This morning I showed my IKEA Family card to the guard in place of my photo i.d. in order to get into my office.  The guard said, “Congratulations!”  Whoops.

I think it’s time for some downtime.  Some time off without too many big concerns (surgeries, recoveries, waiting work, prepping for baby…)

It’s incredible to imagine that last year at this time we were getting ready to go to South Africa and not thinking about any of the above concerns.  We didn’t even have an IKEA Family card way back then.

When we arrived in beautiful Cape Town in December 2012, Nelson Mandela was in the hospital and there was major concern with the friends we were staying with both in Cape Town and Durban that politically, things would unravel quickly should he pass away.  Our travel partners said it would be in our best interest to leave Africa immediately should Mandela die, anticipating chaos in customs as well.  Of course, Mandela held on and we were grateful to see a mostly peaceful country.  We were fortunate (only for our own sakes) to see some very raw emotions displayed through the segregation that still exists, long after apartheid is “over.”

And today, as Mandela’s body lies in state, just what our friends there said would happen is starting.  Political unrest.  There is talk of impeaching current president Jacob Zuma should it be proven he’s purposely “misled” South African Parliament and citizens over knowing the immense cost of renovating his homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.  I’m fascinated by this, as it didn’t seem to take the people long, even during this mourning period, for the people to push back at their current president.  I imagine there’s way more to this story.  And it’s exciting to see the people stand up and make noise.