blitz

I hope I survive this weekend. I'm on high power and am feeling, so far, (until I sat here to blog) very efficient.

The weekend craziness starts today. My in-laws will be here sometime in the afternoon for one night on their way to Florida. I need to clean up the kids' room and make the twin beds into a king for them. His sister is traveling with them and will need to sleep on the living room futon. I cleaned up the Don't-They-All-Last-Forever? Monopoly game which will upset Pook. (I'd already gone broke and moved over to help out the one that can't read or count money and wasn't really enjoying the game anyway.) The kids' bathroom needs a quick polishing- I'm not sure how bad it is- it might need more than that. I'm not upstairs yet. I started, methodically, at the back door. I put away the groceries I'd just bought, tidied the kitchen, and even prepped dinner (you'll understand). There's a roast in the crockpot and the floors are swept. Now I'm nuking some lunch.

Assuming the in-laws will be here by 4 or so (and they like to avoid Atlanta traffic, which means before 4pm) we will have time for some basic catching up before the kids will need dinner. Bug has baseball practice at 5pm. He'll need to get into cleats etc. and be walked down to practice. That will take at least 20 minutes. We'll leave him in the care of his coach and walk home. Pook needs to be at school by 6pm so he can sing at Fine Arts Night and perform as Honeybee #2 in The Little Pollinators on stage. CD will pick up Bug at baseball on his way home from work, and meet us at the school.

After the performance, there are lots of other activities in the school for Fine Arts Night. Their favorite is an Instrument Petting Zoo. Anyone can try out any instrument (sterilized between kids). Bug first fell in love with the string bass at one of these. He's hoping there will be a tuba tonight.

We'll stick around until close to bedtime, then come home and quickly tuck. THEN, the adults will get dinner. (Hence the roast in the crockpot and the already prepped sides- freshly picked swiss chard and noodles.)

And that is just today.

Tomorrow I will try to get things ready for Saturday's dinner party. I want to bake some cookies and will need to make my dining room table fit eight. So long as the kids haven't had time to make much of a mess of the house after the in-laws' visit, cleaning up will be minimal. Friday evening we have a babysitter getting Pook at his baseball practice, while CD and I are heading to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (to hear Nicola Luisotti conduct Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien, Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3, and Beethoven: Symphony No. 7, featuring Horacio Gutierrez at piano).

Then Saturday (No, it doesn't stop!) is Opening Day at the ballpark. We'll be there at 9:15 to hear lots of boring adults talk before the kids are all introduced. Then Bug has his first t-ball game. The excitement is palpable. He's been counting down the days for... years really. Now, this all seemed compatible with our other plans: having our minister, his wife and two other couples over for dinner. EXCEPT, Pook's first baseball game got scheduled for...7:30pm. Huh? He goes to bed at 7:30! (I was not the only parent unthrilled.) So, what to do? Our friends, L&P were planning to have our boys at their house with their babysitter that night. Generously, they have offered their car so the babysitter can (1) feed all four boys (2) take all four boys to Pook's ball game (3) bring all four boys back to the house (4) give baths to all four boys, and (5) get all four boys to sleep. As early as possible. I assume this babysitter is superhuman. I couldn't do it!

Obviously, I'll need to find time Saturday afternoon to get ready for the dinner party. I'm hoping to have a simple lentil soup, freshly picked green salad, and HOMEMADE bread. We've been on a bread making kick and it is so, so, so good that I really hoped we could fit in time on Saturday. There is some in the freezer if needed. (I'm crazy, but not a fool.) I might be able to make some artichoke dip too. I bought some good wine and will hopefully have cookies baked from Friday. I think I can do it all. A run to the store while taking the kids to L&P's is not out of the question. Neither is a shower.

Sunday we'll be obligated to get to church on time (if you drink too much with your minister on a Saturday night, are you excused?). Plus, L&P will be returning our children to us there.

What is planned for Sunday afternoon? NOTHING. Perhaps naps.