Where were you born or raised?

[Lothlorien]

Esther, it sounds like you have such a wonderful family life. Someday, if things settle down over there, I would love to visit Israel. It saddens me that things are so tumultuos there. If I ever do get a chance to come there I will definitely look you up. I want to meet this great, big, loving family of yours!

 

[janie]

Hi there,

I live in New Zealand. (For those people who wonder "where on Earth is that" .... it is in the Southern Hemisphere, East of Australia)

I was born in Taupo (centre of the North Island), only was there 2 weeks, as I was adopted out.
I lived in a couple of places e.g. Auckland (North Island) and Te Anau (in the South Island) while very young. Then my Father got a job transfer to Wellington (NZs Capital City). We lived there 20 years.

I lived in a beach resort area called Mount Maunganui - which was very pretty, and kind of old fashioned when my eldest (Emma) was born (she's now 26). Now Mount M is a very expensive area to live in - but nice to visit. It has the most beautiful beaches.

When Emma was 2 years old I moved to Paraparaumu Beach and bought a house. Here I am 24 years later ....
I love living here .... it is a 10 minute walk to the beach (and beach shops), and a 5 minute drive to the nearest Mall. There are farms and native forests within 5 or 10 minutes drive from here too - so I have the best of both worlds in some ways.

I would dearly love to travel and experience living in other countries. It will happen ... I have started a travel savings account .... it might take me a few years - but I will travel one day

The children (now aged 21, 23 and 26) have all moved to Wellington (50 minute drive from here) ... and they have all done a fair bit of travelling around the World ..... it is great to see them getting out and really experiencing life and all it offers
Sorry that I haven't posted for so long. Health has been an issue.
Have a great weekend everyone.

 

[Fran]

janie and marguerite, I'll make you a deal. If you travel to the states you are welcome to stay with us in N.C. and when I get to your part of the world, you can give me a day of touring the spots most tourists never see.
It is my dream to spend a month or so in Australia and NZ. I may have to leave hubby behind since he is not able to take that much time away from work. Someday. I know I will get to visit Esther some day. Maybe I should just do a trip around the world. (in my dreams at least)

 

[Lothlorien]

I'll make the same deal as Fran!

I had an uncle who used to work for a major carpet factory in NJ. When it caught fire, they were able to sell the machinery to a company in New Zealand. He moved there and married a lady, there. She is still alive and stays in touch with my aunt, here. So, I sort of have ties there.

 

[Marguerite]

Janie, we were in NZ 18 months ago. We stayed a week in Taupo, loved it. We also stayed overnight near Mt Maunganui. The beaches were very much like home for us, but the town was way too big. NZ native forests are beautiful, we especially loved the ferns. We spent a few days just driving around Coromandel Peninsula.

Then after the week in Taupo, we went to South Island and (mostly) Queenstown. We were in Wanaka when the big blizzard hit in June 07, stranding everyone. Over 200 cars were stranded in the Kawarei Gorge. But before the snow, we had managed to get down to Milford Sound, of course going via Te Anau. We took lots of photos of the southern beech forests there, because only 2 years earlier we'd been in Tasmania where the same forests can be found.

We didn't get to Wellington - I've realised that while cities are OK to visit, we prefer the countryside. And New Zealand has some wonderful countryside!

If you ever get to Australia, Janie, you will find it very flat. Very grey-brown. New Zealand was incredibly green, the colour was the first thing we noticed. Amazing. Beautiful. Not what we're used to.

Do let me know if you get over the ditch...

And that goes for the rest of you, too. husband & I love to share our country with visitors. We love it so much and seeing it through someone else's eyes makes it all the more special for us.

Marg

 

[janie]

Hi again,

It was lovely to read your responses, and thank you for the offers - I will definitely take you up on them when I get to travel

I have a spare room which is available for anyone from the CD board to stay in when you are visiting NZ. My home is just a modest home - but has a very welcoming feel to it

I live in a smallish settlement (maybe 10,000 people over a fairly decent area)) the pace of life is quite slow, especially compared to Wellington City (and Wellington would be considered a tiny city compared to major cities around the world ... it only has 300,000 people)

Alex (23 yr old difficult child) moved back for the Summer holidays (University break of nearly 4 months), he couldn't get over how QUIET it is here ... but he really loves the fact that we have a big private tree-filled garden - and he feels very peaceful here. When he needs time in the City he just goes to stay with friends for a couple of days in Wellington.

