We’re just back from Minneapolis where we spent the last 36 hours. We were there for Lloyd to defend his dissertation to his dissertation comittee. “Defend! Defend! Yea!” “The closest thing to sport in years”, says Lloyd. “Defend” is exactly what he did yesterday afternoon, from 1:00-2:30PM. And he did well! He passed with flying colors, and is now officially DONE with the dissertation process. There are a few minor edits to prepare the document for final official publication, but that should be a coast after the marathon so far. UST graduation will take place on December 19th, and Lloyd will recieve his diploma for his Doctorate of Education in Organization Development. It’s hard to believe that the application interview for this degree program took place only 4 1/2 years ago, on a snowy day in February 2004. We both went up to Minneapolis for this event, and were delayed by bad weather. We parked near the downtown campus, but had no idea where the OD office was located. Thank God for marathon training, because we had to run as fast as we could through various skywalk systems until we located the OD office within 1 minute of his scheduled interview. The past 4 years have been intense but blessed. What a journey.

After Lloyd’s defense yesterday, we checked into our downtown hotel, and went for a quick visit to REI before going out for supper at Vic’s, one of our favorite restaurants over-looking the river with a sky-line view of downtown Minneapolis. From there, we walked across the river (on a bridge, of course) to the new Guthrie Theater, to see Arther Miller’s play, “A View From the Bridge”. We were both captivated for the entire play. Since it was the play’s first showing at the Guthrie, there were complimentary chocolate bars, and a free glass of champagne for everyone afterwards. Nice. The Guthrie Theater architecture is really fine, and window views over-looking downtown were magnificent. We could see the Metrodome all lit up and remembered starting from there for the Twin Cities Marathon several years ago. We slept in this AM to 7:00, and then went for a 14 mile run together, on beautiful trails that surround Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. Very very nice. We started the run at Caribou Coffee (shared a cup before we started) and also ended there, where we sat out-doors still sweaty, and each had a full cup. We both agree it was a great weekend.

Lloyd with Jon Conbere, his committee chair, and Alla, one of his committee members. Alla is originally from Ukraine, and was helpful in arranging Lloyd’s Ukraine practicum several years ago.

This picture was taken by a passer-by in front of Vic’s, the restaurant where we ate last night. This is the view we could see from where we sat to eat.

The Guthrie Theater is the building seen in the middle of this picture. We could see it from where we sat at Vic’s. It is about a 1/2 mile walk from the restaurant.

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