I am sure you have all been following the sad and depressing news coming out of Washington every day about our country’s economy. Seemingly every other night, the network’s primetime lineups are at least partially interrupted with financial crisis news breaks or more political fallout and coverage. With that in mind, I am sure the last thing you came to The Collins Chronicles to read is another melancholy state of the union address. Luckily, that is not what I have sat down to write either.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud and happy to report that the state of the Collins Chronicles union is strong and growing.

So much has happened in the last six months, that it boggles my feeble mind to even consider it all at once. So many of you have stuck with the website through the chaos and lack of updates, I have been consistently amazed. I get several emails each week from many of you asking how things are going and when I will have the site updated. I really appreciate your friendships, kindness, and interest in the weird little world that I occupy.

Let me try to hit the highlights while simultaneously answering some of the most frequently asked questions from many of you.

First off, WDC (my now-six-month-old son Oz for the new readers out there) has brought more joy and fun to our home than I would have ever thought possible. The little guy has such a happy demeanor that it is impossible not to smile and laugh when you are around him. He is six months old and wears clothes in the nine month to one year range. He has two razor-sharp bottom teeth and has mastered the arts of rolling over, belly-scooting, and making multiple noises (like howler monkey and wicked fart) with his mouth. I know I am slightly partial, but I think he is the coolest six-month-old ever, and I will not hear it any other way.

The other big news of the past six months is clearly my new job and our family’s move to Lexington, Kentucky. I could literally write a novel about all the factors that came into play in helping me finally realize that God was leading us to make a move. My life at work had deteriorated to the point that I dreaded the drive in and wanted to come back home as soon as I got there. I will not go into all the details, but if you are truly interested in hearing some of the story of my break from my former employer, send me and email and I will let you read the resignation letter that I wrote them. It goes into more of the gory detail that is best left unwritten here.

I am now the senior transportation analyst for an amazing company that makes a premium line of mattresses and pillows. I will not shamelessly plug the company, but its world headquarters are in Lexington, Kentucky and one night on its mattress will have you sold on them. You should be able to Google off that and figure this riddle out.

We were able to buy a house less than two miles from my office, so I am able to go home and have lunch with the family several times a week. The company also has a complete fitness center in the building, so I can sleep, work, and workout all within about two square miles. The atmosphere in my new office is incredibly friendly, and my first couple weeks here have really reinforced the decision I made to relocate me career north a couple hundred miles.

Wife of BDC and WDC have been out running the roads with their GPS and learning their way around Lexington. Both of them are absolutely in love with the area we live in and the town as a whole. There is a plethora of shopping and dining within ten or fifteen miles of the house. One big plus is that Lexington is far enough north that it has some restaurant chains that have not ventured into Tennessee yet. Among those we have already enjoyed are Max & Erma’s, Red Robin, Culver’s, and Bajio Mexican from a chain standpoint. There is also a Lexington original restaurant named Ramsey’s that is already among my favorite menus in the world.

I have to also rejoice about my new cable situation. I have more channels up here at a lower monthly cost. I even have the NFL Network in HD. Also, we are still in SEC country, but we are close enough to the Big Ten that we get their network and Fox Sports affiliates. I have more sports channels than ever before. We are of course rocking two DVRs, so I am fully up-to-date on nearly every TV show imaginable, so drop me an email if you want to chat about any of them.

Speaking of television, many of you are aware, but for those of you who did not participate, The Collins Chronicles Greatest TV Show of the Past Ten Years was named last week. Our dedicated panel of voters named "The Office" as our very deserving winner. Even those who voted for our runner-up "The King of Queens" admitted they could not take much away from our champion. Thanks again to all the dedicated voters. If anyone out there would like a look at the completed bracket, send me an email and I can get you an Excel spreadsheet of the full field of 64 shows.

Life in Kentucky is going very well. I am making a lot of new friends and hopefully creating new readers every day (any Kentuckians out there yet?). We are in the process of trying to find a new church, new barber/beauticians, new this and that which comes along with moving. The house is virtually settled. We still have to buy a sweet new sectional for our loft and hang our framed stuff, but for the most part, we are completely unboxed and back to normal living. One sad note is that Cheerwine is not distributed in this area, so be sure to bring a 12-pack with you if you come to visit us. That is the price of admission for Tennessee guests. On that note, our guest room is big and comfortable, I am told, so let me know if you ever need a stopping point on your way up or down I-75, and I can hook you up.

There you have it, folks. The state of The Collins Chronicles address is complete. We miss all of our Tennessee family and friends madly, but we are truly happy with the spot that God has landed us in here in Kentucky. I can sense the chaos that has surrounded us for months dissipating more and more every day. We were very blessed to get our house in Tennessee sold recently, in spite of the economic craziness going on. That was our last big hurdle to clear to reach normalcy again, and we did it. I should begin to have more and more time to devote to the maintenance of The Collins Chronicles, and I have so many new stories to tell you.

Thank you all for reading, writing, and caring about BDC and the family. You all mean more to us than you individually realize, and it feels great to be climbing back into the saddle and updating the site for you. I wish you all the best and I will BD-see you sooner rather than later, I promise!