Let the Countdown Begin!

Two weeks from today will be the day after Thanksgiving.  The big meal, the family gathering, the overnight guests, the drawing of names for the Christmas gift exchange---all over.

But before then....the preparations.

Last year the prep work was easy.  We hadn't lived in the house too long, a little over 4 months.  There had been so many activities and events in the Party Barn in those first months that I was constantly cleaning, ready for anyone who popped in and wanted to see the house.

This year, however, we have lived in the house over a year and this will be the second year for the Siemens Family Thanksgiving.

Now...don't get the wrong idea.  The house is NOT dirty.  I clean, sweep, mop, dust, straighten up all the time.  People are streaming in and out constantly.  The sign that I found at Paula Deen's last year on our New Years Eve trip to Pigeon Forge is true - our house is really 'The Gathering Place:  where memories are made with family and friends.'  And that is what we wanted---and why we moved.

But with a year of living in the house, some things get stacked up, furniture isn't always moved, dust gathers behind things, and cobwebs appear.  Daily living caused dirt to appear.  So here we go with cleaning for company on Thanksgiving.

And I also know that as soon as the first people step in the house, all of that 'clean house' will disappear!  It always does. But it has never stopped me from cleaning before a big event.

Today was the start.

Do we need to have five or more jackets hanging on the hooks inside the door? No.  The season has changed and the coats hanging there should also.

The rug under the table.  Dirt and spots have been treated with carpet cleaner.  All of the chairs have had the seat cushions removed and all of the chairs have been polished. (and moved into the living room while the floor is mopped and polished)

Items gather on the hutch.  Extra get well cards to be sent that haven't been.  Information about a new church that I know we will not attend.  Extra Halloween candy that can go into a candy dish for Thanksgiving Day. About a dozen of Gary's hats that can be put somewhere else.

The island needs to be cleared off - even more the day of Thanksgiving when it becomes the dessert island.  But for now all of the sales slips and receipts, the bills to be paid, the information for the cataract surgery.....sorted through and put where they need to be (and some of it will go in the trash). 

The kitchen counters.  Cleaned off and polished.  The tray in the microwave put in the dishwasher.  The stove top - cleaned off and polished.  The window sills--cleared of the little things that Gary seems to put there (he seems to think that all available spaces should be covered with something).  

The curtains have already been washed, ironed, and returned to their proper spots.  

Floors.  The dining room floor has been mopped and is drying now, awaiting the polish.  I hope the kitchen floor can be mopped too and drying while we are staying with the Yaggie kids this evening.

After everything is cleaned and returned to its proper spaces, the Thanksgiving decor can be placed and enjoyed for the next two weeks.

After this room is finished, the living room is next, then the family room, then the bathrooms and the guest bedrooms.

Touch ups will be needed before the BIG DAY, but the heavy work will be done.  Yeah!

Bring on the holiday.  And even though I am thinking of the work that needs to be done, there would have been lots more if we had stayed in the other house.

I love this house.

I like entertaining here.

I am so glad we moved and have a place large enough for the entire family to be comfortable and to enjoy the holidays this season.