Quercus x sternbergii I don't get this. I've hiked through native area nearby my house and I see both Q. shumardii and Q. buckleyi there. It is easy to tell apart by just looking at the buds of both. Q. shumardii has dominant large terminal bud with small lateral buds while Q. buckleyi has all equal sized buds which explains why they tend to have multiple trunks in the wild. I thought Q. buckleyi looked better with better red fall color than the other one. Q. buckleyi seems to be small, more dense and compact tree with smaller leaves and acorns while Q. shumardii seems to be signficantly larger and more open tree with larger leaves and acorns. I've seen big shumard and bur oak trees there at the creek bottom.

I'm from the area, and would definitely suggest downstairs at The Pink House, and to avoid Lady and Sons at all costs!!! Unless you like long, long, long hot waiting lines in the heat and humidity, and plenty of fried, greasy food to sink to the bottom of your stomach! If you're a tea drinker, lunch at the Tea Room on Broughton Street is always delightful! Dresses ARE much cooler, or light weight loose cotton tops and capri's with comfortable shoes for walking on uneven cobblestones. Leave your heels at home. Temperature today is in the high 80's, but it's been getting hotter each day and could well be in the 90's when you get here. I had friends that just visited from the west coast and they really enjoyed the evening Ghost tour. A visit to Bonaventure cemetery is a must. I agree with everyone else's recommendations, and the suggested reading list!

DH-Worked hard to provide for us and appreciated the fact that I was a SAHM. He was very very involved in the kids activities and spent a lot of quality kid time with them as well as sharing care-giving duties from day one. He is generous to a fault. He can do laundry, clean the bathroom and repair or build just about anything. He cannot cook however so he is banned from the kitchen except to nuke stuff.LOL DS- #1 is he is extremely kind to women. Girls always flocked to him. For a long while he appeared to have his own harem. LOL He absolutely adores his SO and is extremely protective of her without being the least bit controlling. He is a true believer in equal rights but chivalry is his middle name. He has my back. A real tough guy with a gentle nature. D(quite likely)SIL to be- He loves my DD and shows it in every way both large and small. A hard worker who wants a family to provide for and who doesn't have the materialist expectations of his generation. He has solid values and isn't afraid to fight and work hard for what he wants. As my DD puts it... he's a combination of her brother and the best qualities of the two other main loves of her life before him without the negative ones.

I'm so sorry for your loss. What a lovely way to inform us, citing all the good things you were able to share after being reunited. Your story reminds me of the suitor my mother refused when they were both very young. (She was only 17, and she and her parents thought this was premature.) As my mother was dying of leukemia, a lifelong friend sent her news of this man -- by then a widower of many years. He came across the country to spend a week with my mother, bringing the photo she'd inscribed to him so long ago, and bringing the perfect little diamond ring he'd kept all these years. I know their marriage would have been uneven. He was a quiet, homebody person, and my mother became a successful career woman. However, I thought he was a much finer person than the successful businessman she did marry (and divorce) -- my father. Sometimes we underestimate how romantic and sentimental a man can be.