Hangin' with Mom

My mom was here in Durham for a visit. We had a really good time. She helped me finish setting up my apartment. We hung pictures and she helped me pick out some items to decorate the apartment. So we spent some time at Target and Michael's and Pier 1. She had never been to Pier 1 before. I was kind of in awe. We went out to dinner and relaxed and I took her on a tour of Duke. I also introduced her to the fabulous tv show Top Chef. She hadn't seen that before either. It was nice to just be. Whenever she had visited before I was moving to somewhere new and the time we had together was a blitz of decorating and putting things together and hanging curtains and basically everything you do when you set up a house. Time like that wasn't really a vacation for Mum, so it was a nice three days with no real set agenda. She loved the Duke campus. What can I say, I work at one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. The Gothic architecture of the West Campus and the beauty of the Duke Chapel are unparalleled. Mom figured out how to take a picture with her new camera so she has a shot of the Chapel on her phone. She even purchased a Duke t-shirt. Other than Fairfield (my undergrad institution), I don't think she's ever owned any shirts or sweats from my other schools. Duke must have made an impression.

She also got to meet Katia. Last time she came through Durham, I hadn't gotten Katie from the SPCA yet. I think Jack actually remembered her from all of our travels because my big scaredy cat went right up to her and let her pet him. It took Kate a little longer to warm up to her, but eventually her nosy side got the best of her and she wanted to check Mama out. Unfortunately Mom was heading back north into a bitter cold snap and threat of snow. There are some days when I really miss being up north, but today was not one of them!