2004-06-10, 3:53 p.m.

Michigan, here we come!

Just a quick update, since I'm so thrilled not to have to keep this to myself anymore -

We're moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the end of this summer, so that Christopher can finish law school.

YAY, and also, YIKES.

We found out late last night, and so when I was laying in bed at 4am, unable to sleep, hot-furnace-like small child at both my proverbial and actual breast, my mind was of course racing with all the things we have to do in order to get ready to move. I can barely remember half of it, except that it all chased itself around in my over-heated head for several hours.

(In the middle of all that not being able to sleep time, I also found myself pondering why I can safely plug the fan into the 220 outlet, which is actually designated for the AC (which we haven't put in yet, which is why I was so darn hot that I couldn't sleep). Hmm. I know a lot about electricity, but this one stumps me. I'll have to ask my dad.)

Anyway, the point is that today I'm feeling quite excited. Ann Arbor is a whole new place, where I've never been before, near friends I haven't seen very often in years. Maybe even near my sister, because she might be moving to Indiana, and getting to see her regularly would totally rule. And here is my chance to maybe, finally, get an art teaching job. I'm feeling rather optimistic, but of course this is the calm before the packing-and-moving-and-dealing-with-law-school-and-looking-for-a-new-job-that-will-actually-support-and-give-us-all-health-insurance storm.

The huge and unavoidable downside is that in order to actually go to Ann Arbor and all its lovely low cost of living, green grass, and relative lack of pollution, we have to LEAVE New York City. I have to leave all of my friends who are like family, and Elise, who is both friend and actual family. And we have to leave our incredible neighborhood and our fabulous neighbors and landlords. That part just is no fun, and I think I'm going to have to ignore it for a while, 'cause it's probably going to really depress me.

Everyone tells me that Ann Arbor is a great town, that I'm going to love it. I'm sure they're right. But NYC is HOME. I have been in New York for 10 years, not including the spring semester I went back to Oberlin in order to graduate. I just realized that this is the only adult home I have ever know! Ack!

Which is not to say that I don't want to go to Michigan, it's just that I love being from Brooklyn. I love being a part of this crazy and fascinating and on-the-edge-of-everything world. I love the subway, I love the buildings, the endless multitudes of restaurants. I love working across from the Empire State Building, and walking by the NYPL lions to have lunch with Elise. I love the Brooklyn Brigde, and the China Town Ice Cream Factory. I love that Leon was born at Beth Isreal. I love living next door to That Crazy House. I love being cool without even trying simply because this is where I'm from. Silly, but true. And maybe most of all, I simply adore living at 10 Downing Street - what could be cooler? No other address will ever compare. Sigh.

On the other hand, I think it could be a lot easier to both make and show my sculpture in Ann Arbor. Which, in the end, is a heck of a lot more important than feeling cool.

So, here we go.