She was sighted on CS less that 10 minutes ago, and got told to drop inhere once in a while!

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 03, 2002

Answers

I saw her too! It is so nice to hear from someone that you haven't heard from in a long time. Glad she's doing ok!

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 03, 2002.

Yeaaaaaa! I saw her too! Isn't it great!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.

I emailed her an invite to visit us and got back a message I am sure she thought was going to the forum, now I cannot find the post at CS, anybody remember what the title was?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 03, 2002.

HERE I AM EVERYONE! So nice to have been missed by you all. I truly have missed you all as well. It's nice to be back among friends.

I have replied to several of you already via email. Now I will post here for all who don't know what has been going on with me.

Hubby's work (construction) has been VERY slow for months here. He has been offered a position in Baltimore, Maryland which we are considering. Being born and raised here in South Florida, this is all we know. We are willing to make a change and learn new things and take on new ventures (like SNOW - YIKES!!) But it will be a HUGE change for us if we do make this move. I'm a bit apprehensive about it so for now we are still gathering information about the job itself and the area of Baltimore. We know we don't want to live in a big city again, but we know nothing about the outer areas of Baltimore. We will have to commute in to the Baltimore area every morning to work so we can't be too far out in the boonies - LOL.

If anyone knows the areas on the outskirts of Baltimore, I would love to hear from you. As I said, this is all very iffy at this point but IF it looks like it really IS going to happen, I'd like to have a few of my ducks in a row.

I'm wondering if this might be my shot at getting closer to the homesteading life I've always dreamed of. I'm trying not to get too excited about that though - Hubby is STILL a city-slicker at heart even though he has told me time and again how much he HATES this town (city) we live in now. (For those of you that don't already know, we live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.) He does NOT want our son to be raised here like our two daughters were.

Anyway, I am working 50 + hours a week (including Saturdays) and this week I will begin working a few nights per week as well, giving me about a 60 hour week. I sure hope I can keep up. I know it will be grueling, but money is so tight right now and BILLS must get paid somehow.

Thank you all for remembering me and thank you for your words of encouragement and any help, advice, suggestions you might be able to offer. ALL responses are welcome - feel free to email me directly if you like.

Blessings to you ALL,

Greenthumbelina

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), February 03, 2002.

Greenthumbelina, the area just west of Baltimore in MD, around Frederick and towards Hancock is quite rural and if you start looking around the real estate agents in those areas you should be able to find some good deals on a few acres of property with a decent house, and it would still be less than a hours commute to Baltimore, you really don't want to live in or even near Baltimore, the crime rate and gang fighting is horrible!!!

An hour commute is way better than having to live near Baltimore, there is plenty of good freeway acess from the surrounding Frederick areas to make the commute easy and quick, there is usually very little snow or ice in that area, what little out of ordinary snow/ice does come, doesn't stay long. Right now the cherry trees are blooming in Washington D.C., that tells you what the climate is like this year!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 03, 2002.

HI there! I have thought about you so much! I hope everyone is well. Don't work too hard. sounds like you have a lot of big changes coming up in your life. It will probably be a big adventure. I think Rick lives in Baltimore, so he may have some advice for you also. Keep us up to date on how everything is going when you have a chance. God Bless you and your family.

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), February 03, 2002.

Hi Greenthumbelina,

I'd like to clarify, and otherwise comment on what Annie Miller said.

I lived in Baltimore for 46 years, and can say that while there are some places that are better and "safer" to live in, there is no place that I feel comfortable any longer, as there is too much crime POSSIBLE. Many people in the burbs still leave doors and windows open and unlocked, but one should expect the worst, even though in most outlying areas the worst rarely happens. The crime you would encounter would be hold-ups or break-ins by drug addicts, still potentially deadly. You can't carry a weapon to defend yourself either.

Gang fights are generally in areas you wouldn't dream of living near, and more accurately are drug turf drive-by murders. Car-jacking is unfortunately a worry, also.

Homes cost over $100,000 at the low end.

I'm pesimistic about finding a good deal on a few acres with a decent house, for what I would consider paying. Also, settlement fees in Maryland run about 3 per-cent of the mortgage plus points, and R.E. taxes are terrible. Ask what the taxes are on any property you consider.

I would agree the hour commute is way better than having to live near Baltimore. The freeway access is good, but to get to most areas, you must use I-695, and it is overcrowded, can run quite slowly, and accidents tie it up at various points almost all of the time. If you travel at 6 am and 6 pm it is a decent commute. I-70 seems to run pretty well.

It is true that snow and ice are not weekly or even monthly problems, but when they arrive they can slow things to a standstill. We had a couple of years when all local schools were closed for an entire week. This year they have had quite a mild year.

I'm not trying to discourage you from looking, just sharing what I know. Good luck in your search.

-- Rick (Southwest WV) (Rick_122@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.

Great to see you online again, Greenthumbleina. God works in mysterious ways, so you may be getting your prayers answered. Have you gone up and checked Baltimore out? My DH and I always said that if he were transferred we would consider keeping our place, renting it out for now and renting a place where we were transfered to to make sure that we liked it and it was the area we wanted to be in. I really wish you the best and that it works out for you. We are all pulling for you. Just keep praying. Hope you don't have to keep those hours up to much longers Jenn

-- jenn (normaj3@countrylife.net), February 04, 2002.