On Thursday night my dad arrived in Charlotte for his first visit here since September 2008. It had been about a year and a half since he had last visited with my mom, so suffice to say I was very happy to have him as my guest! Obviously, having the parental unit (minus one) in Charlotte is always a good thing because I get to catch up on life and I get to be daddy’s little girl again. To further elaborate, immediately after his arrival, we drove to Costco, where my very generous dad bought me inordinate amounts of organic produce that we would eat the entire weekend. He also made me salad every night and fresh juice every morning. He put on his wet gear to go schlepping around the wet streets of Charlotte in 34 degree rain. He took out my trash and recycling…twice!
Reading the above paragraph, I sound pretty spoiled from Dad’s visit. I will note that I did buy my dad a massage the night he got into town so that he could start off his mini vacation relaxed and feeling good. I also had to make up for all the stuff that I knew he was going to do for me, since he’s always the helpful one. In fact, I think I’ve convinced him it will be a good idea for him to come again with my mom and that we can all make a little garden on my back patio. Of course, it would be a family team effort, and something that I know both of them would love to do, so I’m almost certain that they will be coming to visit Charlotte again, perhaps in the fall.
What was most eye opening about my dad’s visit is that he told me: “Caitlin, your schedule is hard to keep up with!”. He said that I was tiring him out, and in my mind, I was thinking that we hadn’t even done anything. It mainly came down to the running. He was amazed that I could fit in running 70 miles a week into a full time work schedule and still maintain a social life. To him, social life means texting and talking on the phone. Little does he know that to most 20-somethings, a social life means going out to the bars, which is something I really haven’t done much of this past year. This truly is how I like it to be, and I save those special moments for going out past midnight (such as visiting my sister in LA or reunions with Wake teammates in DC). Most of my social life revolves around experimental dinners with Matt, running really far with other people, and chatting with my roommate in the kitchen. Point is that my dad thinks I’m a social butterfly and running machine, who manages to find time to cover her living expenses through a job at Bank of America.
It was nice to see my dad’s perspective on things as he was an active participant in Caitlin’s game of Life in Charlotte. Will be nice to see what changes the next time he visits.
Reading the above paragraph, I sound pretty spoiled from Dad’s visit. I will note that I did buy my dad a massage the night he got into town so that he could start off his mini vacation relaxed and feeling good. I also had to make up for all the stuff that I knew he was going to do for me, since he’s always the helpful one. In fact, I think I’ve convinced him it will be a good idea for him to come again with my mom and that we can all make a little garden on my back patio. Of course, it would be a family team effort, and something that I know both of them would love to do, so I’m almost certain that they will be coming to visit Charlotte again, perhaps in the fall.
What was most eye opening about my dad’s visit is that he told me: “Caitlin, your schedule is hard to keep up with!”. He said that I was tiring him out, and in my mind, I was thinking that we hadn’t even done anything. It mainly came down to the running. He was amazed that I could fit in running 70 miles a week into a full time work schedule and still maintain a social life. To him, social life means texting and talking on the phone. Little does he know that to most 20-somethings, a social life means going out to the bars, which is something I really haven’t done much of this past year. This truly is how I like it to be, and I save those special moments for going out past midnight (such as visiting my sister in LA or reunions with Wake teammates in DC). Most of my social life revolves around experimental dinners with Matt, running really far with other people, and chatting with my roommate in the kitchen. Point is that my dad thinks I’m a social butterfly and running machine, who manages to find time to cover her living expenses through a job at Bank of America.
It was nice to see my dad’s perspective on things as he was an active participant in Caitlin’s game of Life in Charlotte. Will be nice to see what changes the next time he visits.
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