I am a people person. Hanging out with friends energizes me more than a solitary walk in the woods ever could.
When I was in high school, I thought that the worst thing that could ever happen would be to spend a Friday or Saturday night at home . . . alone. And in college, every night was like that.
I’ve definitely changed into more of a homebody since having a family. Now, they’re the people I’d rather hang with, and family nights are my favorite thing. I also now love those rare solitary moments.
But . . . I do love to have people over. I always assumed that once I stayed home with my kids, I’d have people over for lunch or playdates “all the time.” I had no idea how busy I would be “staying home.” But I also had what turned out to be totally unrealistic illusions that my house would always be clean and ready for friends to stop by.
So since I had plenty of other things going on, and the house was always a disaster area, I VERY rarely had anyone over because it would require a week of cleaning first.
But today, I invited friends over, AND their kids, for lunch. And I decided LAST NIGHT to invite them. This is big.
I signed up to do a House Party for Zatarain’s rice mixes. They sent me a bunch of fun stuff like jambalaya rice mix and Mardi Gras decorations. The only problem was that I was supposed to have the party this week and this week has been a little busy. I didn’t want to miss doing the party, since they had sent me all of the stuff, so I decided to just invite people at my mom’s group this morning to come over afterward for lunch.
If this same exact situation would have occurred a year ago, I would have been truly depressed. I would have been completely overwhelmed with the task of cleaning for a little jambalaya party, and mad at myself for ever committing to do it in the first place.
But instead, I made sure I did my nightly tasks last night, so this morning the kitchen and bathrooms were presentable. I wouldn’t consider the house real-party ready, but it was plenty presentable to have some friends over for lunch.
That seriously feels good.
As for my Daily Checklist, I did the most visible stuff. Definitely the 5 minute pickup, and cleaning and sweeping the kitchen and such. Of course, though, I ignored anything to do with the master bedroom. Maybe someday I’ll be at the point where I can leave that door open.
I too cringe when people see my master. And to think that almost all the mess is mine. Well, the stacks of plastic storage bins in Hubs Hot Wheel collection LOL Being able to have people over at a quick notice is fun isn't it??
Your post sounds EXACTLY like me! I can never leave the master door open. LOL The house party sounds like fun! You should join us for #speedclean 'ing on Twitter! (Or do you already?) It's really helping me keep the house A LOT cleaner.
Pam
http://www.pameladonnis.com
Hi Pam, I checked out #speedclean on Twitter. Twitter confuses (and kind of scares) me. Is it where people post what speedcleaning they have done?
Yep. This was the catalyst that got me going on your blog. My hubby grew up in a VERY hospitable family, and we “planned” to continue the tradition. And I realized that this year we only invited over one family, and had one sleepover…the whole year!!
But that’s changing!
You know I feel lots better about my home then I did when I first found your blog. Lots. But I’m not ready to let people in the house yet. That’s largely to do with some renovations issues but not completely. *sigh* I thought I was doing so well, and I am, but there is still a fair way to go. So time to stop reading and go do something.
My dream is also to one day have my home clean enough that I could invite people over the night before and not be completely stressed/panicked about it. It looks better than it did 6 weeks ago (when I started my de-slobification), but still so far to go…