Dad's Visit

Wow, I've had a lot of coffee today...

Wednesday, August 23

I actually got up at 7 yesterday morning, although I had to be very quiet, as Cait was sleeping in the living room. Eventually, the sunlight coming in through our front window, and the dog licking her sent her downstairs to the family room.

I went downstairs and got to work on some schoolwork. Meg, Dad, and Cait were all still asleep.

My first task was to make a list. I am a major list-maker. I usually make very long, detailed to-do lists, breaking larger tasks down into smaller ones. I do this because it allows me to check items off of the list more often. This checking-off process is very satisfying to a whacky list-maker like myself.

So, I made this list of all of the materials, handouts, letters, etc. that I need to make for school. I included pretty much anything I could think of up until the end of the 1st marking period. Now, I obviously can't do everything on the list before school starts, so I also indicated the date that I would like to have these done. My goal is to get as much done as possible before the beginning of the school year, but since I have everything so organized, if I don't get to finish what I want, it won't be that big of a deal.

Eventually Meg got up, and we had breakfast out on the deck. Then, we both sat out on the deck with our laptops, and I started tackling some of the items on my list: welcome letters to parents for each grade. Cait woke up soon after and went swimming in the pool. Dad got up around 11, which seems late, until you realize that it was 8 AM in California time.

After Dad got up, we had the Tommy's Pizza we had gotten in Gettysburg for lunch. During lunch, we vaguely planned out the day. This was a very relaxing visit, as we didn't have any general plans, but kind of played things by ear.

After Cait left for Gettysburg, we made a visit to my parents house, mainly so I could sign the loan papers for my sister. We also wanted to give Dad a tour of the house and show off the Tiki hut and all. It was a very pleasant visit, and dad enjoyed the house. I also signed the loan papers, and set up my parents computer for faxing, which they didn't know was even possible. I helped Laura fax off the papers, while Meg, Dad and Mom got caught up.

When we came home, I realized that I had accidentally left the hose running in the pool, overfilling it more than I ever have before. I always thought it was impossible to overflow our pool, because excess water usually just runs out of the skimmer. The cover on the top of the skimmer has a hole in it to allow this to happen. Well, apparently water comes out of the garden hose faster than it can come out of this hole. By the time we got home, the water was well above the top of the skimmer, and was kinda squirting out of the hole like a fountain. I took the lid off of the skimmer, and water started rushing out of the top. I figured it would rush out for a few seconds and then stop, but there was so much water in the pool that it just kept on going. So I put the lid back on because I didn't want to flood the area around the filter. I ended up backwashing the filter just to get the excess water out of the pool. This, of course, flooded the rest of the yard and Max's "bathroom." Max ended up being covered with mud, because he saw a large muddy puddle and decided to play in it. Pools--it never ends!

After all of this watery fun, we decided to go swimming. This also helped to get rid of some excess water, as a lot got splashed out. It was warmer, so the water felt very nice and refreshing. Meg did a great job vacuuming it too, so it was nice and clean. After the pool, I grilled some peppers and chicken on the grill, and we made chicken fajitas for dinner. Dad is a fan of Mexican food, and he really enjoyed the dinner.

After dinner, we took him to the WIF (Water Ice Factory). He had never even heard of water ice, because it is just a Philly thing. The WIF is a great place to go for dessert. They have tons of flavors, and it is really cheap. A large water ice, which is really a lot, is only $1.75. My standard flavor is blueberry. I always get this, and if I decide to try something else, I am always disappointed that I did not get blueberry. Meg and Dad got mint chocolate chip, and Dad liked it so much, that he decided to go back and try another flavor.

When we got home, I gave Dad a tutorial in LimeWire. He is a huge music fan, and has a lot of stuff on vinyl and tape. He wants to convert all of his stuff to CD (or perhaps digital), and has been looking for a way to easily do this without having to buy a whole lot of new equipment. Meg suggested just downloading the music, to which he replied, "that will cost me thousands of dollars," not realizing that you can still download stuff illegally for free. He seemed as if he might have ethical problems with it, but justified the fact that he already owns the record, and in many cases, the tape and the CD. The record company got its money more than once from him. So, I gave him a primer on how to search for and download music. He was very excited by all of this, and couldn't wait to get started when he got home.

We discussed what the plan was for the morning. Dad's flight was scheduled for 8:40. You're supposed to get to the airport 2 hours before your departure time = 6:40. So, we planned to leave the house at 5:45, in order to have time stop at Wawa and get there in time. The meant getting up at 4:45, and that meant going to bed NOW, as it was already close to 11.

Thursday, August 24
I was the first to get up, right on the nose at 4:45. I got a shower, then Dad, and then Meg. I had my 1st pot of coffee for the day, and had breakfast. The fun started when I went online to see if the flight was on time, and I couldn't find the flight number. Dad called the Philly Airport, and got a recording. The recording said the same thing, no record of the flight number. So Dad called back again, and got a real person, who was very suspicious of Dad, and refused to give him an explanation of why the flight was not listed. He told him it was a security issue, but to arrive for the flight anyway. This had us worried that something bad was going on with that flight, and that he would not be able to fly. Dad called his wife, Heidi in California (it is about 3 AM in CA at this time). She has more experience flying, and explained that it was probably just a computer error, and that the guy on the phone was probably not allowed to give out flight information, since security is so tight anyway.

So, we left the house, feeling better about things. We stopped at Wawa so Dad could get breakfast and lunch, and then headed into Philly. Traffic wasn't too bad, as rush hour doesn't officially start till 7 or so. We dropped Dad off, said our goodbyes, and headed home.

I made another pot of coffee, as I did not want to go back to bed, but was still very sleepy. Meg and I were both kind of bummed, as we hardly get to see Dad, and we had a very enjoyable visit. He will be coming out again after Christmas, this time with Heidi. But, the holiday's are stressful as it is, and will be even more interesting this year, as we will have a 4 week old baby at the time. Not that I am complaining, but it will be a very different visit.

Meg and I are outside enjoying another beautiful day on the deck. I am going to focus on my schoolwork and relaxing now. The summer is winding down. All of our visits are over. There are no more guests coming here. The fun money supply has run dry. There are no more house projects to work on. The air has that 'school' feeling. Cool at night and in the morning; hot in the afternoon. The school year is approaching quickly. Only this time, I am not dreading it. I am looking forward to my third year there--looking forward to a fresh start. The 'Monday' of summer is approaching, and I plan to make the best of it.