As we are sitting outside taekwondo enjoying the nice evening of sunshine, Garbanzo gets a call.  His initial reaction is “what happened?” as he stands up and starts pacing.  His grandmother is 95 years old, so my first thoughts go there.  Then, when he doesn’t seem upset enough, I think of his aunt who has a whole slew of health problems.  But, again – his body language isn’t matching his voice.  He eventually gets off the phone and announces that his parents are coming for a visit.

My response: “They don’t expect to stay with us, do they? Because they aren’t invited to stay with us.”

Yes, this is a good summary of the relationship I have with my in-laws.

His parents who he just finished visiting last week in Mexico have decided to come to Portland to spend their spring break.  Initially, they were going to visit a place where his father has a possible teaching opportunity next school year, but decided spending 3-days on a bus each way wasn’t their idea of fun.

Garbanzo discovered while he was visiting that his dad is having some health problems.  He has some pretty serious bouts of dizziness that has him pretty freaked out.  He really hasn’t seen a doctor about it, so they decided this trip would allow him to see a doctor and get this figured out.

Oh, and they aren’t staying with us.

We will now have to pull together an Easter celebration that was going to be relatively low-key.  Now we will be having guests for Easter.  His parents are a big “Easter brunch” kind of people.  They like to dress up for it.  I think our plan for watching Zombie movies is out the window.

His parents require a different kind of pre-visit preparations compared to other guests – even if it is just for dinner..  My parents require none.  My brothers require none.  His parents require a full top-to-bottom cleaning of the house.  Every nook, every cranny, no surface can be missed.  His dad is neurotic and has no problems pointing out areas that have been missed. He is like a child that oversteps a boundary, so I usually have to remind him that there is a boundary, here is where it is at, and stay on that side of it to ensure we have no issues.  It is a stress I don’t miss having them living out of the country.  I should mention that I am the only one that can talk to his dad this way and have him listen – but my stories about that can be a whole other blog post.

Oh, and they are here for two weeks.  Sigh… send any extra patience you may have my way.  I will need it.