It Takes a Vineland Village

I've had little reason to blog over the last few days because, frankly, I've spent very little time with my dad. Before Donald decided to visit, I warned him that I had a large conference to work during his proposed stay. "Don't worry 'bout me," came his booming response over the phone. In truth, I wasn't worried about him so much as my roommates and the friends that he'd be troubling for daily rides to Stop and Shop (he's somewhat obsessed with grocery shopping); Donald doesn't drive and hates to be housebound for too long, so if I'm not around that means it falls to someone else to keep him entertained.

In the nights leading up to Friday's plenary session I spent a lot of time (and Institute money) preparing for the worst case conference scenario. My evenings were consumed with running errands between the occasional dinner at home. On top of a 45 hour Monday to Friday work week, I spent an additional 35 hours this past weekend running around with a walkie talkie between buildings on campus trying to ensure that sessions were executed flawlessly: "Come in Fine Whine, what's the status of the A/V in Wilson?" Dad could have endured a terribly boring week, but my sister, roommates and friends were fantastic. "What's she named? The little one? She took me church!" Heather earned extra brownie points with Donald for that one, especially considering I got him to church as the final hymn was being sung the week before. Everyone stepped in and picked up the slack.

Sounds like they had some fun with him, too. Tawn halfheartedly complained that Donald got her wasted by making them add more rum to the piña colada mix on Saturday afternoon as they enjoyed cocktails on the sun-soaked porch. They did some party planning for my upcoming birthday celebrations- rum swizzles will be served by the gallon. And, of course, they went grocery shopping. Besides sneaking in one or two quick phone calls, my contact with dad consisted of brief, sleepy conversations when I'd wake him up before leaving for work and when I got home. When the conference ended tonight, I was pleased to get home to sit around the porch table and ease into lazy conversation with four smiling faces as they talked about their weekend.

Thank you to those that kept Donald smiling over the last week; and please forgive the tired ramblings above. I'm still trying to catch up on some sleep.