6 Jun 2023 – With Perfect Weather&Temps

Sat: oh! how I really dislike packing!! But looks like better to learn to deal with it when seeing the grandchildren is the priority, Nice that #1,2&3 want to have dinner together while #2&5 are at camp on this full-moon night. Tkx Linn for arranging and making dinner, was just too tired to even help. Time has gone by too quicky and its already the month of Jun, and #4s 14Bday next week.

Sun: missed AA-flight 0600hrs to DCA and the 1100hrs flight was full. Being on a non-refundable ticket, had to rebook a new oneway trip to OSL, an expensive trip that I have NO wish to remember!

On the phone all morning and waiting the whole afternoon@CAE airport, finally took off 2000hrs for ATL(full flight) connecting to AMS(full flight)-OSL. Flight from ATL-AMS was delayed and flight from AMS-OSL was held back 10mins, just in time for me to run, get thru’ immigration and was the last running on board, thank goodness that they delayed the flight so that I could make it, unlike when I missed the IAD-CAE flight because of 10mins delayed from connecting flight and had to wait 4hrs@IAD on my way to the US last month! This will probably be the most expensive&stressful trip in my life, but all worth it to have #6 in my arms.

Mon: arr safe&sound but no baggage, oh well! no worries as I have kinda expected it and do have whatever I need for an overnight. Nothing matters more than being safe and having a soft-ice-cream with #6 after puppy training.

Tue: 2nd-born must have green thumb, just being indoors at her place is like being in the Garden of Eden – she must talk to her plants and treat them with loads of TLC! Baggage is due to be delivered this evening, so back to another 7thHeaven again with #6 who is still in school until the middle of Jun, when summer holidays will then start here. Now with a puppy in their home and moving to a new home next week, life will be busy. Home is any four walls that enclose the right people.

The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother, and they’ll settle for a puppy every time – do wonder if he asked for a baby brother or sister, hahaha!

Even the neighbour moved his office outdoors to make the best of a day like today! This perfect weather always get me thinking of the children’s paternal Norwegian grandfather, JohnHALD who once said during one of my the visits before he passed – Vi har bedt om dette været for ditt besøk=We have requested this weather for your visit…

2 Jun 2023 – #4’s Awards Presentation

Tue: got oil-change for the Jeep and Linn has been using ImportPlusLLC for as long as I can remember. Interesting interior now that it has been taken over by new owners who tells us that they will have to move soon as the road is due for widening. We got a loan of another car to run errands while they were changing the oil, this is SouthernHospitality for you – https://importsplus.net/

Got a bunch of errands done, including getting accessories for Fri. Linn&I managed to make 50+packages of party-favours.

Wed: its going to be a long day today, starting with #4AwardsPresentation for straight As and Math in her last year in MiddleSchool. HighSchool will be next for her.

Heading early into town to avoid the traffic and to find a good parking space.

Lunched@HickoryTavern, wanted to sit outdoors on the upper level, but it was not ready to receive anyone! Decent tart cocktail+burger(without the bun) with sweet potato-fries.

Ice-cream@DonutGuy that had my favourite FunnelCake there, but was too filled up for that.

Strolling about LincolnSt to get familiar in the area with random sculptures,monuments,etc…

and buildings.

15.30hrs – 1st in line to get into ColonialLifeArena to reserve a row of seats for the family. The Commencement started at 16.00hrs with 291students to receive their diplomas.

Here she is, standing beautiful&tall in her ChristianLouboutin receiving her HighSchool Diploma, and she managed to walk those few steps without tripping in those red-sole-heels!

Congratulations Elisabeth Iris HALL #2, and all the best to the next chapter in ClemsonU,SC,USA in this life’s journey. So nice to catch up with Cindy/SC, Dee&Terry/FL, and Kathleen/NC.

Thank you to the proud parents for raising such an amazing young lady and this fine family. Those shoes did not stay long on her feet, here already off for family pix – hahaha

What an achievement, and yes I counted all her 17 chords,medals,stoles – appreciations to #4 for providing me with the list so promptly when I only asked her for it at dinner – this young lady will certainly go far in life!

Chords:BetaClub,CasProject,DistinguishedHonorGrad, DoubleNationalHonors+EnglishHonorsSociety,FineArts,ForeignLanguage, IB-Diploma,PalmettoGirlsState,StudentAmbassador,Top5Individuals,

Stoles:BetaClub,FineArts&Humanities,IB-Dipolma,

Medals:AcademicAchievement,Salutatorian,Top5%GraduatingClass.

Appreciations to Linn&Jeff for a lovely dinner@BlueMarlin where they serve one of my favourite SheCrabSoup.

