Dad Comes to Town

We’re having a great visit with Dad and Marie. They landed on Friday afternoon about 4:15. I took them to the hotel first, then to our house where Kathy had prepared a sumptuous dinner for our guests. Greg and Lois and Jessica and Shane and Max came for dinner, too. I think Dad got a kick out of Max, as he was a perfect angel on Friday night (Max, not Dad). Max was quite the little host, as Kathy gave him jobs to do like helping set the table and put out coasters. He went around with the toothpick container asking people if they would like one. He certainly made a nice impression.

When Max was born three years ago, Dad said he'd wait to meet him until he could "have a conversation with him." I think that happened this weekend, though Max never stops talking and you kind of have to jump in when he takes a breath. Before they came, he carefully practiced their names: "Grampa-dogs" and "Miss Marie". ("Grampa-dogs" because our kids called him that since my parents were the ones with canine pets.) Dad and Marie both brought presents for him—cars—his favorite. Dad’s was a remote control car (Max loves remote controls of any type), and Marie’s were wooden cars handmade by her son. Dad also brought him a pretend shaving kit that you can use in the bathtub. Max was appreciative of it all. Last night Kathy and I and Dad and Marie went to church and thence to dinner at an Italian place near us. The food was very good, but there was so much that everyone boxed up their stuff and left it with us, so we have dinner for the next week! Marie and Kathy entertained each other and got along famously. (I had forgotten that they had never met before this weekend.) The weather has been so lousy here with rain and cold all day, we haven’t been able to do much except sit around the living room and yak. Today the sun is out briefly, so maybe we’ll take a drive to see the leaves or perhaps downtown to see the buildings. (What? They don’t have leaves and buildings in New Jersey?)

I had taken Friday off to clean the house and run errands and I am just now feeling a little rested. I must say the house is immaculate, even to Kathy’s standards, after dusting, vacuuming, straightening, mopping and artfully arranging furniture and family photos. Kathy says we should keep it at this level so it’s less work preparing for the holidays. It’s funny that even with just the two of us, it can still get away from us. Mostly it’s my junk around the house, magazines unread, mail laying around, Max’s and my toys out. We’ll try to maintain for now. If it starts to slip, we’ll blame Kodiak.