Feeling the Pressure

Suzanne came to visit over the three day weekend.  Mike, Laura, Grandma, all the dogs and I were very happy to see her.   And she was happy to be see us.  That was not the cause of my stress. 

As readers of the blog already know, Suzanne and her husband Heath are moving to the St. Louis area at the end of December.  My goal for this visit was to make sure that I did not do anything or cause anything to happen that might make Suzanne change her mind about moving here.  Turned out I had reason to be concerned. 

Things did not start out well.  The weather changed from a delightful fall to a cold winter twelve hours before Suzanne arrived.  In fact she arrived when it was spitting snow.  Apparently, the one and a half hour drive to the pond from the airport was a bit harrowing but I am not sure if that was due to the weather or because Laura kept thwarting the GPS directions by missing turns.  Needless to say, by the time they arrived it looked like my work might be cut out for me.  Suzanne was making noises about how she had forgotten how cold it was here in Illinois and she actually wondered if it was too late to reconsider the move. 

Fortunately, the next day went very well.  I cooked Suzanne and Laura breakfast that included chocolate chip zucchini bread and we headed to Edwardsville to a craft show.  By the time we got there the sun was out and the snow had melted and Suzanne was ready to admit that she could handle the weather.  After some shopping, we had a nice lunch at Red Robin with Mike and Grandma, browsed a book store and then headed to Jilly's. 

Jilly's cupcakes are Food Network Cupcake Wars award winners.  We have treated Suzanne to these cupcakes in the past but she has never actually been to their shop.  Suzanne really enjoyed visiting the store to pick out her own cupcakes although I was beginning to be afraid she would never make up her mind.  The shop clerk was not as concerned.  Apparently this indecisiveness is a common occurrence. 

Her ultimate choices were sweet potato pie, french silk gooey butter and bourbon pecan pie.  Laura got to pick an additional flavor and then we chose two plain cupcakes for Grandma and Mike.  The two plain cupcakes were the only ones to make it home without Suzanne taking a bite out of them. 

On Sunday, Suzanne and Laura helped me out at children's Sunday School and then Mike and I treated them to breakfast because they were starving.  There are not many choice for Sunday breakfast in Greenville so Suzanne had to settle for Huddle House.  Fortunately she seemed to like it.

Then we went to Pocahantas to check out the new Mercantile and Sweet shoppe.  I bought some locally made items including honey and maple syrup but the others got caught up on the sweet side of the shop.  There they found about 100 varieties of sweets many of them old time favorites that Mike remembered from when he was a boy.  

After that we spent a quiet afternoon at home.  Mike watched football and Suzanne read her book with the dogs.  Since I do not allow the bigger dogs on the new sectional sofa, Suzanne had to read her book with the dogs in the dog bed.  I was so proud of her for obeying the house rules.  

Suzanne went home on Monday.  As of this writing, I have not heard from either her or Heath about a change in their moving plans so I am assuming we made it through the weekend without a change of heart about the move.  Phew!  Now I can relax and plan for my next hostessing assignment- Thanksgiving!