Next graduation will be@UofSC when #1 completes her UndergradDegree in 2024. Hopefully will be able to attend.

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself — John Dewey

Thu: arranging&working on the graduation pix took most of the day, also a couple of hand-wash silk+other drip-dry clothes to be washed before packing again. Text to wish MortenHALD happy birthday and he tells me that there is 5cm of new snow in Tromsø/Norway today! bringing back memories when we had snow there on 17May1979!!

Fri: #2+friends’ Graduation FairyTeaParty was a big hit,

strange to not see any kids at the treehouse, but Bo the puppy! would probably have been up there if he could! 2grandkids(#1&2)in U and no more ElementarySchool grandkids on this beautiful full moon night.

1 Jun – Happy Bday Morten
2 Jun – Happy Bdays KK & RichardLee
4 Jun – Happy Bday Natasha
6 Jun – Happy Bday Dika & Harry
9 Jun – Happy Bday Sophie
15Jun – my father would have been 112. L&M’s paternal grandfather would have been 100
15Jun – Happy Bday AmyJ
19Jun – Happy Bdays JenLeng & ChengSong
22Jun – Happy Bdays Josh & Devon
25Jun – Happy Bdays Chon/John, Clement & Huang/HI,USA.
28Jun – Happy Bdays Jeff & JohnWilson
30Jun – Happy Bdays JenMun & AnnieKOH

24 May 2023 – At FB, But Nothing To Do With FaceBook!

Sun: up early 0700hrs to first drive into town with Linn for her run while I hung around Dunkin’Donuts&EarthFare/DevineSt. Had a donut&coffee where there was a comfortable sofa with WiFi and could not resist this can of soup@EarthFare! hahaha…

Sorry to miss but managed to communicate with family back in SIN during their T-party to welcome baby Ayden from London/UK,

the youngest and probably the last of the PurpleGen on the LAMTinYueBranch. Appreciations&tkx for pix from nieces&nephews.

Then the drive from CAE towards SE to FollyBeach~125m/201k 2+hrs where Linn is working today@Tides, formally HolidayInn and will be also working there over the summer.

FollyBeachPier was reopened after reconstructions last year,

making this 25′ wide,1,049′ long 22′ above sea level the LowCountry icon. https://ccprc.com/1753/Folly-Beach-Pier

Decided to walk on the beach towards the lighthouse and fortunately high tide will not be until tonight 2100hrs making it possible to walk all the way there. Beach houses as far as the eyes can see from the pier but only a few caught the attention on the walk, was more focus not to be stepping on anything that could hurt or injure my bare feet, including dead jellyfish.

Life on the beach away from the hotel&beachfront properties was peaceful&serene, especially last mile or so before the lighthouse – beautiful with protected sand-dunes&grass. Many Canonball jellyfish (was later informed by #3)brought in by the lowtide but they cannot survive without seawater – one of my favourite savings about jellyfish, lol…

The fact that jellyfish have survived for 650 million years without brains should give hope to some people – Karel Dekyvere

MorrisIslandLighthouse on MorrisIsland located on the S-side of the entrance to CharlestonHarbor, N of the City of FollyBeach. At 161′, it is the tallest lighthouse in SC, and not permitted to swim there from where I can see it, not that I had any intentions of doing that!

Driftwood here is so amazing in my eyes that I could linger on longer here if did not have to walk~4+m/6+k back to the hotel.

Tried to take a different route back via the road.

Now with some the charming LowCountry mash landscape where ever I could peep thru’ some of the houses, but the heat&traffic were just too much – headed back on the beach where there was a comfortable sea-breeze.

Pier101Restaurant&Bar for a cup of SheCrabSoup&Salad (had to doggiebag the salad), Linn was provided with dinner by her work before the 2+hrs drive back. After today’s~10m/16k walk(~5hrs) with the seabreeze, looking much forward to a goodnight sleep after a hot bath&shower.

Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly― Jane Austen

While we were@FollyBeach the family was at church recognizing the 2023Graduating Seniors. Appreciations to Jeff for the pix.

Appreciations&tkx to Calvin&Staff@Campers’Corner in SIN for their sponsorship for all of the outdoor gears for this trip. The after effects of walking 5+hrs without any pains on the feet but with tell tale lines of Chaco, the only footwear for me to be able to around the world on since 30+yrs ago.

Mon: was not aware about #2 awards, but tkx to Jeff for pix. Would have liked to have attended if I was informed about it, but seemed like she didn’t really want anyone there – so this is just for me to remember!

