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Things are a little more like normal around here these days. I am back at the office, at least for a week or two, and the last of our company has gone off to their adventures. This week was a little rough. I'm still not over my cold and I had a few big events at the office and at the plant in Spartanburg. This weekend we went to an event at the Carolina First Center. The India Association of Greater Greenville had a Day in India. It was a festival of food, music, dance, and culture. The girl's got traditional henna tattoos (just small ones) and we ate way too much good food. We found out about it through Isabelle's school. She enjoyed herself and met lots of her schoolmates there. It was great to see the traditional clothing and bright colours. Another new experience for us this weekend was Smoke on the Water. This is a pretty popular restaurant downtown on Augusta road. The place is known for its meats, particularly barbecue. I had a combination plate with ribs, brisket and pulled pork. Jane had the prime rib dinner and shared her crab cake side with Isabelle, along with some mashed potatoes. I think they both enjoyed it. Isabelle had the rest for lunch today. One of the nice things about it was the sides. Each meal came with sides selected from a pretty extensive list. It included: baked beans, spinach casserole, and a baked potato cake with onions and bacon. There were more but you'll have to look at the menu. This place also has four barbecue sauces on the table. There is the traditional tomato based sauce, the mustard sauce, the spicy vinegar based sauce, and the sweet molasses based sauce. All were good but I especially like the mustard sauce. All in all a very good dining experience. The service was good although a little slow. The last big event this weekend was a visit to Furman University. It is located a few miles north of Greenville on some very lovely property. The campus is new by most standards having been built in the 50s. We all enjoyed a walk around the lake and the beautiful weather. It seems like a very active campus with lots of people running, walking, and generally moving about. And one other thing. Isabelle has been getting pretty grimy playing in the sand in the backyard. Jane thinks a sandbox would be order. Well, we left ours in Kentville with a friend and they seem to be ridiculously expensive here. So, Papa to the rescue. I went out to Lowe's and think I can make on for about half the market price. It will be out of wood though and not one of those fancy plastic ones. A few hours today has pretty much got it finished. Now I just need to go out an buy some sand.