The ceremony was held at the Superior Dome (or "Yooper Dome" as people here call it). It's a huge wood dome that NMU has for sporting and other big events, right near the lake (you can see it as you approach Marquette from miles away). With minor snafus, Paul, Henry and I got there right in the nick of time for the ceremony to start. We were given seats right up front next to my Grandma Prusi.
Henry was mostly cranky, nursed for a while as the graduates filed in, then Paul took him out to play, but he ended up sleeping in Paul's arms for the entire ceremony.
There was a reception afterward, and then we went over to Dad and Sandi's to hang out while they made a bunch of lasagna for the big family dinner. Henry, as ever, was more interested in the kitchen goings-on than he was in the toys that they had out for him, so my dad showed him how to make lasagna...it was cute.
The big family dinner was good! My aunt was here from Minneapolis, and I don't get to see her much, so it was great to visit. We made some mojitos, the weather was fabulous, and the patio was so relaxing. We pigged out on lasagna, bowties with alfredo, salad and garlic bread with big pieces of delicious garlic. It was really nice to let Henry roam around and be entertained by my aunts and uncles, and cousin. He's a pretty sociable little cuss, and getting warmed up to folks much faster now. It felt good to relax the constant vigilance I hold here at Grandma's house (that is still going on, by the way).
We're slated to close on our house on Friday!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no last-minute snags arise. The down payment will pretty much leave us flat broke until the following week, but since we don't have a mortgage payment until July, most all of the money coming in between now and then can go back into savings. I hope. It feels scary, but we had to get a house and this is a great one for us. I know it goes without saying (again) but I reeeaaallly cannot wait much longer to be in our own place. On one hand, I'm really grateful for being able to stay at Grandma's. And there are lots of people who'd kill to have shelter, warmth, running water, etc. On the other hand, one can only walk on eggshells for so long. We can't really listen to music here, or let Henry roam or make a mess, or really truly relax and let it all hang out. I'm worried that Henry is going to pick up on all of the negative things that Grandma says (not about him, but in general). Like "no," "mine" "stop that" and (to the dog) "get out of here" "go away" etc. I think she says "no" to Henry about 7000 times daily, no matter how much I've tried to gently coach her in our way of handling him doing things we don't want him to do. Most of it is stuff that doesn't even matter; like, is it really a problem if he opens the TV cabinet to put a toy in and take it out ad nauseum? Not in my book, but in Grandma's it's a no-no.
There's a million other things I'm salty about, but I don't mean to complain. I just want to continue being respectful and polite for what little time here remains. But damn! I am so looking forward to my own home again (and getting our own bed back). No matter how much work we'll have to do, it's going to feel like paradise.
Meanwhile, we're still going outside every day, and just marveling at all the opportunity just within walking distance of our house. Sunday, we hiked around Teal Lake and found a great spot for spending the afternoon one of these days as it gets warmer and less windy...the perfect little peninsula for a picnic, swimming and chilling.
Ignore the crazy head scarf...it was sooooo windy out there and my hair was driving me bonkers.
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