I can have little household projects on lists for months and invariably I put them off week to week in favor of other things to do. But then a visit is scheduled- a houseguest coming from out of town. And suddenly, I must fix things. The day before any houseguest is a time to avoid being around my house (as TK can attest). Because besides the usual cleaning and sweeping, I always find a bunch of things that just have to get done today.

This time, the guest is my niece visiting from Michigan. The cleaning involves both serious vacuuming and washing every bit of fabric to minimize the amount of cat hair she is exposed to (she’s allergic, we have 6 cats- you do the math). And on top of that I had decided that the bathroom needed a serious scrub and new caulking, which I had planned and completed the day before the day before. I had really wanted to do tiling work, but had ditched the idea knowing that there just wasn’t enough time. And I needed to finish painting the trim and door to the guest room- started the day before the day before, but not finished. And yes, I started all that laundry early, but the night before the day before we were making dinner and I heard water. I ran downstairs only to discover that water was pouring into the floor. Apparently the washer drain was clogged. After TK broke the drain snake, I found some drano and crossed my fingers. There was no time for a plumber and finishing the amount of laundry that needed to be done. Later that naught, we were back in business.

So I get up early the day before she arrives, ready to do battle. I just have to finish some paint and do some laundry and make up beds and clean, right? Sure. I make a plan to note when to do what. I realize that if I’m really going to clean the kitchen floor on my knees, I might as well do the super shine stuff as well. I always mean to, but it takes a spotless floor and another hour and when do you find that time? So I work it into my schedule and plan to do it midday between loads of laundry and while the cats nap. Then I discover that I have peeled some paint off a side table and think, well, if I’m going to have to touch it up, I might as well repaint it the color I’ve been meaning to for months. I start without realizing this is enamel paint that takes hours to dry. Ok. Go with it. Then FedX shows up. Then UPS. Right. The last pieces of gear for the trip. Get those unpacked and into the trailer.

Ok, so now it’s 4pm and I’ve gotten a bunch done, but we’re still not ready. And I’m sweltering. And I’ve had 4 low blood sugar episodes. But I got painting done. And a table painted. And the bathroom fixed up. And the kitchen floor all shiny. And the trailer set.

In the end, we got everything done that night but putting the covers back on the living room pillows and furniture, so we got up early to finish.

I don’t know why it always takes this sort of adrenaline rush, but I make the most of it. I got done more in 2 days than most people do in a week.