It is Finished....For Now.

Last night (or this morning, depending on who was in which phase of sleep) Nate handed in the last paper he had pending for the quarter, thus the school year. I'm so proud of him, completing this first year of graduate school with some outstanding work and success. I used to think graduate school was just 30-somethings writing papers and having more difficulty because they had been out of practice, but was I wrong. Nate's class of 9 students is by no means a microcosm of all graduate departments, but the work load was grueling for everyone. For us, the only family with a child (and one on the way), it was a team effort: we all shouldered part of the burden. I am amazed at what is expected of students above and beyond class, homework and work schedules. Conferences, meetings, and department-wide participation in other students' events are recommended with a knowing look that communicates much more than "your presence is requested...". Nate made herculean efforts to be known by various faculty in the history department, foresight that I find extraordinary when he was so bogged down with the daily details of student life. Because he plans on applying this fall for various PhD programs in 2010, these connections were necessary.
Our family only has one week's rest before our next journey into uncharted territory: Nate's departure for three weeks to Bolivia to do archival research. Research-wise it is hardly any time at all. Family-wise it feels like an eternity to be apart. With the hands-on help of both Natalie's grandmas we will have some great visitors and help while I keep my work schedule on the weekends. It is also a momentous occasion because he will be returning to a land we both called home, and visiting people who became our family while we lived in Bolivia. I'm sad not to make this journey with him. His return to the US will coincide with the advent of our birth month (the two weeks before and after the proposed due date of July 29), another journey into uncharted territory. The two months before classes start next fall will be a special time for all of us, an insular time as we get used to the new shape of our family. Thank you all for taking this journey with us--we will need you on the road ahead.