely on window units given....
• 110 v. 220 circuit breakers - your home has at least 220
  
• how to count parking spaces - many homes don't have attached garages or they just have one. A surprise considering the snowy winters when I'd imagine EVERYONE would want a garage. House listings describe parking by counting how many cars fit side-by-side in the driveway in front of the house or just offer off-street parking.
• noise pollution - after the first few days out we learned to look up addresses on the map to check for proximity to major interstates, highways, railroad tracks and busy thoroughfares since older housing is not in subdivisions built away from traffic.