Wow.

Packing for a move.  Not even my own move.  Not even one move. Some of these things are going into storage, until some future time when Mary has a permanent place of her own.  Some of these things are going to Phoenix, where she'll spend a couple of weeks, and then come back for a bit in the fall.  And some of these things are going with her to Oregon, where she has an internship.  The piles, and the Post-Its, and the confusion, have been a little overwhelming.  And exhausting. 

But it will be done, soon.  It has to be done before Friday.  Two days of packing down, another half to come, then trips back and forth to a storage locker that is 3 1/2 hours away.  --whew--

Graduation Day!

Finally, after 6 years...

It was a good, good day, involving layers of family, a gorilla, and much celebrating.

A gorilla?

Let me explain.

Early morning, coffee with Dad and Grandpa.

Then, breakfast, which we called breakfast, but was actually lunch.  Its Macomb.

 Not one ate pony shoes, (a local delicacy) so, I guess you could say it didn't count.  But we had fun.  And grandson John got to meet the gorilla.  (Bonus pic of Mary and friend Brandon)

This gentleman strolls through town, in a gorilla costume, and folks take pictures with him.  He's very friendly, although completely silent.  And I hear he has a Santa costume at Christmastime.

After breakfast, we waited while Mary prepped for the ceremony.  That involved more coffee, and lots of discussion of the proper time to leave.  There were multiple ceremonies in the same venue, and we wanted to avoid being caught in the in and out dance; one ceremony leaving the venue, one coming in.  We did not.

The ceremony was thankfully short and sweet.  We managed, coincidentally, to find seats right above the row where Mary would sit.

She was so "pleased".  Even more pleased was her seatmate, Aron, who is trying to extort $5 for every picture we publish that includes him! In the end, it was over, and she had a lovely souvenir of her time in college.

Then came lots and lots of pictures, which caused her face to hurt.

We had dinner, afterward, at a local pizza pub.  Sadly, we forgot to take pictures.
Now the fun of moving her out of her apartment begins...

Adventure Awaits...

It has been AGES, but I'm baaaack!!

We are about to head out on an amazing adventure, so I have decided to revive the blogs.  For the next week or so, we will be back in Illinois, seeing our daughter graduate from college, and also visiting our old stomping grounds, plus some new places.

Then, we will get into a thin, metal tube, and allow ourselves to be flung across the pond.  We're headed to Ireland, where John's maternal ancestors lived.  (There are some French ones in there, too, but we'll do that another time.) 

So, watch this space.  I will post posts (??) on Facebook, but will turn off commenting, there.  I would rather have the comments at the blogs, so that, when I finally get around to printing them into a book, I will have your words of wisdom, right there!  When we get to Ireland, I'll be posting at my travel blog, but you'll see that link on Facebook, then.

So, come along for the fun!