Holy crap!
Mom just sent me this email:
How would you feel about Ditter and Stretch coming over for Easter dinner?
I stared at it for a few moments (whoo! Feel that adrenaline rush!) before replying:
Over where?
It sounded like there was gonna be some sort of Easter confab (editorial update: wrong word. Apparently that's a conversation. I meant: shindig, do, gathering, partay) at my place. The hell? Last I knew, Mom and Dad were coming to pick up Lolly and me on Good Friday and taking me back home with them. I remember asking if that wasn't a terribly long schlepp, and she replied that it was no worse than the drive to the bus stop to pick me up.
I am totally unprepared for company. I'm planning to host Thanksgiving, and it looked like this email was cutting my prep-for-company time from eight months to three weeks. Gaaaaah!
I followed it up with a second reply:
If you mean over here, this is how I would feel: stressed, panicked, unprepared, under furnished, and guilty if I said no.
I'm not ready for people. I don't have enough furniture for people to all sit on something without some folks getting a kitchen chair. I said I'd host Thanksgiving, and that's what I've been shooting for -- eight months from now. I've never hosted a dinner party, let alone a holiday function, and I'm freaking out right now just thinking about it.
Did you already talk to them about it?
Too antsy to wait for an email back, I called her.
Yep. She thought they were spending the weekend with me, gonna play in my garden, stuff like that.
No.
Nononononono.
I couldn't figure out how she got that idea, and told her so. She mentioned something about a phone conversation we had recently, where we mentioned getting pavers for the garden when they came down, and I said, "Yeah. And I remember thinking, we're gonna do all this on Good Friday?"
So. They're staying home and hosting Easter. I'm gonna do Thanksgiving--I've invited my sister, her hubby, and her in-laws. Don't know if they'll come. Gulp. Need more chairs if they do.
I should buy more chairs anyway.
C'mon tax refund, mama needs to go furniture shopping!
7 comments:
oh man, that would be SO stressful. I am having a houseful in May and I am already having mini-freak outs!
Yep yepyepyep. Ditto the entertainment anxiety. I need to schedule a baptism and celebrate a First Communion, and my house is a wreck.
Really, how "not for company" can your house be in only six months or so? Wait 'til you see what it's like after 17 years!
Well, let's see. I have very little in the way of furniture, which is fine if we want to play musical chairs with the sofa.
I live alone, so: 1) I have no help moving things around; 2) I have no second opinions about where things should go; 3) I have no one to aim disapproval at me when things are messy or left undone for long periods of time.
So it's kind of a wreck. Not from 17 years' worth of debris, more from 10 months' worth of laziness and indecision.
Ten months? Already? Time flies!!
The no help moving stuff part stinks, but second opinions are not really necessary in YOUR house. It's nice that you can do what you like without anyone else's criticism.
On furniture, you'll get there. For Thanksgiving, get yourself a few cushioned Samsonite folding chairs. They'll serve you well over the next umpteen years for all sorts of occasions, not just the early stages of home ownership. In fact, a matching folding table is nice to have on hand as well.
One more thing: CRAIGSLIST!!!
The down side of home ownership.
Makes the thought of owning a second tiny place just for the address alone highly desirable. (hey, it's a fantasy - money, no object!) If only the relatives didn't know where we live.
Good luck! It always works and it always feel like going through a bottle neck to get there.
Stacy Says:
Just Me beat me to it. I was going to suggest Craigs List. Also, thrift stores. You can get all kinds of chairs inexpensively. And if you don't like them, paint them. Just make sure they are comfortable to sit on. You don't want to be chatting around the table having a good time and everyone getting sore backs. Style should come after comfort. Trust me on this. :) xoxo
Post a Comment