House Guests

OK, here I go -- again. How much blogging is too much blogging? Are there any rules about this stuff? Are people going to be sick of reading what I am writing? I guess if they are, they can just stop, huh?

Anyway, I want to say this...

There is a old saying, "House guests are like fish -- they all start to stink after a few days." Something like that anyway.

That is simply not true in all cases. I enjoy having house guests.

I get my house deep cleaned before they come so they don't figure out that I am not the most diligent housekeeper. My piles of "stuff to put away" actually gets put away. Some of it anyway. The cleaning gets done whether it needs it or not. More often than not, it NEEDS it, if I am being honest about the whole thing. My daughter came into my house the other day and said, "This house is CLEAN." She rarely makes that comment, so you know it is spectacular then.

In fact, we just had some guests and they have been fun to have around. My floors have never been swept so much since the last time they were here. She sweeps the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning (and probably in the middle of the day when I am at work), and she even mopped my kitchen floor. That lady is a dynamo. She is like a machine. Always putting something away or folding laundry. She does more than she should all the time and I try to get her to stop, but she can't help herself. My house is always picked up -- she cleans more than I do in a normal week. Also, her husband would do anything I asked him to do for me. No task is too much. I try not to say much out loud, because as soon as it is out of my mouth, they are trying to get it done for me. Their bed is made every single day -- mine rarely is. Sometimes I get a tiny twinge of guilt about my unmade bed, but I manage to resist it. These are Good People.

You can hardly tell they are in the house -- if you peek into their room you can see suitcases, so you can tell they are there, and they are physically present when I get home from work, so I know they are there. These are low-maintenance guests. They don't expect for us to take off work for them and they go with the flow. They entertain themselves all day while we work and when we come home, they are happy to do whatever we have planned. They love our children and our grandchildren and never act like they get tired of seeing them. They have very little complaint. They do think the coffee is too strong, but that is a small annoyance, I guess.

I can never leave my kitchen dirty from the evenings' dinners because if I try, she will just clean it up herself and I can't have that. I must try to keep up with her. Mind you, she is probably 10 or more years younger than I am, so she has an advantage. She doesn't quit until it is "dying ready." Our granny used to say this about house cleaning and dirty dishes..."You need to keep your house 'dying ready.' That means that if you die during the night, you won't be embarrassed for those funeral people to come in and see your house." She wouldn't have wanted to be "caught dead" in an untidy house. I miss her.

I think that 'dying ready' is funny. At that point, I doubt you care what people think about you any longer. At least, I hope not. I hope to be in my reward, not worried about whether or not my toilet is clean enough for strangers to use it. I will be dead for crying out loud (another weird saying).

So, in closing, let me say. I have enjoyed these people and I look forward to their next visit.