Notes on a Weekend Visit from Dad and S

This post is a little delayed, but last weekend, my father and stepmother were visiting R and me from Dallas. They came in late Wednesday night and stayed until Sunday morning. A quick chronicle of our time together:

Wed: Dad and S arrive at 11:30pm. I emerge from the bedroom just long enough to watch dad drink a beer and S a cup of tea. And so begins a visit of much consumption.

Thurs a.m.: R wakes up and goes downstairs to talk to Dad. R brings me coffee as I do email, informs me we're going to breakfast in 45 minutes. We go to Kiss Cafe, one of my favorite places; we walk there, which Dad and S are not too excited about but they try to be good sports for the 1-mile hike. We return home for a conference call (mine) and then decide to venture downtown to the aquarium.

Thurs p.m.: We pile into Dad's rental car, park, and enter the Land of Children on Field Trips. Quote of the day: They sure got a lot o' fish. I was awed and excited for the first half-hour, intently watching the sting rays, sharks and other creatures gliding through the water. After that half-hour, the thrill wore off and I suddenly felt a little queazy and weirded out rather than awed by all the bizarre beings on display in four stories of glass boxes. And there were a LOT of kids - inconsiderate kids, loud kids, whiny kids, snotty kids, clumbsy kids, kids of all kinds, everywhere. It was overwhelming, the whole thing.

Thurs late lunch: PF Chang's. Good stuff. Bad waiter. Lectured by Dad and S about how if I'm losing weight, I'm losing muscle-mass and I need more protein. Why not cottage cheese with strawberries and almonds in the morning?? And Richard, the conspirator...Then it was off to a little shopping in the harbor and browsing at the bookstore. Dad bought me a coffee from the cafe -- it was horrible, burned, but I took a few sips as I was reading a train-wreck of a memoir that was utterly disturbing but I couldn't stop reading until I almost passed out. Truly. I thought I was going to vomit. Why do I read things that are so disturbing? I couldn't look away. I pull R and Dad away from their inane conversation about Bush and Cheney and the war, and we walk to the parking garage.

Thurs incident in the parking garage: Dad gets mildly cut off by a car, Dad flicks off driver and makes other rude gestures, guy gets out of his BMW, Dad refuses to roll down the window, guy returns to BMW and we go home. Good family fun.

Thurs evening: After a bit of a rest, we decide to rent a movie and order pizza (because by this time we'd only consumed two large late meals, so why not a third?). We eat pizza, watch The Prestige, a fascinating movie that I would recommend to anyone who likes magic or mysteries or good acting or a little (not too much) gore; then we go to bed.

Fri a.m.: R has to go to the office so he leaves at 6:30am. I stay in bed til 8, Dad's ready for breakfast, I stall for an hour and then we drive up to Mt. Vernon for yet another oversized meal. We return home for a conference call (S's) and then take a drive out to Home Depot, Land of Plants that will Die in a Week. We were on a mission to resucitate the "tree" in front of our house, to buy a hanging plant and a couple other potted plants to cover some concrete (there's so much!), and to find a tall-ish indoor plant for the hallway upstairs beneath the skylight. We made our purchases and returned to a fun afternoon of potting, digging, fertilizing and arranging. R came home, we all rested, then decided it was time for lunch (after 4pm can't we just call it dinner?).

Fri p.m.: We drive to Fell's Point and enjoy a meal on the water. We don't have long at home before we have to head up north to meet some friends for duckpin bowling (if you don't know what this is, you are missing out. Not really.). I have come to learn in the past few weeks that I am a positively horrible, miserable, hopeless duckpin bowler. But we met four friends there and it was lovely to be with them, and the parents. After bowling, of course we needed a third meal, so we stopped for burritos on the way home. Can you feel the bloating?

Sat a.m.: Richard and I went jogging. Then of course it was time for breakfast -- back to Kiss Cafe. Then we went back to Home Depot to get a couple more plants and some edging for the tree. Worked in the "yard" a bit and then I had to get ready to go to church.

Sat p.m.: I was singing at church all weekend (one service Saturday evening, 3 on Sunday morning). Dad, R and S came for the music and we left before the sermon to go out for Indian food (what do you know -- only two large meals on Saturday!). R and I almost got into a fight about samosas. Dad and I almost got into a fight about something else, I think I must have been feeling punchy. Last night together. We went home and watched another movie, this one quite odd and not something I'd recommend watching with your parents unless you enjoy feeling uncomfortable. It was called Notes on a Scandal. Great acting, bizarre story. Then, to bed.

Sunday: Richard saw Dad and S off while I was at church.

Overall, a good trip.