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Dear Family and Friends,
How have things changed for the Rose family? Let us count the ways: |
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| 1. After two enjoyable years as a visiting professor at Union College in upstate NY, Paul happily accepted a position in the Psychology Department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He will go up for tenure in five years. It's an ideal job that fits well with Paul's priorities. |
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2. This job change necessitated a 1,000-mile move from the Albany, NY area to the St. Louis, MO area in July. (We've confused many people about this, so we'll explain that the eastern suburbs of St. Louis are across the Mississippi river in Illinois.) |
| 3. The move allowed us to buy a house, and we now occupy a 90-year-old bungalow in the heart of Edwardsville. (It is two miles from the university and twenty-three from downtown St. Louis.) We have put what feels like an enormous effort into the house in the five months we've lived here. And while everything is now functional and safe, there is no shortage of home improvement projects on our 'to do' list. |
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4. The biggest event of the year was the birth of Tennyson Jacob in mid-October. He came one-month early and gave us a few frights at first but he is doing fine now. Details of his birth are outlined in his birth announcement. |
| Adrienne has done reasonably well responding to all the changes. The move was probably the most difficult thing for her, but she clearly enjoys having so much new stuff to explore. She always looks forward to driving by the arch, and she loves going to St. Louis (and with so many excellent free attractions, we don't mind going either). |
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In spite of Edwardsville's small size (pop. ~ 25,000) and relatively rural surrounds, we're very grateful to be here. Edwardsville has a small children's museum, a decent nature preserve, a top-notch public library, a good collection of parks, and extensive bike trails. On Saturdays in the summer time, there is a local farmer's market that convenes about two blocks from our house. |
| Adrienne has benefited in a few ways from being in a university town. She currently "volunteers" as a pupil in an evening physical education course for undergraduates. Adrienne gets to play lots of games, and the undergraduates get hands-on experience designing and directing games for preschoolers. She has also enjoyed using the university's indoor pool on some "free Friday family" nights. |
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In a strange way, the move to Edwardsville has placed us closer to both Katherine's and Paul's families (no small boon now that we have two kids). We are now only a day's drive from Atlanta (8 hours + whatever time the kids demand), and flights from STL to Boise are cheaper and shorter than they were when we lived in New York. (It is unlikely we will ever make the 24-hour drive to Boise, but that depends on just how intimately we want to get acquainted with Nebraska.) |
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Although we haven't been in Edwardsville for long, we've been fortunate to
have several visitors. The day after we arrived, Cristina (Paul's sister) and
her family stopped by and we enjoyed a couple of hours together. Toward the
end of summer, Allison (Katherine's sister) and her family spent a weekend
with us (and were put to work rehabilitating the garden). We are exceedingly
grateful for Alice's (Katherine's mother's) 10-day visit after Tennyson was
born. And in the midst of his trek west, Edmund (Paul's brother) was good
enough to stop by for a bit.
We also managed to fit in a couple of trips around our move. We spent close to a week in Virginia Beach with Katherine's family and about a week in Boise with Paul's. We stayed put for Thanksgiving, but we will spend Christmas with Katherine's family in Georgia. |
 
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Love and all that sort of stuff, Katherine, Paul, Adrienne, and Tennyson |
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