Irmo High School International School for the Arts is at Irmo High School International School for the Arts

Congratulations to these Irmo High School students who were recognized at the School Board Meeting last night! Top PSAT scorers: David Floyd, Margaret Hamberg, Gaines Roberts, Daniel Wolff

Tue: TacoTue with #2-5@YachtCove and the best homemade Guacamole by Linn&#4 – need to learn how to make that. #2 is off for another scholarship interview immediately after dinner.

Wed:   first swim for the year, not warm but nice when you keep swimming, have not swam for a long while and 15mins was all this grandmother could handle! Knowing it is clean just after opening for the summer, so will only be there for a few more mornings to use this pool and bring my lunch there when no one is around – the contrast from the back&front of Linn’s condo. Dinner with my gang who enjoys their WedSushi.

20 May 2023 – #3&5 Boy Scouts

Wed17May2023: gratulerer med dagen og hurra for 17mai to all celebrating&marking the day when the Norwegian Constitution was signed in Eidsvoll/Norway on 17May1814. A noteworthy aspect of the Norwegian National Day is its non-military nature – all over Norway children’s parades with an abundance of flags form the central elements of the celebration(pix from KarlJohanGt,Oslo/Norway downloaded). Favourite 17May 2016pix of #3 raising the flag in their Treehouse@Clearwater.

Did not have any Norwegian flags here, but stickers and with chopsticks+some 4JulBeads! managed to mark the day@YachtCove, so proud that #3 remembered to raise the flag@their Clearwater house today.

#2-5 with their usual SushiWed as starters. Glad that #1+Jack drove from town to join us later for family dinner and the most Norwegian food that was available here were røktlaks/smoked salmon, gravlaks/marinated salmon(a tiny package costing US$20), and reker/prawns from Krogers.

Thu: tkx to #1 for driving to DMV, unable to renew driving license as it has been expired for over 9months. Will make time to redo both written&driving tests next time round when I can rent a car with my InternationalLicense to make it on my own here. For the time being will just use my passport as ID! Banking matters&mailing package to cousin Irene/CA taken care of – being familiar as to which branches of these locations and knowing what days&times are good to avoid lines have and help to get things done efficiently despite of the rains!

Lunch&shopping with #1&2@ChickenSaladChick&pOpshelf – appreciate&tkx to #1 for driving me all over and dropping me off at Walmart@DutchFork. Shopping the whole afternoon there and was tried and hungry after 3hrs! Tried to order a piece of pizza@Dominos but they do not sell by slice. The lady who served me then said that someone had ordered a pizza and did not want it, and offered it to me FOC – such kind SouthHospitality is received with gratefulness. Ate a slice&shared the rest with others.

If you don’t know what to do with the rest of your life, make your bed. If you’re going to be a couch potato, at least fluff the pillows. If you can’t afford pearls, red nail polish is your best accessory. If you don’t have time to do your nails, smile and stand up straight – SouthernLady Code Quote

BoyScouts awards for#3&5,Troop48/Pack48@ShadyGrove UnitedMethodistChurch. Not that I know what is going on, but trying to learn about Cub-Boys-EagleScouts and that you need to be awarded certain amount of badges to become an EagleScout –  cupcakes refreshments with their logo! Do like their Law&Oath about teaching boys to be man.

https://www.scouting.org/

Fri: TGIF, a good weekend to all on this cool&wet day. Cloud-spotting is fun&relaxing when weather permits –  here sharing a few of my own personal favourtie ones over the years. The one that looked like a dog was the day(12May2015) a dog bit me – for real and the memory is still vivid! Would have stayed indoors if I understood the clouds then, hahaha… The blog posting below A Sign from the Clouds are some amazing shots by different ppl around the world.

https://amylamsg.com/2013/08/30/a-sign-from-the-clouds/

Sat: while #3 is hiking ~32k/20m on the 804k/500m PalmettoTrail(ProsperityPassageSection), this grandmother will be following closely along in thoughts on this map – pix downloaded. https://palmettoconservation.org/palmetto-trail/

Tkx to Linn for this new discovery GeorgeRogerWine&Raw – excellent service&shellfish dinner for tonight and even got their last piece of RedVelvetCake!

2018 Damascus,VA/USA, was the last one attended and it was Bear’s final&last TrailDays, may he RIP. Hopefully I will still have more TrailDays ahead despite unable to attend this year but plans to meet with HiHills,Lizard,Pokey,Wiggs@PEI in Aug.

16 May 2023 – From Track Meet to Senior Prom

Sat: 1.5hrs drive to WilsonHighSchool,Florence,SC and the the only high school in FlorenceCounty that offers the InternationalBaccalaureate diploma. With these new regulations, had to leave backpack in the car and took only what cannot be left in the car, forgot that there is a see-thru’ bag back with my stuff here as it was also needed at the last football game attended in 2019!

