Moral Quandary

We are now less than 2 weeks away from our big move. It is chaotic here at the moment. The removalists are coming next Tuesday (oh my goodness, only 1 week…) and then we are moving in to Robs bachelor pad until our visas are ready. For Rob’s sake I hope that this only takes a few days.

I have a bit of a funny story, I have been thinking of how to put it in words for the last few days. So let me start at the beginning:-

Brisbane is facing a chronic shortage of tradesmen at the moment. For a variety of reasons (including cyclone Larry) it is almost impossible to get a painter, builder, plumber, electrician without a LONG, LONG wait. We have been putting out feelers for the last few months to get the last of the painting done. My Brother in Law is a painter and so is Lisa’s (the kids former nanny) husband. Both are booked solid for the next six months.
My BIL got a contact details for a new-in-town painter and passed it on to Lisa’s hubby through me. When I found out that J was new to town with a pregnant partner I jumped at the chance to offer J some after hours work. This worked great at first as J is a very professional painter.
Last Saturday I arrived home to find J sitting outside the garage smoking (filthy habit!). He said that he wanted to get an early start on painting the next morning and had bought his sleeping bag for an over night stay. I was flabbergasted, but my manners held me in check and I invited him in and made up a bedroom for him.
WELL J HASN’T LEFT………YET.
As I write this it is Tuesday night and J is still here. Today I washed J’s clothes for him. Hopefully J will finish painting tomorrow and will leave. I am stuck in a no win position, have a live in painter or un-painted walls.
Luckily J is a nice person; BUT I don’t want my kids to be so closely associating with a stranger (especially a smoker) and I am sick of spending 24 hours a day with a stranger in my home. I am being cheerful and fully dressed from 4.30am to 9.30pm. As our en suite is also being painted I don’t even have the sanctuary of locking myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes.
So here I am stuck in a quandary, painting or privacy. My car sold on the weekend so I can’t even escape to the shops. GJ is extremely busy at work at the moment, so it is me and the kids and J for LONG long hours each day.
One more thing to add- Relationship counselor. I am pretty sure that J has broken up with his pregnant partner because of her teenage kids. I know that the right thing to do is to offer support and advice, but I am moving overseas in 2 weeks. I am being torn between doing what I consider to be the right thing and my need to concentrate on our families need.
Luckily I am so physically exhausted every night that I am falling into bed without tossing and turning.
What do you think?