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Oct

19

Hoteliers

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October 19, 2006

To those of you who commented on my last post, thank you so much for sharing such thought-provoking, respectful points of view. I feel like that conversation actually changed my perspective on the whole difficult subject, in a good way. A broadened way. That’s some pretty awesome blog-post fallout, you know? So: thank you.

:::

We had friends stay with us last night, a couple we’ve known for years who recently spent 12 months traveling around the world. They started in New Zealand, moved on to Asia, and then went to Africa before coming back home. I thought it might be awkward to spend time together, I thought that compared to traveling the Kalahari in a Land Rover and camping in Thailand the life we’ve been living for the last year would seem excruciatingly boring.

I mean, they’ve been doing this. And seeing things like this. While we’ve been, uh, changing a lot of diapers.

But of course we are all living rich and interesting lives in our own way, and they seemed as excited by Riley’s development (and even the progress on our remodel, which was awfully damn nice of them to care about being as how I personally find the subject about as thrilling as, say, watching drywall dry) as we were in their travel experiences.

The last time they visited was over a year ago when Riley was a tiny little suctopus who brought all conversation to a startled halt when he turbo-horked a geyser of milk all over the sofa, floor, and JB’s lap. This time I thought he would be infinitely more charming, but whether it was end-of-day weariness, the stimulation of having new people around (and their massive, friendly Golden Retriever), the alignment of the planets, or some combination thereof, Riley basically morphed into a human spider monkey whose temperament veered dizzily from Cackling with Insane Glee to Howling in Great Sorrow while he clambered around falling into things because he was too hyper to keep his freaking balance.

If this couple decides against having children, I think we’ll all know who’s to blame, is what I’m saying.

Tonight JB’s parents are coming to stay for a couple days, which certainly brings up the monthly average of our bed-and-breakfast hosting activities. I’m hoping their presence will allow JB and I to escape for a while on Friday or Saturday night; maybe see a movie, or eat a meal that doesn’t involve being anywhere near those godforsaken Gerber “Pasta Pickups”.

I’m guessing our weekend will involve lots of sitting around and talking, marveling over the grandchild, and if the weather cooperates, some park-walks or geocache outings. I know it’s only Thursday, but indulge me again, won’t you? – (and give me something to read when I sneak away from all the festive family bonding to the computer) – what are you doing this weekend?