Exhausted....

Yes, I am rather exhausted this week because Pete's 88 year old mother (Florence) is here staying with us, and I'm trying to be a good hostess.  She tends to get lost trying to find the guest room, I joked that I had paint and could draw some arrows on the floor if that helped. She laughed and shook her head. She gets so frustrated with herself when she forgets things, I can totally relate to that.

Anyway, I took Florence to the local Wal-Mart (and for the record, I LOATHE Wal-Mart, but it's the closest place that had a nail salon), and I treated her to a manicure and pedicure. I just shared the pedicure, but skipped the manicure for myself. (Why you ask? Cuz I have no job, nobody to impress, so I don't need one).  She loved having all that pampering, and I wanted to take her in to the hair salon so she could get her hair washed and styled...but they wouldn't do it, because she has seriasis...(hmmm...I don't know how to spell that)...so I just got her some medicated shampoo and conditioner and washed her hair myself when we got home.  It's hell getting old, I feel so bad for her sometimes. I really do not want to get old.

Florence is the same age as Anne Frank would have been, if she had survived the Holocaust.

Anyway, so I'm running around ragged, fixing her breakfast, lunch and dinner, doing some of her laundry, taking her places, doing craft projects with her, making sure she gets her medication, taking her outside for short walks around the yard for exercise...making sure she doesn't fall...she's very petite and fragile...and while doing all these things with her and for her, I'm also trying to get the house ready for the house warming party we're having this weekend. We are having hamburgers and hotdogs and bbq ribs on the grill, and I'm making fruit salad with jello and fruit cocktail, and we'll have beer, and soda, potato salad and coleslaw, etc., so it should prove to be a pretty decent party. We've invited our nearby neighbors that surround us on three sides, and Pete invited some of his co-workers, and friends, so we're estimating 30-40 people or so. Luckily the deck on our house goes all the way around three sides, so there should be plenty of room for everyone to spread out and enjoy the sunshine outdoors.

My friend Barbara is flying here from Baltimore (I know I know, it's only a 4 hour drive!!) and so we have to pick her up at the airport Saturday morning, then spend the day preparing food and getting stuff ready for the party, which starts at 4 p.m., and then entertain Barbara too until she leaves on Sunday afternoon. (They are both going back home on Sunday actually).

So, in the midst of all this chaos, I've somehow managed to finish painting the dining room beige, (I know, what a cop-out lame neutral color, but I've decorated it with cranberry colored items on the walls, so it looks nice).  I still have to work on clearing out the small "girly girl" bedroom/office upstairs, so Barbara will have a place to crash. Right now there are boxes and bins of clothes and other stuff everywhere. I did manage to hang the curtains though, so it's getting there little by little.

I had to order a pizza tonight though, I just did NOT feel like cooking anything...and then I needed a nice hot soak in a bubble bath...ahhhh...one of my favorite hobbies...but otherwise, I'm exhausted and looking forward to next week when I can sit alone and just chill out and relax.

Bye for now. Love, Becky