I need a miracle every day.

Some orlop recently chided me for not updating my blog frequently enough: the first such chiding I think I’ve ever received. So here’s the nutshell versions of a few recent events:

  * Last week: snowing, freezing, power outage.  This week: beautiful sunny days reaching well into the 70's.  Ah, New England.
  * This past weekend: a visit from Tierney and Tracy, one of the three couples (and perhaps one or two honorary members) who make up The Orlops.  We walked around Hanover and watched some of the axe and chainsawing competitions which made up the 61st Annual Woodsmen's Weekend, cheering extra loudly for the few woodswomen competing amidst the wash of testosterone.  A fun, mellow visit, punctuated by tasty meals with John and Mike, one at Tai Shan, one a sourdough-waffle brunch.
  * After a much longer period waiting for admissions results than I'd expected, I finally heard from the school that had gradually become my top choice over the last several months of research and alumni contact.  Starting this "fall" (if you count August 6th as "fall," which I don't) I'll be attending the 10 month, very full-time, Masters program in Journalism at Columbia University.  Some of the side effects will be:

    * I'll be giving notice at Upromise shortly; my last day there will be the end of May.  When I leave I will have worked there for 7 years and one month.
    * June will be a sabbatical month, as far as I can make it such.  No biweekly trips to Boston, no job, no band rehearsals.   I'm hoping to do a lot of bicycling, reading books, writing, and seeing friends.
    * July ramps up early with a wedding at which I'll be Best Man, followed by a family get-together at our compound in Maine and then some serious packing up.
    * Kate's looking into jobs in New York now.  Our preference is for us to be together, but we're at least entertaining the possibility that Kate might stay here (working a job she knows and enjoys a great deal) while I slave away at the 10-month bootcamp that is Columbia Journalism.
    * Where will we both be employable and want to live when I'm done with my program?  We really don't know.  Watch this space for details.
    * Anyone have an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan they'd care to recommend?




  * I sat outside this morning in the sunlight, drinking a cup of tea and having some of Jessica's challah, toasted.  Our cats ducked in and outdoors while I sat, and while listening through the door to Kate's muffled cursing at something online, I felt like a very lucky man, indeed.  I'm getting to pursue a long-held dream and change directions in my life, and I'm getting to do it with the love and support of my wife, friends, family, and three very bad cats.  It's spring, with all the breezes, sunlight (and soon, the Norwich Farmers' Market!) that entails.  While there are some daunting hills to climb in the next couple of months (collapsing our stuff from a fullsize house into an NYC apartment; physically moving to a city neither of us knows particularly well; changing from a disaffected computer dork into a scrambling newbie journalist in a field rife with egos; paring down to one household income rather than our current, luxurious, D.I.N.K. status), I can't help but feel particularly fortunate today.

and so: to bed.