Well, ladies, Nota has had house guests this week. That hasn’t happened since the Clinton administration.
Picture the last time: a young Nota and her mister were sprawled on the couch watching Babylon 5 and surrounded by the grubby, free-range young ‘uns, when the doorbell rang.
Surprise! It’s our college friends with their adorable clean and well-behaved children. They were passing through and decided to stop by. It’s dinner time, but it’s no trouble, right?
So I hitched up my stained sweatpants, tightened up my ponytail and ordered pizza.
Sure, it took a few minutes to clean off enough places to sit, and I had to put dirty dishes in the oven, but we made it work.
We did have a nice time that night. The lady of the couple and I discovered we had lived in the same small neighborhood as children. We even had the same house numbers, one street apart.
The laughter and childhood memories were enough to make me glad we’d opened the door and not ignored the doorbell. That was an option.
I’m sure they probably made meaningful eye contact and used a quart of Purell once they got back to their car, but what I don’t see doesn’t bother me.
The takeaway from this is to just relax and enjoy the people.
At least with my current guests, I had months of lead time. This means I procrastinated until the last minute and then had to shove everything into my bedroom. The house looks decent, for the most part, if you squint.
Just don’t open any closet doors. Or the oven.
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| Yes, that is my bra on the doorknob. |
Having any guest this summer? What are you doing to prepare?
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Glad I am not the only one who procrastinates until the last minute.
No, I think this will be the first summer in a long time that we won't have any out of town guests.
Oh, except my brother. He always tried to hook up with his nieces and nephews whenever a new Harry Potter comes out. He has only missed one so far, which is pretty good considering he lives 1400 miles away. But I don't have to clean for him. He loves us just the way we are.
Besides, if I cleaned he wouldn't be fooled. He knows the dark truth.
~tanyarejoyce
I try to keep up so that I can open my doors without panic but inevitably guest show up when things are at their 'most' lived-in looking.
Whatever.
We have lots of guests! I am grateful some of my children are old enough and capable enough to help with the preparations!
TJ, yeah, I didn't count family. My mom comes up plenty. And this dirty little apple didn't fall far from the slovenly tree.
Faith, ain't that always the way?
Sarah, I'm jealous of your helpful children. That is my main mistake in parenting.
I'm working on decluttering — it's a good feeling when it's done, but not much fun while doing it. I think most people have one room where stuff gets dumped — I'm hoping to get to that room this summer, but if I don't, at least there will be less stuff elsewhere…!
One time I had my house so clean it squeaked. I was shocked. I even announced on Facebook that anyone could stop by if they wanted to because the house was actually clean. Unfortunately, no one took me up on my offer. They waited until the next day – after the kids had plenty of time to trash the place.
To answer your question, yes we have guests this summer. We seem to have guests all the time and I thoroughly enjoy it. To prepare, I just make sure the food is good – that seems to make up for the messy house.
Oh you kill me. I am definitely NOT a supermom either. I've never had to resort to the oven…but the way my blog is sucking up time this week I might be using the oven trick soon.
We have lots of friends in the area and often have folks walking in unexpectedly. Lando does what he can to make them leave quickly (he loves them right out the door with his enthusiasm while we shout unison choruses of "NOOOO! DOWN! SIT!" and he repeatedly shoves his nose into their faces as often as time will allow).
It seems to be a revolving door at our place. My secret weapon is a robovac. That little sucker (pun as always-intended) can vaccuum our front room in the time it takes for people to walk up to the front door.
I love your blog. Hearing you talk and seeing your closet, I almost feel like a supermom after all. Which I am not! We host church at our house every other week, so at least the public areas get a major tidying up that often.
When I can get away with it, I'm much more comfortable serving dessert than a full meal to guests. Quick cobbler with ice cream.
Steal your guest's contacts and quit stressin' over the dust bunnies (or tumble weeds) the a/c is blowin' around. The guest won't be able to see a thing.
Julia, we've been trying to rather ruthlessly declutter, but it is a long-term job, isn't it.
Tanya, we are doomed! I'm an okay cook, but not good at pulling everything together at the same time. I always have something still cooking when all the rest of the food is ready.
Robin, please tell me Lando is the dog.
Jamie, the point of Nota Supermom is to either make you feel good about the good job you are doing *or* to let you know that you aren't the only one doing that secret thing you are ashamed of, whether that's dishes in the oven or something else. 🙂
Anonymous, that is a good idea. Also, I could claim we are dust bunny herders!
Could I post your picture with the lady talking about the cake? I'd link back to you with, plus it has your web address on it… It is just sooooooooo funny, I'd love to share it!
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"The takeaway from this is to just relax and enjoy the people."
Good takeaway!
I'm not expecting any guests this summer, so no prep.
We also have guests right now. We ran around and cleaned like fiends yesterday. Today I'm feeling sick as a dog and have taken to my bed. I'm hoping they don't feel too ignored. I'm also hoping they don't open the closets.
Chloe
I shove all the detritus of living into the crawl space which is in our bedroom…of course, after the guests leave, I never unload whatever it was that I shoved up there to hide…so I guess the next people who move in this house, or the host and crew of "Hoarders" is really going to be in for a shock…hey, maybe that's where all the missing socks are!! 🙂
Although I'm pretty tidy now, during my divorce I went through a total messy stage. I put dirty dishes in my oven, had clothes strewn everywhere, etc. Once I was pulled over by a police officer because he was concerned that I was living in my car (there was that much stuff crammed in it.) Your post made me smile.
Lisa, don't get me started on socks! I want to throw all socks in house away and start over.
Journey, I'm glad to make you smile. I would indeed call that a messy phase. I hope you are doing better now!
Which episode, Nota? Maybe that was the cause for the looks instead? You know, B5 can be intense for the unitiated…
As far as company, not any here. We don't have the room. Oh, we have the occasional dinner guest. We serve them on the best of the best – the cheapest paper plates from the store. When we're really splurging on our friends, they even get the colored plastic cups (store-brand, of course) and plastic flatware. Of course, they keep coming back. Seems they like my dh's cooking better than mine. 😉
On a serious note, though, we're stopping having anyone over until after the baby. I'm just too big and uncomfortable, and it's too much for me. 🙁 We do enjoy hosting people for food, even if we cram stuff in the master bedroom at last minute & have a messy bathroom with ripped wallpaper behind the cat's litterbox.
I love B5 and those illustrations are fab! 🙂
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We have people over all the time. I just tell them that "we live here" and most of them deal with that fact. …and I don't let them in my room. [smile]
~Luke
Comforting (and timely) to read this post and replies.
After having company stay in our room for months, hubs and I just "de-hoarded" and re-arranged our bedroom. Those four kittens plus the mama kitty sure were a handful to clean up after. It's nice to have the room back for us, but we'll see how long it lasts cause our kids keep coming in and complimenting how nice the place looks. I think I see treason in their playful eyes.
Audrey
Could not have written the post better myself. Your humor and honesty are refreshing in this ‘mom-eat-mom’ world!