It's 0:55 here on the east coast, and in about 13 hours Napi's parents arrive in Baltimore. It's their first visit to DC since Napi and I moved in together back in August 2005. How far we've reached in such a short amount of time. In fact, the start of this month marked the 1 year anniversary from the day we first laid eyes on each other at Lambert-St. Louis Airport.
I'm not sure how other men deal with in-laws, but my relationship with Napi's parents has been great from the first day they met me. Her father has always treated me with respect, her mother is like a mom to me, and though I know they both had some trepidation about Napi moving all the way to DC with some guy she had only known for 6 months, and had only physically met for 4 months, not once did they ever pull me aside and chastise me for pulling their daughter out of there home. So with all of this in mind, I find it strange that I'm sitting here, not at 01:02, worrying about their visit. My fear seems to be rooted in our living conditions. Napi's parents have a beautiful home with a wonderful backyard, 2-car garage, all the trappings that come with the average house. Here in DC, their home would probably cost upwards of $700k, but this is a place where $500k buys you little more than a glorified condo. We're in a 2-bedroom apartment, and it is clear that we are quickly outgrowing this place. Closets are packed, the guest bedroom is doubling as storage, I have a set of winter wheels and tires occupying space in our living room...this is not what I had in mind for my family. I take little solace in the fact that up until August of 2005 I was living on my own and other than the financial benefits, hadn't given much real thought to buying a place. But now here I am; wife who owns more shoes than I've got clothes, kid on the way and all the furniture we'll have to bring in for him, and my wife's parents coming into town and being forced to either stay in a hotel or hit the futon in our second bedroom. I'm nervous about their visit because I know what our living conditions imply; I am not on top of my shit and I need to be!
Watch Him Grow!
