We'll always have Columbus...

We're getting ready to leave Columbus, a little after two years since we came here. In that short time, we've made life friends, and become part of our wonderful community in Schumacher Place. I'm glad we stayed long enough for this to be bittersweet.

We had a house warming and cooling party on Friday night, and our Columbus friends and colleagues did a laudable job finishing off our liquor. Sadly, we took no pictures that night. As a substitute, we vowed to take pictures every night of our last week here. That plan has also met with limited success, so I've had to pull some stock photos to fill in.

Mel and Melissa, our neighbors from across the street, took us out for Indian food on Sunday night.

(courtesy of Annie O'Neill)

Man, those two dress up like crazy! Fine, it's really a picture from our wedding..

Mike and Elly had us over on Monday night.

(Check out S's new glasses - bet you didn't even know she needed them...)

We were supposed to see Paulette and Ryan Tuesday night, but failed as we were packing late, late, late...

And we went over to see Martin, Justin and Nicole on Wednesday night. (here's Martin - I'm sure there's one of the three of them in my stock source, but I sure couldn't find it.)

This picture is in any case perfect, as he bounced like a wild man on that thing!

Big Family Weekend

The weekend continued - we camped out in the RV

Sam had a great time running all over Aunt Debbie's property and eating lots of hot dogs!

We helped S's mom (Donna) set up Erica's baby shower. Erica was really surprised!

And so were we, a few hours later when Erica's water broke in the RV! Taylor ran to get his dad

(Historical reenactment)

Scott ran around yelling for his mom, K put towels in the driver's seat of Scott and Erica's car so Erica could take herself to the hospital, general mayhem ensued. But the day was saved when Grandma Donna took charge and drove Scott and Erica to St. Elizabeth's.

And within a few hours - there was Zaylie!

We came to visit

Grandma Donna got to hold her!

Taylor is a happy older brother, and Erica is recovering well.

So this year, our niece stock has gone from zero to two!

Adventures in Effingham and small town life

S had a surgery a few weeks back - nothing to worry about, and she is completely fine - which we now know for sure. See, we've been driving all over the midwest ever since she had her surgery, and she's supposed to move around (i.e., not sit still in the car for six hours at a time). Add to that - we drive a packed car. Here's where Sam got to sit.

S didn't have much more room. She's had a few weird leg cramps over the past few weeks, but she usually was able to work them out. On Friday, she had one that just wouldn't go away. We called my cousin Ruth, and she confirmed that while it probably wasn't, it could be a blood clot, and we had to get in checked out. We had just crossed over from Indiana into Illinois, and there wasn't much in the way of hospitals. So we headed 30 miles to Effingham, IL, and visited St. Anthony's hospital.

(based on this image, we assumed that he was the patron saint of small carbon-based life forms, but the truth is here.)

At this point, S headed into the hospital, but it was 94 degrees outside, and I had to stay with Sam. After an hour or so, we had finished off the water, and we were hot. I called my parents, and they suggested we find a dog groomer for Sam so I could wait with S in the hospital. Nat found some online. Sam and I drove around Effingham. We walked around Effingham. One address didn't exist. The other was a house. I resorted to asking the locals. They directed me to a metal building down a road past the Petro. They used words like "North" and "East". I kept on asking. We went through the McDonald's drive through. They had heard of it. They pointed. We followed. We went down a one lane road. We passed the water tower.

People rode on ATVs. I gave up hope. And then:

There it was: Dogs by Design. Our vet faxed Sam's shot records. I ran out the door.

Back at St. Andrew's, S was in an examining room, just about to be wheeled out for a leg ultrasound. These were the wheelchairs:

She had the best technician either of us have ever had - he explained what her veins were doing and what he was checking for. And the result?

S is just fine. And we have the nice people of St. Andrews to thank for putting our minds at rest. And of Effingham more generally for not giving Sam brain damage. When we went to pick Sam up, he had a few fun play hours in between his cramped and miserable ride. We tried to pay - and they refused to charge us. Their explanation? "That's small town life."

Chicago visit

(a misnomer, as K's parents and Mary's live far, far away from the city. But there you have it.)

We attended Bert and Cindy's (K's parents) 4th of July bash - and so did (Great) Grandma S!

The dogs listened attentively to Bert...

The next day, Alexandra got dressed up and baptized and now her name is in the book of life. Here she is with her Grandma!

(Addendum: My Aunt Carole took lots of pictures on the 4th, so here's one with Mary and Alexandra)

Game Con

A few weeks back, S's mom, Grant, Heather and Bethany were in town - just in time for Origins!

Donna selflessly stayed home from Origins - how she must have suffered! Grant (accompanied by Heather and Bethany, S and I) headed to the gaming convention where we picked up our badges -

and as you will note, all American Paper Towel Council representatives were required to wear lime green and khaki.

While we were there, we painted miniatures -

We came home and ate a medley of butterfly shaped salads

And most importantly - got to hang with Grant!