Which way is up?

I do not know the answer to that question. We're moving. All is good. All is great. But there are some really big questions that I cannot answer. Like, where should we get home owner's insurance? Where will my kids go to school? When will they start? Who will enroll them? How do you get to the airport? Is there mold in our new bathrooms?

But I can tell you this. We had a most wonderful dinner with Bob's cousin, Serena, and her fiance' Isaac. Both are living my vicarious lives as political science grad students at the University of Minnesota. So we chat, eat, drink, talk about the Speirs, and then get into Nelson Mandela, union organizing, and ideas on education. And for some reason Amanda and Aidan are amazingly well behaved while there. It's more than the cell phone games, right? We watch slides on South Africa, its vineyards, and Robben Island where Nelson Mandela cracked rocks for years. We consider political and humanitarian work in conflict situations. Of course I mention LWR's groundbreaking work in Colombia, where ordinary people trudge through jungles to negotiate with killers. And we marvel at how smart and fluid Uncle Randall and Aunt Anne are; Serena's grandparents; Bob's special uncle and aunt.

And you should see how much Amanda and Serena share features like height and hair, in spite of over 15 years difference in age, and a couple of college degrees. But I forgot my camera so I'm sorry that I can't show you.

And I am so dog gone tired that I really need to go to bed. It's been quite a week. And I'm sure you've had quite a week too. Didn't everyone have huge weeks?

We're moving to Des Moines in five days. We all wondered where Serena and Isaac will go when they get their PhD's next year and take off to a land of tenured-university-positions. Oh, please, God, let it be Des Moines. Wouldn't that be cool?

Take care everyone. I'm working on a birthday blog. Come back tomorrow.

With love, T