The Goodrums

So in spite of the few bumps we hit on Tuesday morning, we were able to close on Tuesday afternoon. It is quite a relief to be finished with the sale of the house and move. On Tuesday evening, our friends Kevin and Christy were wonderful and took in my poor homeless self for the evening. We got to enjoy giving candy to the trick or treaters and playing with the 12 cute doggies currently sharing the house (they are fostering a mom and 9 puppies).

On Wednesday morning, I left bright and early and drove 11 hours (700 miles) to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit my grandmother (dad's mom). Thank goodness for books on CD! They helped me maintain sanity on these forever long drives. I arrived in Indianapolis about 7pm and got to hang out with my grandmother.

On Thursday, I had the chance to spend some time with my aunt, uncle and two cousins (Nathan is 3, Janessa is 6 - too much fun!) and grandmother. My little car also had to take a trip to the doctor. Guess that's what happens when you go on a cross country trek in a car with 150,000 miles on it. The power steering had to be rebuilt. So much fun. Thankfully I had already planned for a down day in Indianapolis - so the repair didn't interrupt my trip. ...And boy was I glad to have power steering again on my Friday drive through the "mountains" of the northeast (the roads were really windy in spite of being interstates).

Friday, I drove another 1,000 miles - literally. I left Indiana at 6:30 in the morning and made it through Indiana and Ohio before lunch. It snowed all 300 miles through Pennsylvania. I called my mom freaking out - 'cause I had never driven in snow before (ice but not snow). By the time I reach Connecticut, I thought the drive was never going to end - but I was less than an hour away and it just wasn't worth stopping. I never got sleepy or tired really - just restless and ready to get out of the car after driving 16 hours. I finally arrived at our little hotel home at about 9:30 on Friday night.

We spent Saturday unpacking all the stuff in my car and running errands. Michael had been stuck in the hotel for two weeks with no car so he was itching to go exploring.

We are living in Franklin, MA - which is about 30 miles southwest of Boston. The commuter rail is literally across the street from us - so if we want to go into Boston it's ridiculously easy. We walk across the street and jump on the train. Don't have to worry about driving downtown (very difficult) or finding parking (nearly impossible). The town we live in is so cute. It's a quaint, little, quiet town with cute little houses. We have easy access to everything we need and more. So far people have been really friendly and we are really enjoying it.

You would have laughed at me at the grocery store on Saturday. It wasn't even the Whole Foods (the Whole Foods is only a mile away - Yippee!) - just the regular grocery store - but so much selection, great produce, etc., etc. I'm afraid that I was gawking. I've just been without a good grocery store for so long that I almost forgot what it was like. :)

On Saturday evening, we went into Boston to watch the A&M v. O.U. game with the Boston A&M club. What a disappointment for us! Sigh...

On Sunday, we went to a cute little church about 40 minutes away from us (one way). It was called Crossroads Community Church. It reminded us quite a bit of the church we attended in college. The people were super friendly and very helpful. They actually told us about a fun, young church that's on the next street over from our hotel. We'll probably check it out soon. We'd like to find something a little closer - just so we can actually get involved during our short time here.

P.S. Happy 21st birthday to Christy and Teri on Friday. I can't believe my beautiful little sisters are already 21!















Birthday girls - Teri and Christy