The Weekend Plans Post: Getting The House Back
We have had a houseguest. (Have I mentioned that before? I know that I have tried to go out of my way to not talk about him due to vague privacy concerns… Anyway, we’ve had a houseguest.)
For a while.
Way back in August, Maribou told me that one of her newly graduated students needed a place to crash for a couple of weeks. A few of her co-workers left the job in order to chase after new opportunities for one reason or another and her student was going to stay behind for a few weeks to help cover at work before leaving for graduate school. His doing that could turn having to hire a ton of people in a short period of time into getting to hire a ton of people over a somewhat longer period of time.
And so my attitude was “why not?”
You can put up with anything for a couple of weeks. I told the kid that he shouldn’t eat my hard-boiled eggs in the fridge but he should feel free to help himself to whatever we had in there because, hey, it was a couple of weeks. How much could a 20-something male eat?
Well, there was a crisis at her work. A co-worker of hers had his wife die (don’t worry, she came back). After CPR and the ICU and lots of sitting next to her in the hospital, she came back safe and sound and is easing into a new normal. Well, this is something that causes disruption at work. So Maribou wondered if the student could stay until October and commute to grad school.
Well, of course. This was a crisis. I liked the co-worker of hers, after all, and wanted to support how I could. What’s a couple of months? I’ll just lock myself in the basement when I need alone time.
And then, in November, another of Maribou’s co-workers needed to take a short leave to have some surgery done. So Maribou was going to cover for this co-worker while she was out and the houseguest could cover Maribou’s shift. Everybody’s schedule was topsy-turvy. So October turned into November.
And, heck, at that point, it was only a few weeks until Maribou’s school was going to close for Winter Break as well. Finish out the year, finish out strong, and then move on, right?
Well, he told us that it looked like the new semester of grad school started the first week of February and wanted to know if it would be okay if he stayed with us until the first weekend in Feb.
At this point, my eye had a persistent twitch and I was thinking “it was supposed to be two weeks…” (I mean, seriously, 20-something males eat *SO FREAKING MUCH*.)
Well, he came back a couple of days later and said “I’ve made an awful mistake… grad school doesn’t start the first week of February… it starts the first week of January!” and so I was able to reshuffle my plans a bit and figure out that I would take off from work, rent a U-Haul, and get his stuff up to his new apartment that first week in January.
And *THEN*, due to the vagaries of the holidays and going back home to visit family and schedules and all that, he realized that December 21st would probably be the best day to move out.
So. Friday. I am picking up the U-Haul at 10 and we are going to load it and drive it up there and empty it and drive back and then hammer out the logistics of getting him up there for good. (Like, a second trip in the dinky Yaris with the television wrapped in a blanket, a pillow or two, maybe a backpack with the last load of clothes still hot from the dryer.)
And then, on Saturday (or maybe Sunday): I HAVE MY HOUSE BACK.
As such, this weekend, I will walk around my house without pants. (Or, maybe only half the weekend I will do that.)
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is “Naked cowboy in Times Square” by Mark Berbezier.)
Update: Jay fed our guest and our guest’s friend who was helping with the move, they loaded everything up in ONE load, our house is now devoid of any stuff that doesn’t belong to one of us, and I’m the only one home, ’cause I was at a long-ago-scheduled counseling appointment for the last couple hours, so I didn’t make the drive up there with them.
I presume they are now either about to be, or actually are, in Denver unloading the stuff from the truck.
It’s very odd and quite glorious to be home alone and not expecting anyone else home, and to have my nest, er, I mean, library back.
It will be equally and differently glorious to be home alone with my Jaybird in a few hours :).
I’m sure I’ll miss having our guest around – both as a coworker and as a friend / adopted younger cousin (? something like that) but half his friends still live in my neighborhood, so it’s not like I’ll never see him. And we’ll stay in touch.
I…. don’t think we planned anything else for the weekend except gaming on Saturday night. And I think Jay still has some present shopping left to do (I finished all mine). House chores. That’s about it.
And I’m on vacation until January 7th! Woohoo.Report
There’s an old rule of thumb about house guests and fish. It is a good rule. It is a deontological proof rule.Report
@marchmaine Yeah, I know, but all the other options sucked more.Report
We had a house guest for a couple weeks just now (she’s staying with family over Christmas time). It’s not entirely clear if she’ll stay with us for a bit after Christmas as well, but she hasn’t moved her stuff out since her next move is uncertain at present.
Thing is, she is SO quiet it’s like we have a house gnome, not a house guest. Her boots occasionally appear and disappear from boot rack by the door, without anyone seeing her come or go. Occasionally the shower turns on WITHOUT ANY AUDIBLE FOOTSTEPS ON THE STAIRS before or after. Not even the cats can go up and down those stairs silently. If I text her “Mr T made a mini cheesecake for you, it’s in the fridge for when you get home” it will be gone the next day. So, there is strong circumstantial evidence we had a house guest.
This evening we’re heading to Saskatoon for the visit to Fledermaus’s and my families. Return home on Boxing Day, then a visit with Mr T’s mom and siblings next weekend.Report
Yes. Our houseguest was similarly invisible. To me, anyway. I heard doors open and showers be taken but, mostly, I didn’t see him.
Sometimes, at night, I would be lying in bed and I’d hear him talk to Maribou downstairs and I could tell whether it was a “dealing with him being worried” conversation or a “celebrating him being happy” conversation based on nothing but tone…
But I always knew that I needed to wear pants. Because you never know.Report
Tonight was supposed to be the second weekend of Death March With Cocktails! But! the wife is feeling under the weather, so we might get a reprieve. (I was the one who thought going was the right idea, as she is not a people person outside of work. But we really do need to mix in the neighborhood and get to know more people.)
So, just finishing up Xmas shopping and then wrapping and then stare at the pretty lights! Our neighborhood is one that people come to visit during the holidays to look at the old houses and see the decorations and such. So that is nice also. Weird, but nice.Report
He’s gone! He’s gone! He’s gone!Report
HUH THE INTERNET IS A LOT FASTER TOOReport
I’m moving into my new place in Oakland.Report
Oh, jeez! That’s one heck of a commute!Report