Too Pooped to Party

It was a busy week followed by a busy weekend, so I am completely exhausted. Relaxed, but exhausted. This past week consisted of:

• 4 days of work where things are crazier than ever
• One night of doggie school where Mr. M had a flat tire that had to be repaired before he could head home
• One night of M&M duty which consists of a mad dash from work to the babysitters, run through a drive-through to pick up dinner and a toy, dash home to eat, let the dog out and change clothes before running off to gymnastics.
• The M&M duty was followed by a quick shopping trip for the princesses 4th birthday.
• Another mad dash home to pick up a few final gifts, a super delicious ice cream cake in pink and then a positively pink princess party. Of course, the one thing the princess wanted more than anything else was to swim on her birthday, so after dinner,cake and gifts at Grandma's we headed back to the house to swim. It was twilight and it was freezing!
• As soon as the M&M's left, it was off to my home office to do production check out. That is a fancy way of explaining software system testing. Just my luck, there was some kind of issue and we didn't finish until early the following morning.
• Less than 24 hours before the next party was supposed to start, I still hadn't cleaned the house, cut the grass or cleaned the pool. Unfortunately, it started to pour so the outside stuff would have to wait. Cleaning until the wee hours of the morning ensued.
• Now it is finally Friday - I still had bathrooms to clean and floors to mop. Cakes needed to be baked and grass needed to be mowed. So what did I do? Went shopping, got a mani and pedi - oh, wait wasn't I supposed to be cleaning or something? We managed to get everything done before the first guests arrived, whew!
• The Friday party was a complete success and everyone had a great time! The kids managed to convince some adults to go swimming with them (it was unseasonably cool for July). It was a late night - again.
• Saturday was race day at Gateway. This is a 13+ hour party that includes enough food to feed an army, plenty of cold beverages on hand, some not so exciting racing, and an after race concert where some friends where the headliner! Again, it was a great day, but it was very late - or early when we finally got home.
• Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest right? Well, not so much. We still had to unpack the truck and clean everything up and put it away. We had to go retrieve the dog from his weekend "spa" getaway. We had another family function to attend. And all we wanted to do was take a long nap.

After all of this activity, I can use a serious nap. Hopefully, this week will be a little calmer. I doubt it, but a girl can dream right?

Cleaning and Preening

When you live in the hot, humid midwest and you are lucky enough to have a pool in your yard, you ineveitably become the central party spot for family and friends. this weekend will be no exception.

My uncle recently celebrated a birthday. So did my sister-in-law. My niece is due for a big princess party this week. My aunt and uncle from the west coast are coming in for a mid-summer visit. My brother and his clan are coming in for the weekend from farm country. This calls for a party. And we have the prime location given that we have room - and a pool.

This means I need to clean. Even though I was told not to worry about making extra efforts, it is in some strange genetic twist that I feel the need to clean. Of course, I can't just focus on the normal dusting, vacuuming and mopping. Nooooooo! I feel the need to clean things like the top of the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. I haven't looked in my bathroom cabinets lately, but I felt compelled to purge and clean those (note to my guests, yes you can peek!) Mr. M spent his day off power washing lawn furniture and anything else that didn't move. Things are starting to shine around here.

I haven't dusted or mopped yet and the Animal (my beloved Dyson - not the dog) is still tucked in the closet. I work better under pressure so I'm sure it will all get done before Friday night's festivities! Let's just hope it doesn't rain so that we can enjoy the outside and we don't have to be stuck inside!