Alex is on a bit of a road-trip going around the South Island at the moment (using my car since I can't drive for a few weeks post-surgery), he is enjoying the scenery, but they had a cold-snap with a very cold Southerly (remember we are in the Southern Hemisphere), I had to post his thermal underwear down to him, but then this week they have had really hot days.

I must admit I am quite enjoying having the house to myself (while he is away) - it was a bit of a culture shock having my darling difficult child back at home for the Summer after a 5 year break (he has lived in Wellington attending Uni) ..... I had forgotten the whole "Centre Of the Universe Disorder" thing could still be alive and kicking even though he has matured GREATLY in the 5 years .... I know a fair few of you can relate to living with darlings with COUD .... giggles

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

[Sheila]

I am so boring.....

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I lived in Houston all my life until 14 yrs ago when I moved to a small college town about an hour's drive north of Houston.

A quick funny story. The Houston Zoo is very near the hospital I was born in. When I was little Mom used to tell me that I was born at the zoo with-all the other little monkeys. I was confused for a good while. When visiting the zoo, we got the see the monkeys but I never saw any little human babies in with-the monkeys. (I'm going to have to talk to her about that. She ought to be ashamed. lol I haven't thought about this in years.)

 

[Lothlorien]

Sheila, that's a funny story.
Janie....COUD...Love it!! I wonder how many PCs also have that disorder?

 

[Kjs]

Born and raised in Green Bay, Wi. We had a cottage on the Bay (20 miles) from our house. When school got out we moved to the cottage for the summer and dad drove in to work each day. Everyone did the same that had cottages. We had a real fun group out there. I hated leaving all my friends for the summer, but had new ones out there. We had a big sandy beach, dock, boat, motorcycles. Everyone did. We had a raft with a trapeze. We spent our days swimming, water skiing, at the raft or driving our motorcycles. Our nights were spent on someone's beach having a fire. And as we got older, having a fire and drinking beer. Shame on us.
I moved to Southeastern Wisconsin...Illinois border in 1990 with my job that moved. Unfortunately after 18 years, and supervisor position I lost my job and had to start over. That was tough. Been 5 years now since that happened.

 

[Estherfromjerusalem]

Oh, this is a wonderful thread. Just imagine -- a raft with a trapeze! I adore the sea. We didn't have it in London, and we don't have it in Jerusalem. There is something so wonderful about being AT the sea, with the wind and the sound of the waves and the great expanse of universe, and also being IN the sea. I envy all of you who live by the sea.

And Sheila -- you made me laugh, about what your mother said to you.

Love, Esther

 

[svengandhi]

JoG -

My husband describes the North Shore in the '60's the way you do. He worked in the potato fields as a teen. By the time he went to Stony Brook, a few years later, most of the fields were gone. I can't even imagine it having never been to LI until I was 30

Gvc and Three -

Thanks, I would love to have the big, close family but most of my relatives are leaders in the fight against mental health in their community so we have little contact.

I am really enjoying reading these stories.

 

[Shari]

I was born in the middle of a 5000 acre crop and hog farm in Iowa. Neighbors were far away, so my "friends" were the dogs and cats. If I'm a little odd, well, there ya go...

When I got old enough to complain about the hog smell, dad always said "smells like money".

Honestly, tho, I wouldn't trade it for the world - even if I am a little odd for it.

 

[Marguerite]

Shari, ours was a small farm. We usually only ever had one pig at a time. The last ones, we had two - my dad called them Porky and Bess. We didn't make money from them, we fattened them on scraps and then fed our families.

Marg

 

[Andy]

We had a "hobby farm" with various animals at various times. One time we had a few piglets and I never saw my dad move faster than when one of my younger sisters got in the pig pen and started playing with the pigs. Dad jumped the fence and pulled her out of there. Seems that pigs can get very dangerous if anything happened to show blood (a scratch whatever). I think it would be the older pigs but he wanted to teach us a lesson. This piglets were young, but dad knows more than I do about pigs.

