Pros and Cons

It's a little early for a drum roll, but I feel the need for some sort of sound in that same percussive genre...maybe one of those triangles that you clang a metal rod around the inside, you know the kind that Aunt Eller from Oklahoma! would have used to call the cowpokes in for lunch with.

The Captain got a call from the 11220 asking him to join their ranks as 1 of 3 residents for the 2011-2012 program. when I got his text yesterday (from CA where he is prepping with a little family time for his final interview) telling me the good news, I couldn't help but feel my little heart swell with a little bit of the p-word (pride).

I'm quickly becoming obsessed with Brooklyn and the idea of possible making it our temporary residence, except I am not sure I would ever want to leave and I know it will be a temporary hang your hat.

I know it's not fair to Philly that I just spent 48 hours getting lost through the quaint streets of BK. Or that my current "fun read" is set predominately in Brooklyn. Or that i just devoured this post on design*sponge (seriously coveting this brooklyn home co. Brownstone and everything in it).

When we spoke yesterday, I suggested we try not to stress yet. Let's get the Captain through his interview in the LBC and then we can focus on making the best decision possible for us.

{I reminisce on the longing I felt for so many years that has always been associated with making big decisions. Longing because for my whole lifetime made all big decisions by myself--always feeling the void and wondering "why do I have to do this alone?" I can't quite express the joy that comes through knowing this is a big decision we will be making together and marks a lifetime (+ some) partnership.}

It's Brooklyn. not sure what else I need to say here. Oh, well maybe there's really cool stuff to do around the clock (it is in the city that never sleeps), amazing food & culture, my sisters will love to come visit me, we may be able to live in a really cool place like a loft or a brownstone or in a neighborhood with a really cool name like Vinegar Hill or the French neighborhood called Carol Gardens which would be really cool because the Captain is teaching me how to speak French (j'aime manger tout le temps--avec tous), we can get by with zero cars, I may be able to get a really glamorous job doing what I really want to do--like graphic design for a magazine to be named only in my dreams (oh what if!?), if I learn to play chess I may be able to sneak in a game with the old Jewish men who will be living in our building and play chess all day out in front and talk about the Shikas who pass by, the money is better, direct flights to SFO and SLC, shows on Broadway, the garment district and cheap fabric/other stuff, within minutes of a temple, Chinatown and Little Italy, vacationing in the Hamptons, cheap flights to Euroupe and the Caribbean, I think I should stop there.

um.... hm..... sheesh! I guess it's not as safe as some places, the winters are brutal, the equipment at Lutheran is a bit archaic, I will not have a trunk (aka: car) for another few years which is only a problem when my back starts hurting bc I have to carry my life around with me, cost of living is high, it's never really quiet there, we may have noisey upstairs neighbors who clomp their feet and drop stuff on their wood floors above my bed, what am I missing?

The hard/easy part is that we really can't make a bad decision here. Am I more excited about living in NY? Yes. Could I live in Philly? Yes. Is the program at Einstien a way better option? Yes. Would throwing Long Beach into the mix make the decision harder/easier? Not in my book.