Until We Meet Again

"No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

- Francois Mocuriac

We had such a nice week with Val and her family. We spent the week boating, shopping, eating yummy foods, hanging out, site seeing, drinking wine, taking pictures and just spending time together. Hard to believe we only see each other a few times a year. You never would have known.

Our visits may be even less over the next few years, however I know that no matter the distance, we will be friends forever. And while I enjoyed showing the Camp family all my fave sites and eating holes in North Carolina, I am really hoping to get to show them around Japan.

Here are a few highlights from the week. I can't wait to see all the pics Val took.

Raleigh Tops The List

Raleigh made Forbes Magazine this week. Just another sign that this was a great move for us (despite the whole preschool situation –– not that I am bitter or anything)

Best Cities For Jobs
To compile the rankings, we used five data points, weighted equally: Unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income, and cost of living. We measured the largest 100 metropolitan areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, and obtained the data from Moody's economy.com. But we've updated the methodology since the last time we did this survey. In 2006, we used a five-year average for job growth and income growth, so the 2001 economic downturn was included in the data. That disproportionately hurt financial centers like New York and technology hubs like San Francisco and San Jose. This year, we only used growth data for 2003 through 2006, which boosted the major cities a bit. Last year, New York, San Francisco and Chicago were all in the bottom 15...

Raleigh, N.C., topped our list this year. The city has low unemployment, strong income and job growth, and high incomes--yet it still maintains a relatively low cost of living. Raleigh is part of the "research triangle," including Durham and Chapel Hill. Three major universities--Duke, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University--make their homes in the area. The result: A city with good weather, a relatively low cost of living and a highly educated population. "There isn't much of a negative in Raleigh," says Steven Cochrane, an economist with Moody's economy.com, which provided us with the data for this story. "It has a lot of the amenities of Florida, except not the hurricanes."

Top Cities Table

Winter Weather Advisory

Hard to believe two days ago we hit 74 degrees. We are under a winter weather warning for tomorrow morning. Now if I was still in Illinois this would mean several inches of blowing snow, frigid single digit temps. Here it means ice. The TVs are telling people to stock up. City's are sending emails to townspeople telling them of what to do during the "storm". They are ready to put a brine solution (do I even want to ask what is in that?) on bridges and major highways. I am waiting for the school is canceled automated call.

I am just sitting back and laughing. Spending 31 years in the North this is nothing. But I have sworn not to be on the road with these people. I think I would rather go for my annual. I guess it will make for some good blogging though.