But do remember how hot it can be and had both hat&umbrella which were a great help. The team had to ride the bus earlier, #4 left the house@07.00hrs for school to ride with her team and her event was not until 11.00hrs

Always good&refreshing with shaved-ice on such a day and the BBQribs were yummy – Jeff got some and shared a bite.

Sooo impressed with these kids giving their best in these conditions. Another 1.5hrs drive back with enough time to cool down with a cold shower before the next event! All worth the while to see #4 PR with her times.

SeniorPromNight for #2 – such a beautiful fairytale princess outfit to convince me that fairytale can come true! here with her dashing date Tristan,

who remembers me from 4thGrade 2015talk when he was in the same class as #2 – had to search blog posting to figure out if I remember? and was pointed out that he is in the middle with blue-stripe-shirt!

Once upon a time a long time ago there is a moment where your dreams and your memories merge together and form a perfect world. That is heaven. And each heaven is unique – Frozen

Sun: RiverlandHills BaptistChurch is where the family are attending now. Being Mother’s Day, accompanied them but as usual left the hall when the loud music started, not a fan of music with that kind of decibels that could ruin my eardrums!

Got to see where #1 lives in town where she shares with 2 others and drove by the GamecockStadium.

Yummy starters and low-carb burger for me@BackstreetsGrill

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, and finally here with 3generations, my US-flock gathered for lunch today. What a blessing that we are able to be together and enjoy each other.

Appreciations&tkx to my beautiful, caring&compassion family for these lovely handmade greetings,flowers&gifts.

Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken ― Albert Camus

Mon&Tue: cleaning&tidying up the area below the staircase in the basement to store some of my stuff…

12 May 2023 – To Sushi Wednesday

Tue: doing some reading&sewing+whatever that is in need of cleaning or repairing here that I am capable of doing. Taco Tue, tkx to Linn & her teacher friends from the school. Allison made yummy meatless Enchiladas, Linn did her delicious Guacamole from scratch, Jaime&Tizah brought the beers&wines.

Wed: US$5 SushiWed@Publix, limited selection no Sashimi(US$5 sounded too good to be true!) – my choice were WakameSeaweedSaladUS$5&CaliforniaRollUS$5 while the kids chose the CrunchyRolls. Seems like we are at Publix@MurrayLanding nearly everyday!

Thu: morning coffee out on the patio with the birds in lovely temps, too hot to sit out in the afternoon. This table fell during a freak storm in Mar this year and all the tiles came apart with some broken ones – at present just placed them with the help of masking tape and hope to be able to repair it. Up&down 2flights of stairs with 7x2steps on each flight at least 5times daily and feeling them in my calf muscles!

Another 2flights with 7x2steps down to the basement for laundry, but that is not daily. 3levels here and one level is probably the size of my SIN-4-walls! Must not sleep walk or will forget that the kitchen/eating area is split-level from the sitting area – nice spacious condo with 3bedrooms on the 2nd level and a basement that could be let out as a flatlet or a den for some teenager.

Edited Mon22May2023: fell on that split-level, but not from sleepwalking or drinking! Forgot about it in the dark – thank goodness nothing broken and no serious injury, just a slight bruise on the cheek.

Fri: have not seen Eunice since watching her perform Dec2015@SOTA/SIN–StringWerkz Debut Recital of Poetic Strings.

She is now with SomeStringsAttached@UofSC in the School of Music adapting the Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project for its local community here and performing and completing her doctorate music degree – small world! Nice to catch up and know that she is adapting&doing good in this SouthernUS life-style. Tkx for taking time to drive here.

https://www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Lullaby-Project

8 May 2023 – Baseball Game

Fri: tkx to 1st-born for my 1st experience at a baseball game – ColumbiaFireflies vs MyrtleBeachPelicans. Not that I understand much of the game, but what a lovely evening to be with the family&their friends snacking on tacos&popcorn. Appreciations to AmericanLeadershipAcademy/ALA for these complimentary tickets. This is a new school where 1st-born will start with a new teaching job in Aug.

Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand – Leo Durocher

Here together with #1&2+Jack&Tristan,#3&5

while #4 was at her 8thGradeDance where we managed to pop by to see her enjoying her last MiddleSchool dance. #5 got my attention with the SIN-flag, good that he knows that flag and hopefully will be the next to visit SIN, he still has 2 more years in this MiddleSchool. Has been a busy week with events.

Sat: YachtCove, vaguely remember(selective memory!) that we stayed in one of these units(tkx to Barbara&her family for the use of their unit then) after the house burnt down 10yrs ago. Nice clubhouse with pool. https://yachtcovecondos.com/