 

[Marguerite]

Pigs are omnivores. Don't fall down in a pig pen. Anything vertical in a pig pen is a farmer. Anything horizontal is food.

Your dad did the right thing. Piglets may have been safe, but the larger the group, the more likely they are to go into feeding frenzy mode unpredictably.

Marg

 

[1 Day At a Time]

My Dad was a professional athlete (AAA baseball) , so we moved frequently in my younger years. My favorite home, and the one where we lived the longest, was in Asheville, North Carolina a small town in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Baseball, especially in the minor leagues didn't pay much in those days. My parents rented a small stone cottage from a farmer and we were right in the midst of a big, working farm, way out in the country. I was an only child and I spent lots of wonderful time exploring the banks of the creek behind the cottage, tramping through the grazing areas of the cows and the mules , and bugging the farmers (who were an older couple, probably in their late 60's). I would terrorize the chickens (or was it the other way around and help Mrs. Miller (the wife) churn butter every morning after the cows were milked. I also remember running around the fenced area where the bull grazed - I was terrified of him and am somewhat still afraid of bulls to this day. He was a package of fearsome energy. The amount of freedom that I had as such a young child was incredible. My Mom would literally push me out of the door in the morning, and I would only return briefly for lunch before the end of the day.

The farm was only one of many stops we made along the way before my Dad left baseball to go back to college as an adult. We moved to Raleigh in the eastern portion of North Carolina and the lifestyle there was quite different. After Dad earned his degree in mathematics he was hired by the Air Force to study weather patterns and we moved around into much more middle class settings. But I have to say that my favorite place was the little stone cottage on the farm by the creek. I hope to return to a similar place once husband and I retire!

Valerie

 

[crazymama30]

I was born in Arcata, CA. We moved around quite a bit when I was tiny as my dad worked for the Forest Service. When I was about 5 we moved to a Ranger Station in the middle of the Ochoco Mountains in Oregon. It is truly in the middle of no where. I went to a very small school up untill 4th grade. There was a teacher for K thru 4, a teacher for 5 thru 8 who was also the principal (no vice principal or anything else) We had PE and music once a week as the teacher had to drive 1 1/2 to 2 hrs one way to get to us. The secretary was the librarian. We had 2 bus drivers, and one was also the cook and custodian. I went to school with ranch kids and other ranger station kids. I was a tomboy. For fun we played in the creek, and tried to avoid rattle snakes. When we went grocery shopping in the town of 25,000 I was scared because the town was so big. lol. To me it was huge.


There were feral wild pigs in the area, and I remember I went to a ranch kid's birthday party. We were playing outside untill one of the mom's spotted the pigs. We all had to go in the house. Now I think you can hunt them out there with just a hunting license, no tag, as there are so many and they bother the ranchers so much.


Then when I was in fourth grade we moved to the town where we live now. That was a culture shock, as I went from the boondocks to the "big city". Took a while to fit in, but I made it eventually.


I still go camping out by the ranger station, it is a great place to camp with a difficult child family, as there is no one else around. difficult child can be so loud that when people want quiet when they go camping if he is there they do not get it. There are still beavers in the creeks there, and people wave to you as you drive by even if they do not know you. I do miss it sometimes.

 

[ctmom05]

I grew up in West Hartford, CT.

When I moved out to be on my own with boyfriend/hubby at age 18, we stayed in that general area until I was almost 40. A job transfer for my husband brought us to Moorestown, NJ for 2 years and then we headed back to CT.

There was one intermediate move and finally we settled in Colchester, CT, a semi rural suburb of about 15,000 population in our very first house, where we still reside. We're about 20 miles from the CT shoreline and I love being a little off the beaten path.

 

[jal]

Not too far away from you ctmom05. I grew up in CT, went to college in CT and still live here. We live on the very close to the shoreline.

 

[Star*]

(taps microphone)

Well, I wuz born a coal-miners daughter.............

Raised up in a cabin in Sleepy HOllar.................(WV)