Thomas is Ian's younger brother - he is 17 now. He visited us from November 8th through 16th. Although I worked every day but Friday and Ian worked mornings and took off Friday, we each managed to get some quality time with Thomas.

Thomas typically slept until noon (with a few exceptions), and then called Ian at work to let him know he was up. Then he and Thomas would hang out for the afternoon, and when I came home after work, we'd have dinner together. One of the things that Ian and Thomas did together was play "disc golf", which is golf but with a frisbee. They also had lunch at the infamous "Blimpy Burger", which serves the best fast food in the area.

Ian and I split the dinner cooking. Thomas even helped with some of it. Thomas got to see a slice of our normal lives, since we did many of the same things we do when guests aren't around, like grocery shop, do laundry, clean up in the kitchen, work out at the gym, sit around reading, catch up on any work we missed during the day, etc.

But we also did plenty of fun things. We saw several movies. The three of us went to "The Incredibles", which was a really fun and clever animation about retired super heroes who un-retire. Thomas and I also went to "Team America: World Police", which was hilarious in some parts and quite offensive in others. We weren't sure whether we liked it when it was over, but I think it kind of grew on us (or at least me).

The three of us also saw "Mean Creek", a dark drama about some teens playing a trick on a bully, except that the trick goes awry. We all thought it was interesting, but it wasn't exactly a "fun date". Thomas and I watched "The Godfather: Part III" together, and Thomas caught the tail-end of "The Godfather: Part II".

On Friday, the three of us went down to Detroit to lunch in Greek Town. We parked at the Joe Louis Arena and took the People Mover into Greek Town. That ride was one of the best parts of the whole trip because it gave us a wonderful up-above tour of downtown Detroit. We saw the river, and Windsor, Ontario across the way, as well as skyscrapers and other less exciting elements of Detroit.

Ian and I hadn't been to Greek Town in many years, so we were surprised to see that much of the building which houses the Greek Town People Mover stop has been taken over by a casino. We thought it would be fun to go inside, but entrants had to be at least 21. I thought that what had been there before, years ago, had probably been much more interesting.

We found the restaurant that I remembered from my last visit, and ordered lunch. Ian and I had recently had breakfast, so we weren't very hungry. But imagine our surprise then the waiter brought enough food to feed us for two or three meals, not just one. I just had to try the Greek coffee, even though every one else was done. It was quite tasty, and I gave Thomas a taste.

Our next stop was the Detroit Institute for the Arts. Finding parking was a bit tricky because the street parking was time-limited, and while there were signs for parking lots, there was also a lot of construction, so I passed at least one lot. We ended up parking on the street, and when we returned after our visit to the museum, found a $30 ticket on the car window.

The DIA itself was interesting, especially because it has a giant four-wall multi-panel mural painted by Diego Rivera. I later picked up a brochure that told the story of the mural, and it was fascinating, especially after having seen the movie "Frida", and having some idea about what he was like. There was a lot of art at the museum, certainly enough to warrant another trip or two.

We attended Friday Church at Madras Masala, a very good Indian restaurant in town. The food was great and there were left-overs. Jason and Martha were the only other attendees this week.

On Saturday, Thomas and I went into town looking for CDs. Thomas looked in many different stores, but couldn't find what he was looking for. I had to order what I was looking for. Neither of us wanted to spend our money in Borders, partly because it'd be more expensive, and for me because I wanted to support local businesses, not a big chain (even if that chain started here).

On Sunday, Ian worked on a budgeting exercise with Thomas. They figured out how much money Thomas might be able to earn, and what his minimal living expenses might be in a city without a car. The budget just barely balanced, leaving Thomas enough leftover to buy a CD every other week or so. Then they tried the same budget with a few variations, and things still worked out pretty well.

But I threw them a curve-ball - what about health care/insurance? We thought he might be able to find a job that offered health insurance, but he'd probably have a premium, which no one had yet figured out how to cover out of his earnings. But the exercise was very illustrative, and since Thomas will be wanting to live on his own before long, it gave him some idea of what he's got to plan for.

Over the course of the visit, we each had good and fun conversations with Thomas, some individually, and some as a three-some. I had such a good time I wished that Thomas didn't have to leave. I would have enjoyed another week. But we decided we'll just have to invite him more often. Once he gets back into school and is working, a multi-week vacation may be hard to swing.