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One thing hosting the family Christmas dinner has given me is the fact that my house is the cleanest it’s been in about five years. I did all the work, but still, it’s a gift. Thanks. Really.
I can feel it, too, mostly in my back. All those nooks and crannies are awfully hard to reach, but that’s where the dirt hides. And I kept finding new ones, every time I thought I was finished. I’m at the point now, though, that if I find another nook or cranny, it’s going to stay the way it is. I can’t turn into an obsessive clean freak overnight, no matter how it looks.
I have to admit that even though I’m not doing much of the cooking, I’m a little nervous about the festivities. I’m not exactly an experienced host, and I probably won’t know what to do without some prompting. And I don’t have candy dishes or wine glasses or forks in sufficient numbers to entertain more than three people at a time. We are having, at last count and barring illness or injury, eleven humans and one dog.
Somehow during the week I managed to get the last of my shopping done. Suzanne and I took Mom to lunch Tuesday, on her actual birthday, and the two of them helped me with some last-minute stocking-stuffer ideas. Friday night I stayed with D.J. while Tammy and David went out for a while, and then I took him to do some shopping of his own. That was an unexpected treat that helped break the tension of the week.
I don’t actually mind cleaning my house. I mean, it has to be done every so often anyway, and this was a better excuse than anything else I could have dreamed up. The other task is clearing all the debris from my job out of the great room, so that we can fit that many people in here, but that wasn’t a bad idea, either. I think my files are better organized now than they have been for about five years. It’s like a bonus gift. |
