Not Eloise

I'm looking forward to Halloween weekend at Lake Gaston with Kathy and Lee. This will be our 4th annual get-together. Very therapeutic for us all.

The Frustration of Not Knowing. . .

My co-workers are Rat. "Google It" is a quick response to almost any question that comes up. I hear it several times a day. I hate to say it, but between Google, Wikipedia, and YouTube, it really is amazing what you can learn. Never mind newspapers, will Universities become obsolete?

Best Houseguest Ever!

A couple of people have told me they've been looking here for updates about Mom's visit. I haven't taken the time to write anything and I'm sorry to say, we didn't take any pictures. It was so nice having her here, I did not want to spend the time at the computer. If 2 weeks was too long of a visit for her, she was too kind to let on.

She was totally a good sport about everything. She did not complain about being left at home with Eloise every day while we went off to work. She brought a fresh eye to my attempts at flower beds and pot gardening and she fixed almost all of our evening meals. I was in heaven eating my mother's cooking again! -- and so was Duncan.

Otherwise, we went to Charlestowne Landing and Folly Beach for walks, spotted a 12' alligator going into the pond behind Duncan's office building, had friends over for a dinner of fresh-caught flounder and mullet, went to the Farmer's Market at Marion Square, watched some movies, and just generally hung out.

One long day we went on a SCIway roadtrip to Hilton Head/Bluffton. It was a whirlwind trip -- not enough to do or see even a portion of what we would have liked to -- but enough to see that it was a really pretty area and know we'd like to go back.


While I was at work one day, mom greatly improved the appearance of this little bed at the bottom of our steps -- though the picture doesn't do it justice. She moved a very unhappy knockout rose to a place where we hope it gets more sun -- and put in this sweet grass, a pot of pansies, and some catnip especially for Eloise.

Despite every kindness, Eloise was her usual rude and aloof self until the last 4 days of the the visit. Finally, she condescended to spend part of her night on Mom's bed and let Mom scratch her ears. I would not nominate Eloise to work for the visitor's bureau.