Wow

I think that might be my most commented upon blog post. I should have just thrown the topic out to y'all when I was pouring over the millions of top ten lists out there when it comes to the bestest towns ever.

I have some of the same concerns that alot of you brought up about Mass. We're completely spoiled in this part of the country. My BIL lives in Jamaica Plains MA and we helped him apartment hunt when he first moved there. I almost fainted at the rental prices. One month would have almost paid for my first apartment for 6 months. But we are still going to check out the area there and in Northampton MA. We visited NoHo a few years ago but it seemed too "small town" at the time. Now that we're looking for a smaller community we're going to visit again. We're also checking out Brattleboro and Burlington VT. Any other suggestions for what we should visit in the area?

We've always liked Providence RI...well and most of the towns we love are university towns. I love the idea of a town center and the community that a university provides. I guess that is what we're looking for in co-housing too. A stronger sense of community. We were bummed when we realized we'll miss the co-housing conference as the first part of our three week trip is spending time with Grandma & Grampa in Chicago -which we're also considering.

New England

We're getting ready to leave on a three week trip. Packing for five has taken it's toll on me the last few days as I scramble to make sure we have everything we could ever possibly need when away from home. Like anywhere we go won't be 10 minutes from a box store selling everything we need.

We are visiting New England scoping out communities for possible relocation. But with a family as complicated as ours we don't seem to "fit" anywhere. We're looking for a diverse community where our family would have access to great health care, see other people of color on a regular basis, feel safe to be "out" and can put up a menorah. Does that exist in the US?

Really, when looking at cities and towns through their city data everywhere we've explored is "too white", "too christian" and sometimes just "too straight". What's a Gay-Black-Jewish-Disabled Family to do?

We are voracious researchers and have been reading everything we can get our hands on about Cohousing. We're visiting 2 co-housing communities in New England to check them out.

The Donaldson Report & Cornrows

The Donaldson report on transracial adoption came out this past week and it basically found that:

1. AA children still are not adopted at the same rate as white children.
   
2. That love isn't enough when parenting children of another race.
   
3. Agencies need to do more to recruit AA families.
   

I was going to write a big post about how I agree but don't agree with the new findings. But I just don't have the spirit for it right now. Because really, most of their findings are not surprising. And besides...... I just wanted to tell y'all that this transracial-adoptive-mama has found her cornrowing groove.

When I started this blog a year and a half ago I was on a mission to master cornrowing. I think I'm finally really comfortable and now I'm always on the lookout for new complicated parts to try.

I'm so proud of me. I think I rock.