A funny thing happened...

This time three weeks ago, the family and I were on our way to the mountains of Colorado, happy to be leaving Philadelphia and the East Coast in our rear-view mirrors.

But somehow, that didn't work out so well. My wife and her boss had a sudden parting of the ways, so she piled in her new Jeep and headed back to Philly.

So this time two weeks ago, we were selling our house and trying to figure out where to go next. Virginia, maybe. North Carolina? California? Arizona? The horizon was wide open, but one thing was sure - we were leaving here.

And somehow that didn't work out either.

As I was rooting around for contacts and job leads, one of my favorite freelance clients decided to make me a full-time offer I couldn't refuse. Right here in Philadelphia. Starting next week, I'll be working for the Committee of Seventy, a political watchdog group here in town. My title hasn't been settled, but I'll be doing think-tankey kinds of things - research, writing, thinking - related to ethics and public policy. I'll finally get paid for doing exactly the sort of thing I used to do mostly free.

So here we are still in Philly. Our grand plan for the Next Big Adventure ended up meaning staying right at home. And I am not sorry about it - we have had a complicated relationship with Philadelphia, but somehow this just seems right, like discovering a new city from the comfort of our old house.

Funny how things happens.