Tired. So tired. It's Sunday afternoon and I am tired. I try to be a good person and to support my children in their lives. And because of this, today PK and I are beat.

Last December, Kate had a friend she met through the internets come and stay with us for two weeks. It went well and we enjoyed Holly's visit. She lives in Missouri with her father. Fast forward to June when Kate says, "Holly and I want to move into an apartment together and she is coming here in August. Can she stay here until we find a place?" We said yes. And then forgot about it.

A week ago, Kate informs us that Holly and her dad are driving across country and will be here on Friday and he will be staying with us until his plane leaves on Sunday. !!! Now, we expected him to stay overnight one night and then hop a plane home the next day. But, he wanted to stay the weekend and "get to know us". We were not amused. We have tentative plans each weekend to do something fun and relaxing to make up for the stress of being on the go all week for work. Hosting a man we don't know was not my idea of fun or relaxing.

But, I love my daughter and we prepared. They got in at 11:15 Friday night and we took them to the local diner for a bite since they hadn't eaten since the afternoon. Kate and Holly renewed their in-face friendship while we tried to get to know her dad. It was a little awkward and I was tired. Saturday, PK took him to the flea market for some 'rust hunting' and then they unloaded the truck and took it to the rental place. I went to the grocery store and did the laundry. We ordered a bunch of Chinese food and took it to a local park, one with lots of history, thinking it would be an interesting thing for him to see. He is not into history and just wanted to talk about the girls. Now, I am of the opinion that the "girls" are young adults now and they need to make the decisions about their apartment and living arrangements themselves. They will not grow into responsible people if we tell them what to do all the time. He is having some control issues with all of this. Maybe because he will be so far away and I will be only a town away. I am not as worried about the girls. I know that I have raised a responsible young adult and she will be fine. (and withing calling distance if she gets in trouble) After a beautiful sunset over the river, we went home and we entertained him by playing Trivial Pursuit while the girls went out. Three hours later, I was beat and went to bed.

This morning we got up early and went to brunch and then took him to the airport. I felt like I could breathe easier. I feel guilty about this feeling. I think because he changed his plans and didn't ask if it would be ok with us if he stayed longer and didn't worry about whether we had plans. He just assumed we would change our plans to accomodate him. He's not a bad man, just different from us and we were strangers thrown together for two days. Conversation was stilted all weekend and if you don't think that's exhausting, you've never tried to keep someone engaged for hours on end.

But it's over. I made my daughter and her friend happy. She is looking for a job and they already have a lead on an apartment. I may soon have a free room to turn into a long-desired craft room!

I have been working on my shawl and have really enjoyed the pattern and the yarn. You can just see the pattern in this photo. I am further along than this. It is 11" long from top to bottom now, almost half as long as it's supposed to be. The colors are pretty true in this photo and the subtle sheen is there. It is so silky feeling. I am loving it.

And a parting shot of Cape May beach from last weekend. It's funny. Last weekend was busy but so relaxing and wonderful. This weekend, well, it was different. And now I am going to make an angelfood cake for desert for dinner. We're having quiche, salad, a good bread and cake with fresh strawberries. It's making me hungry just thinking about it.

I hope you all had a good weekend.