Wedding weekend

Last week we drove back to Illinois for the wedding of Forest's stepbrother/long-time friend, Dan. Carol invited us to come and stay at her house, so Ramona got to enjoy some quality Grandma time--which some might describe alternatively as "getting spoiled."
Saturday morning Ramona had a leisurely dip in the pool at Grandpa's house while others were busily preparing for the festivities. It was her first time braving water deeper than a bathtub.
There were some looks of concern and trepidation . . .

. . . but she managed to light up some smiles, too.

Monkey see . . .

Monkey do . . .

Wedding time was about 5pm

I got to provide the music for the ceremony, but once the knot was tied, Ramona got to strum a few notes of her own.

The newly wedded couple with one set of grandparents

Ramona spent some time experimenting with a golf cart before the dinner. Thankfully, she is still too small to reach the pedals.
At the dinner, her food of choice was watermelon, and her seat of choice was Grandpa's lap.

Congratulations, Dan and Christie!

Pneumonia in July

This past week Forest has been recovering from a bout of pneumonia, diagnosed after:

1. three days of high fevers (you know it's bad if the digital thermometer just reads: "HI," instead of giving you a number)

2. one trip to urgent care (where the doctor could only assume he had a bacterial infection)

3. and another trip to the ER (where Ramona made friends with all the nurses and an x-ray finally revealed the true cause of the problem)

Hopefully an antibiotic a day for just a little longer will keep all the doctors away.

from Hawkeye country to Buckeye land

I spent last week in Columbus, Ohio, attending a string teacher workshop to prepare for a someday-career and earning the last two credits required for my masters degree.
At the workshop, I set the cello aside and attempted to gain some proficiency on two different instruments: the violin and the double bass. To me, one tends to feel like a dwarf while the other feels like a beast, but by the end of the week both seemed a little more manageable.
My parents made the trip with me and watched Ramona the entire time I was on campus (THANK YOU). I think she enjoyed herself despite the new teeth that were pushing through her gums that week.


I had one afternoon off from classes, and spent part of it with my parents and Ramona at the Columbus Rose garden.



Perhaps not as brilliant as the rose garden in Portland, but it was a worthwhile retreat nonetheless.



Forest came to pick us up at my parents' house at the end of our Ohio road trip. Although I had a memorable, educational experience, ten days is a long time for an Ivy to be without her Forest, and I was happy to have our little family reunited again.

June Blur, Chapter 3: Iowa

After leaving my parents' house in Bloomington, we lived out of our car and a hotel room for three days while waiting to close on the house in Cedar Rapids. Ramona found ample entertainment playing on the hotel luggage carts . . .
. . . and also discovered her new favorite park.
Forest's new job began on the 21st, while we were still in the hotel,
but the following day we were finally able to close on the house,
move in,
and, eventually, begin unpacking. The day the moving truck arrived felt like Christmas.
The movers unloaded numerous furniture donations from family (and an upright piano), as well as wedding gifts long lost in storage.
While still in the midst of unpacking, we jumped right into the process of home improvement that first weekend. The former residents were decidedly fond of the color purple--particularly a dark plum color, which covered the upper wall of the family room and the trim around most of the house. Amazingly, after one Saturday, most of that purple was gone, thanks to the generous help of Parry and Teresa.
The obligatory BEFORE:and, AFTER:
At the last minute, I asked if we could paint one wall in the living room blue, to match the chairs from Teresa. I don't hate it, so far . . .
and, I still love the house, by the way.

June Blur, Chapter 2: Illinois

By the time we got back from our trip to Utah, my 4-week online class was in full swing. My study space, aka, our apartment, was nearing its capacity for moving boxes, leaving little room for walking, thinking, or breathing. There were plenty of moments when I wondered if I was losing my mind.
Oh, yes . . . and we got rid of this thing:
So, poor Ramona probably thought she was being tortured.

It was a relief when the moving truck came on Tuesday the 15th, bringing an end to the packing and taking all of those imposing boxes out of the way.

The next day, with packing completed and the moving truck gone, we spent our last Urbana morning on the campus quad. The weather happened to be gorgeous . . .
. . . and hardly a soul was out there, besides us.



That place will always hold a special place in my heart. I cried when we pulled out of the driveway of our apartment for the last time.

Soon after leaving Urbana, we found out that the closing date on our house had to be pushed back by four days. Being left somewhat homeless, we ended up staying at my parents' house in Normal for part of that time.





Despite the stresses about our delayed closing and the attention required for my class, Ramona was oblivious of these things, and we had an enjoyable visit while we lingered in Illinois for just a little longer than expected.