SC to MD

Mark, me, Scott and Logan in Greenville, SC.

 

After I didn't get the job at PDS, I was pretty upset most of the day.  I took a silk class that night, which took my mind of it for a while, but by the time I got to Scott's place for dinner, I was thinking about it again.  When he asked if I wanted to talk about it, I just broke down into tears.  He then turned me toward the kitchen and asked if "that" would help - "that" being five bouquets of flowers he bought for me as soon as he got off work when he found out about my bad news. He said he didn't know what flowers were my favorite, so he just got some of everything.  I was speechless. 

Learning how to use one of Scott's DSLR cameras in Clemson.

By the end of dinner, I was talking and laughing up a storm.  I'm still disappointed in the decision, but I get over things very quickly.

That Thursday a big group of us went to Maggiano's for dinner to celebrate Mom and Cheryl's birthday.  Scott, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Uncle Bob and Cheryl were all there. We had a delicious dinner and went to Grandma's afterward where she'd made banana pudding and cake.

in the Botanical Gardens

On Friday, Scott and I drove to South Carolina to spend the weekend with his family and old friends.  It was down-pouring when we left, and took us a while, but we finally made it to Greenville for dinner with some of his old friends - a married couple, Logan and Mark. They were really delightful and we had such a good time at a delicious burger joint.  From there, we walked to Greenville's famous waterfall park.  It is really quite impressive, and I wished we had more time to spend in the park, but thunder and lightening was getting closer, so we had to go back to the car.  As we walked, the skies opened and it started raining pretty  hard.  The umbrella was being blown all about, so did us no good.  Finally, we just closed it and ran.  If we didn't have stuff with us, I would've enjoyed just playing in the rain.  It was warm and delicious smelling.  I laughed as we got in the car, remembering the last tine I'd been out in the rain for more than a couple seconds...

It was freshman year of college.  I was returning from a salsa dance with my friend Nick (from Mexico) and it started raining.  We ran and jumped in his car.  After we were in and put our stuff down, he told me to take my shoes off and get back out.  Then he led me over to the slick brick sidewalks of the Chapel Hill campus, and as the rain poured down on us, we salsa danced in the rain.  It was one of those amazing moments that I'll never forget.  A bucket-checking moment.  Now, when someone asks, "Have you ever danced in the rain?" I can say, "Why yes, I have."  And even when I'm 80, I'll remember that moment, though no pictures were taken and I haven't seen Nick in  six years and may never see him again. 

by the sunflowers

And getting in Scott's car, quite wet and covered in goose bumps, laughing at the pure joy of feeling like a child again, I relived a little bit of that memory, and it was beautiful.

in the cornfields

The next day, we went to Clemson, where Scott went to school.  First we visited the Botanical Gardens which were very nice, though we only saw a small part of them.  Scott did a photo shoot with me, all excited about a new lens he'd gotten. Lucky for him, I've been posing for photos since before I could talk when Mom would say "Stand like this, turn your head like this, smile like this, not like that...."  Therefore, I'm a patient model. ;)

After that he gave me a tour of the campus and got me a Clemson shirt so when I go to the football games with him this season I'll have something other than Carolina Blue to wear.  That probably wouldn't make me very popular. lol  We wrapped up the afternoon taking more photos in some cornfields and sunflower fields.  It is so beautiful in that area with farmland everywhere.  I had such a great time.

Lieselotte in Chapel Hill

Lies and me in Chapel Hill

The following Wednesday, I left for Raleigh to see Lieselotte.  She is home for a few weeks with her parents before moving to Berkeley to start her PhD in Biology.  I was sooo happy to see her, even though it didn't seem like so long ago that I saw her in Amsterdam. As it turned out, it was a great week for seeing old friends.  That first day, Lies and I got lunch with my old professor, Darryl Gless.  He is such a brilliant man and I knew Lies would enjoy meeting him.  We all had a great lunch and conversation.  For dinner, we went over to Krystle's house (my old roommate) and caught up with her.  I hadn't seen her in about 2 years, so it was really nice!

Lies and me at the outdoor concert in Raleigh.

On Thursday, I met my old friend and Ballroom Club Vice President, Jonathan, for lunch and had him replace one of my burnt out headlights for me (as he is a manager at Auto Zone).  He was always like my brother, so it was good catching up on his life.  He's getting really into scuba diving, which was fascinating to me. That night, Lies and I went to an outdoor concert with her brother Florian and an old friend of hers in downtown Raleigh. Unfortunately, I got my first ever parking ticket because we misread a sign.  Ooops.  But, it was still a nice evening.

With Aaron and Erika in Cary.

On Friday, Lies and I went to the pool and then I went over to my friend Erika's family's home for dinner.  She lives in LA now and just happened to be home visiting in Cary, NC (very close to Raleigh).  Her family is great and after a delicious dinner of swordfish and veggies, we all went to a karaoke bar where every one of us (her parents, brother Aaron, and the two of us) sang karaoke and danced.  Upon returning home (I was the DD so I got to drive their Jag home), we played music like Frank Sinatra and danced around the living room until 2 a.m.  That makes two impromptu dance parties in less than a week!  SWEET! I ended up spending the night over there and after a delicious homemade breakfast of waffles and berries by Erika's dad, I returned to Lieselotte's house.

Singing karaoke with Erika and her mom.

That afternoon, Mom and Dad drove up from Charlotte and Dad drove my car back home while Mom and I continued up to Maryland in his car to visit Aunt Coleen and Uncle Tom, as well as Erin and her kids.

It is always nice up here with a lot of land and it smells like the mountains to me.  Two nights ago, I went running in my aunt's neighborhood in the dark and it was sooo great.  The night was cool under a starry sky with the moon grinning down at me and the smell of fresh grass and trees all around.

Addie and her peach.

Yesterday, my little cousin Addie spent a good portion of the day with us, and we had a grand old time doing handstands and cartwheels in the yard, picking blueberries and peaches from "Mimi's" plants/trees, and having tickle fights.  After giving her a much-needed bath, I read her Madeline as a bedtime story (which I hadn't read in ages).  I think she enjoyed my French accent, because she initially wanted me to read only a couple pages, but changed her mind when I suggested stopping.  She is such a little love, and it was so nice spending some time with her.  She's also smart as a whip and hysterically funny without meaning to be.  I wish Erin and her family lived closer so I could see them more often.  (Addie's brothers, Marshall and Brennan are precious as well, but they are older.  Marshall is going into 6th grade, Brennan into 3rd and Addie into 1st).

Addie being adorable.

Well, this is way longer than I planned for it to be.  But oh well - as I tell my friends, this blog is more for me than anyone else. :)  When I get home, I suppose I'll start scouting out more jobs.  I applied to be an English teacher through the school system in Charlotte, but without an education degree, I'd have to go lateral entry (work on my teaching license as I went), and they are less likely to hire that sort of person. (Even though I'm sure I know more about English and writing than half the teachers teaching).