..Forty-Four Sunsets..

entertaining people in the city

It has recently struck me that my oft-mentioned priest fantasy may not ever come to fruition. Why not, you ask?

It's complicated.

The most recent reason, though--the one which prompted this posting--is my own rediscovery of how much I dislike entertaining visitors. Most visitors, that is; lately I've been taking a lot of joy in the fact that many of the people who have come to the area to see me are either:
1. similar to me in our capability of being easily amused
2. bibliophiles, so reading in a coffee shop is a legitimate way to spend 6 hours
3. family

Last weekend, my best friend came up for a few days. She embraces the first two characteristics wholeheartedly, so we spent most of our time either reading at The Grind, sleeping, or walking around. My mom is here now, and I'm counting myself fortunate that she doesn't want to go shopping on the Magnificent Mile or visit Millenium Park or a myriad of other activities that would require us to be in contact with the sweaty mass of Midwestern humanity that is the downtown area.

When I lived in the country and people came to see me, I figured it was a rural problem that I could think of nothing to do except what I myself did for fun during the day to day (which usually included trips to the library, smoke drives, movies, used bookstores, and meals at the one Thai restaurant in town). Here, living in the city and surrounded by countless leisure activities, I find myself stressing out over visitors and wondering what the hell I'm going to do with them.

Understand? If I was a priest's wife, I'd probably have to entertain out-of-towners frequently, and I'm just not sure that I have it in me. Sure, I can whip up a good casserole and devil some mean eggs and so get myself through any number of potlucks, but an endless stream of visitors? Probably not.