Welcome to NY

That's what the nice traffic cop said as he handed Dave a ticket.

The good news is that 10 seconds later and he would have towed our car. Just our luck that our first day in Brooklyn would start out that way. Our first night wasn't much better. We left Dave's sister's house in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Managed to find our way through Jersey, then Manhattan and into Brooklyn without getting lost. Miraculously got into the apartment building after discovering that the previous tenant only sent us one key, instead of three. Then we open the door to our new home.

Dave's first words: "What a fucking shitbox."

A big bag of garbage. Ants. Cigarette butt in the sink. Crap in the fridge. Cables hanging everywhere, bare lightbulbs, and walls in bad need of paint. Welcome to New York.

So when we got the parking ticket, we thought that would be the clincher. The final blow in our little streak of bad luck.

Then this morning, a woman backed into our fender. Despite the fact that Dave was laying on his horn for 5 seconds, she just continued backing her car right into us.

I'm hoping all of this is happening for a reason. A test of our will and ability to stay positive in the face of adversity (so far we're not doing so well with this test). Plus--if you're experiencing a streak of bad luck, things have to get better, right?

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating. The move hasn't been horrible. Luckily we have tons of family and friends to lean on and hanging out at Dave's sister's house in Basking Ridge has been a nice respite from the craziness of the city.

But really, the past few months have been tough. Dave's knee surgery couldn't have happened at a worse time.

But we're determined to make the best of it. This is a test! And I'll be damned if I don't pass this with flying colors.

So I'll end this entry on a chipper note. Here are some good things:

1. We love Brooklyn!!! After I've bitched and moaned about my hometown for my whole adult life, I'm loving it. There's so many neighborhoods to discover filled with tons of restaurants, bars, boutiques, design stores, and gourmet groceries. (The Middle Eastern food is unreal--we had Yemenite food on our first night).

2. We're joining the Brooklyn Heights CSA so we're going to have a weekly supply of organic fruits and vegetables from a local farm.

2. Family--Sandy and Pete have been amazing to us. Basically housing and feeding us (well) for two weeks. My mom has tested my patience, as usual, but I love her and promise to be nicer to her on Saturday when we go to Chinatown for Mother's Day.

3. Our stuff is arriving tomorrow, and the apartment is growing on us. Once Dave works his creative magic, I know we'll make the place our own.

4. The weather is amazing!! The mugginess is a welcome change for me now though I'm sure I'll be singing a new tune come July.

5. We went out for Shelly's birthday and met tons of nice KARAOKE-LOVING people.

Soooo, our luck's about to change. I just know it. I'm just waiting for those lucky envelopes to arrive from SF.......