Welcome Home

We are moved into our new home.

In the back of my head I hear James Taylor singing, "Carolina In My Mind." Of course that's quickly drown out by Billy Joel's, "New York State of Mind." You can the boy out of New York, but you won't take the New York out of the boy.

Our move went very well thanks to an amazing family who are friends to Lisa'a friend, but strangers to us. They showed two hours after the movers left and began to unpack us - kitchen first. By the end of our first weekend we were seventy-five percent unpacked. We were so far ahead of schedule that I was able to have my Army Reserve boss over for dinner that Sunday night when she flew into town.

The past ten days seem to have flown by. The weather has been the biggest contributor to the passage of time; it's only been cloudy one day and the temperatures have climbed as high as 65* here. In other words, we're not trapped inside to avoid single digit weather like we would back in New York.

I've spent some time driving around and the area reminds me of the northern part of Orange County out near Montgomery, or even Andy's in Wallkill. There are horse farms and rural areas that dominate the landscape here. And while the area is generally flat as compared to where I grew up or where we left, there is still a certain hominess to Willow Spring, NC. And, within twenty minutes I can be in the city of Raleigh.

I drove to Raleigh yesterday. Driving is going to be my undoing. North Carolina drivers, worse than New Jersey drivers, will be the bane of my existence here. As we explore the capitol I worry that my expletive vocabulary will increase.

Through all of this TJ has been a Rock Star. He very easily made the transition from one home to the other, he easily transitioned into day care with other kids, and he has been as sweet and carefree as he ever was. He misses Samantha, as we all do. I find myself paying extra attention to her room so that she'll be happy with it when she comes down. The house is still a little empty without her here. Of course getting the news that Samantha made the Honor Roll at her school was a big, big deal. We were pleasantly surprised because we just didn't think to push her towards a defined goal like getting on ther honor roll - she just did it.

We hung the last of the pictures that we wanted to hang today. Until we find a place to buy and call home for the next ten years (plus) we are as settled as we going to get. We're content. Sinatra is singing, "New York, New York" in the back ground.

Saying Good-Bye

My house. Our home. With tears Lisa and I said good-bye to the house.

That little house was good to me for ten years. I have only live in my parents home longer. I never expected to stay there as long as I did. It was a fluke to rent it for as cheap as I did, and then a few years later, buy it for a steal.

Over the years the house began to fit like an old, worn sweatshirt; not the classiest piece of item but certainly something you felt comfortable in. In that house I got divorced and pulled my life back together. I watched Samantha go from two year old in potty training to a beautiful young woman. I brought Lisa to our first home together, and two years later, our son to his first home. Over the years we brought the house into the present by gutting the kitchen and starting from the studs out, redoing the bathroom, painting, and adding a ceiling fan here or a new light fixture there.

I know it's silly to think that house even cares. After all, it's just an inanimate object that demands time, resources, and work to keep up. But, still, I'll miss the creaking of the floors and the big red maple that sheds it's leaves late every year. I'll miss the low beams in the basement that always made walk with my head titled to one side. I'll miss the mural on Sam's wall and tinkering with some project around the house in my free time. I felt a relationship with that little old house. Does that make sense?

We're on the road to North Carolina. The snow is behind us, although for fun, I let the snow pile on the roof of the Rav4 to see how much I could bring down south. Leaving the house was the last paragraph in a chapter that I'm proud of and I'm looking forward to the next part of the story.

Let the Pictures Tell the Story

Here are some highlights from the holiday!

After an ill fated trip to Greek Peak ski resort, we returned to Cortland to go ice skating. Lisa and Sam are actually holding each other up.











Christmas Eve, Samantha, TJ, mommy and I set out cookies and milk for Santa Claus!








Lisa and I take advantage of the fact that Sam is now old enough to babysit and went out to Hairy Tony's for a couple of drinks before the New Year!

I Love NY

Welcome to 2010.

After 42 years of living in New York I am pulling up the tent poles and moving to North Carolina. Everything about the move is good; good for my wife, good for me, and good for our future. I have very few regrets about going there.

However... I am a New Yorker. I grew up in the Hudson Valley. I visited NYC enough times to know my way around without a map. I went to school in the SUNY system and had my first career as a New York State Trooper in the Leatherstocking region. I've been to places in between Long Island, Niagara Falls, and as far north as Malone, NY (where you can see the aurora borealis). I've been to Cooperstown, the highest falls this side of the Mississippi, and Ground Zero. I've seen four seasons for all of my life.

And now everything I own is in boxes. I (we) have purged our excess. We are down to eating off of paper plates. I truly feel on the verge of the next step/chapter in life.

I can't say that I'll ever feel the affinity for North Carolina that I do for New York. As my friend Christine said, "I'll always be a New Yorker." Even though she hasn't lived here in twenty years.

I will enjoy North Carolina. I know I will. As the snow piles up outside right now, and the temps are in the single digits, I know there is at least one thing I will NOT miss here.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Let's just say that 2009 was a difficult year. I am not too sad to see it go. Rich was in Iraq for 3/4s of the year. Which left me home as the "single parent" for the majority of the year too. Life is not as fun with your partner and best friend so far away. 2009 was the year that we lost Rebecca and then two weeks after returning to work from that sad space and time, I learned that I was being laid off from my job. Really? It just seemed like all of the hardships kept piling up. And while all of this was not fun to go through, I know that hardships build character, strength, and resiliency. So, I think I have built up my bank account on these things for the next decade!

Of course 2009 was not without its joys. Rich came home! How wonderful it was to see TJ and Daddy reunited again. To hear TJ say every morning when he woke up "Daddy Home". To listen to the wild laughter of father and son play chase and hide-and-go-seek throughout the house. We had an excellent Disney Cruise Vacation, a fun Halloween party, and one last Christmas at our house on 37 Miller Street.

So today, we usher in 2010. And with that comes all the hopes and anticipations of making this a great year. . .one that will make up for all of the "hell" of this past year. 2o1o is full of new beginnings for the Brown Family. After seven months of being laid off, I can happily report that I am going back to work. . . and not only back to work. . .but back to work for a place that I always wanted to return: Camp Seafarer and Camp Sea Gull. My decision to go into alumni affairs and development work at Cornell, while in the short run got me laid off, in the long run led me to an opportunity to raise money for camp.

Of course working with the YMCA and with camp also means that we are moving to North Carolina. As I write this entry, boxes can be seen all over our house. The movers come on Monday. . .three days away. We are going to miss this house. It has been good to us.

So 2010 has much in store for us. Its a time to start a new chapter of our lives as individuals and as a family. We are both scared and excited. Hopeful and fearful. I know we can take on any challenge that comes our way. 2009 has taught me that.