Mina is on her way!  Tomorrow morning, I will drag myself out of bed (we do the Daylight Saving Time switch tonight), to the train station and then to the airport to meet her.  If Benjamin is up, he’ll come with me (he really, really wants to, but I can’t imagine that it’s good for anyone for me to actually wake him up to take him, so he’ll only come if he’s already up).  I absolutely cannot wait and desperately hope I don’t oversleep (because these are the things that stress me out).

Right now, my sister is on a plane, getting ready to take off to fly to see us.  It’s her first trip to Europe, her first international trip at all, and she’s doing it on her own.  I think she’s a little nervous.  I understand.  I did the same trip, also my first trip to Europe, also alone, two years ago.  (I was coming to visit Dan on a business trip to see if I could imagine us moving our family to Vienna, which, evidently, I could.)  I also know that she’s like me (more than a little) and the logistical details of such a trip are bound to cause her some anxiety.  I remember being worried about all of the steps along the way — negotiating passport control, finding baggage claim, finding my bag, getting through Customs, finding and meeting Dan.  Travelling alone is intimidating enough — more so when it’s not something you’ve done before and a million times more when you’re trying to do it in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language.

She’ll be fine.  But still, I’ll feel better when she’s here, and I can see her and hug her and talk to her IN PERSON.  I hope B is up and gets to come to the airport to meet Mina.  The boys can’t wait to see her and I know she can’t wait to see us.  I can’t wait to show her our place and Vienna and all the great things we’ve found about living here.  It’s Mina’s Big Adventure, and it starts now!