50 for 50: 1999

YEAR: 1999

AGE: Turned 29 on Nov. 6

LOCATION: Madison, Harbor House Apartments

WISCONSIN FOOTBALL RECORD: 10-2

SONGS I LIKED: "What's My Age Again?" by Blink-182; "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega; "Smooth" by Santana; "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit

MOVIES I SAW: "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"; "The World Is Not Enough"

TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Freaks and Geeks"; "West Wing"

MUSIC VIDEOS I ENJOYED:  "Steal My Sunshine" by LEN; "The Saga Begins" by Weird Al Yankovic

VIDEO GAMES I PLAYED: RollerCoaster Tycoon; NBA Live 2000

In May 1999, Lori's sister got married in central Wisconsin. During the reception, after dinner, I walked out of the fairgrounds building the celebration was occurring at and took a little walk, just to get out side. The sun was on its way down getting ready to set, and the evening was just perfect. I thought about how much I was looking forward to summer, how much I wanted to get my writing in gear, and how good life was for us in Wisconsin.

I didn't realize it then, but our time in Madison had an expiration date, and we already had kind of set the wheels in motion to leave.

This wasn't something Lori and I actively discussed -- we weren't unhappy by any means, and wow, we were having fun in Madison. Lori was finishing up her degree, and work was going well for me. We were even looking at houses to buy. Our friend group had expanded, I was playing Dungeons and Dragons again and taking swim lessons to finally officially, and we were never bored. I hit my first

and only grand slam in softball -- although some people might call it a single and two errors with the bases loaded. Life was really good.

But, we were nudging -- maybe unconsciously -- toward leaving. The housing search we started was a little deflating: Homes and taxes in Madison were expensive, and the houses we liked were going to be tough to swing, and the ones we could more reasonably afford weren't super appealing (and we had the time to be picky). 

Lori and I were both thinking about career horizons. She was craving something more challenging, and the usual career arc of a sports journalist was noodling me -- I liked working in Madison but coveted a job in a major sports market. The extreme mornings were starting to wear on me, too. My first year in Madison, I probably averaged seven hours sleep of sleep on days I went in at 5:30 a.m., and six on my 4 a.m. shifts. By 1999, those numbers were down to six and five (if I was lucky on the latter).

The other thing, too, was we were ready to strike out on our own. A move would be scary and thrilling, and before kids, we were in a position to accept and embrace both.  

That sunset in May, I might not have imagined that in 15 months, we'd be ex-Wisconsinites -- or that we were headed that way. The next 12 months were amazing. Lori and I drove to Washington D.C. for vacation, and we traveled around the state with our bikes and visited Chicago. We hung out with friends, old and new. We flew to Boston for a wedding. Lori finished her degree. The new millennium began (I worked). The Wisconsin football and men's basketball teams had incredible seasons, making work busy and fun -- and we saw many games. 

No matter how great that all was, we gradually realized (especially once 2000 began), it was time to go. When I think of 1999, I don't think of it as a swan song as much as a long, festive sendoff. Madison treated us well and prepared us to take on the world. The sunsets, the summers, and friendships, the experiences, the fun, the laughter, the love -- they all would follow us wherever we went. Nothing would be stopping us.