GroshLink

in Mount Joy? Now that we've been here for 6 weeks and school has begun, I thought I'd share some random thoughts for anyone who may be interested :)

We live in a rural area in the sense that there's a lot of farmland and not a lot of businesses. But we have neighbors (though we each have about .5 acre of land) and shopping is less than 5 miles away. The closest business is actually about .2 mile up the road

-- it's a Produce Peddler and every Tuesday is Banana Day where bananas are .19/lb. They grow most of their own produce in the fields across the road from our house. At least once a week Eden and I walk to the The Peddler and stock up on fresh produce. The Peddler is also across the road from my grandparents, so we'll often stop in there for a short visit too. Our new church is 3 miles from our house which is so convenient. Especially on Thursday mornings when I take an exercise class that begins at 6am (yes, am!). Unfortunately, I'm often up anyway b/c for so some reason Eden can't seem to sleep in past 6:30.

Our church (Elizabethtown Brethren In Christ) also offers activities throughout the week which we will be taking advantage of -- basketball for Tom, kids' choir for Hayley and Ellen, and a mother's morning out program for Eden. We're so excited to be part of this community.

This past Sunday afternoon we discovered a wonderful park, 2 miles from our house. It has 2 playgrounds (one for kids under 5) and ballfields and a paved walking trail that encircles the park. We spent a wonderful afternoon there and I kept raving, This park is great! In the hour or so that we were there we counted 8 Amish buggies going past. Talk about idyllic.

Tomorrow (9/8) at 1:00 we are scheduled to close on our mortgage. Can anyone say FINALLY!!!! This means that hopefully next week the excavator will begin working and sometime in December we'll move into our new home!! I was surveying the property again today for the umpteenth time and I'd like to identify the trees and shrubs that are in the woods bordering our property. The woods is actually a small marshy area that is overrun with nuisance trees, honeysuckle, jewelweed, and wild roses. But there are some beautiful old trees still living there and I'd like to be able to highlight them. My goal is to landscape primarily with native plants -- this gives me something to research and a guide for planning.

In the meantime, we're living with my parents, next door to our property. Living with Grandma and Grandpa has distinct advantages, especially in those early morning hours before I've begun to function. Gma and Gpa will often feed breakfast to Eden and Hayley and Ellen. And if Tom and I need to run out in the evening for an appt. Gma is usually available to take care of the kids. I could get used to this... And around 5pm when I finding myself craving some personal space, Gma and Gpa come home from work eager to scoop up little people and play while I make supper (a welcome distraction).

Alas, the sing-song wail of my youngest beckons me back to mommy duty and I must go.