New Kids on the Block

okay, we've been in New York for a month, working on our house, getting acclimated to the area. it has been kind of lonely, though, being the new people in town with no social contacts in the area. i kept telling myself that things would pick up once school started, and we would meet new people. i think this is proving true.

last night anne and i actually had a social engagement! we were invited to dinner by a professor in the math department at hamilton, who was assigned as anne's mentor at the college. we were both nervous about meeting new people, and felt socially awkward considering all the time we have spent alone lately. Also, we were worried because these people are mathemeticians and we wondered if we would have anything to talk about. anyway, with some trepidation,we went to deb and mike's house last night and ended up having a wonderful time. what great people. they were so nice, so unpretentious, and very politically saavy - without one gram of political correctness. deb has a phd in math from cornell, and just received tenure at hamilton last year, and mike has been teaching in the math dept at smith college for 32 years! we had great food, great conversation and i left their home feeling all warm inside. i love when i spend time with people and leave feeling good and uplifted. i haven't always had those kinds of experiences, especially with some of anne's colleagues in mankato. so, i look forward getting to know them, and spending more time with them.

tonight, we are going to a dinner at the college. it's a college-wide dinner for faculty and partners. i anticipate having some really good food, and meeting even more people. this place is great. i feel really good about our decision to move here, and i have a hunch that our hellish year is finally starting to get better

JB