Nothing lasts forever

Well, it's looking more and more likely that we won't be staying in New York after medical school. I guess we've known that for a while, but have been in a bit of denial over it. After all, New York has been good to us. Brooklyn, more specifically, has been great to us. We've loved every second of it and I get a little catch in my throat when I think that in just under four months we will in all likelihood never...live here...again. I'm sad about that.

But I'm also excited. I'm starting to get a little giddy at the prospect of moving to a whole new place where I've never been before. Of course, there's the small chance that we end up in Toronto, which would be familiar and fantastic, but all of the other options are places that I would never have guessed that I would end up. Kind of like NYC, actually.

So, I've decided to kick off a series of Top 10 lists over the next little while with the Top 10 Things I Will Miss About Brooklyn:

10. My neighbours. Mostly the old Italian ladies and E's boyfriend and his family. But also the crazy one who REALLY loves Jesus and his wacky mother, the woman across the street who shouts all summer and sounds like she's been smoking for 250 years, and the old Italian men who are always impressed that I manage to walk a dog and a baby and carry the laundry. They're good for my ego.

9. Having a million different options when it comes to entertaining my toddler. Especially the free trial classes.

8. The bagels. Oh, the bagels.

7. Being so dang close to the most exciting place in the whole world, and somehow feeling like I'm living in a small town where everybody knows my name.

6. The ladies at the laundromat who love my daughter a little too much and would get their hands all up in her poopy diapers just to help me out.

5. Family memberships at the YMCA for $32/month. Yay for financial aid!

4. Carroll Park. We spend every single day there, eating grapes on the statue, eating crackers on the bouncy bridge, eating raisins in the swings, and running through the sprinklers in our...ahem...her diaper. There will be a giant gap in our daily schedule when it gets scratched off of our To Do list.

3. Jitterbugs. Our very favourite class taught by our very favourite music teacher, Miss Karen. Fortunately, we just picked up her brand new CD to get us through the tough transition period.

2. Sweet Melissa, The Chocolate Room, D'Amico's Coffee Shop, The Cobble Hill Coffee Shop, The Fall Cafe, Winn's Discount...and all the other small independent stores that are disappearing from the planet.

And the #1 thing I will miss about my time in Brooklyn is...

1. STOOP SALES