Bubble Wrap

Honestly, if we continue with worldwide events like we've had the last few days, this "posting every weekday" thing is going to be easy!!

I happened to be standing in an airport in Indonesia with my family and some friends when we heard the news about the death of Bin Laden. Indonesia is predominantly Muslim so we refrained from whipping out an American flag and jumping around in celebration. In fact, we kept pretty quiet and tried to blend in until we got on the plane and into the air bound for Singapore.

Our kids caught on quickly that something pretty significant had happened so huddled by ourselves in the airport we gave them a crash course on Bin Laden. Over the tops of their heads the adults looked at each other with questions in our eyes about what this event might mean for us living outside America. Neither one of the men are traveling this next week and for that I'm grateful. I find I am often so comfortable living my life here that I forget I am a guest in a country that isn't my home.

The reality is that for as much as America itself has been a target, the American community that lives around the world is also very vulnerable.

We are used to a moderate level of security at the American School. There is a checkpoint with guards where the underside of every taxi and the trunk is inspected on the way into the school. There are evacuation measures and safety houses in place in case of catastrophic events. It's funny how shocking these measures and others at the school surprised me in the beginning but have just become part of what is normal now.

I am certainly grateful for it all as I send the boys off to school in the morning.

I am happy that a man who has destroyed so many lives will not destroy one more. There are many families that have waited for this justice for many long years. For them I pray there will be peace.

And now, I am going to go give this guy

And this guy

a big 'ol hug and kiss with loads of reminders of how much I love them.

Then I think I'll wrap them up in bubble wrap to send them off to school tomorrow.