If you’re following along, you know that yesterday I rented a Rug Doctor© and cleaned my living room carpet in anticipation of having some people over today.
Today, I returned the Rug Doctor© and picked up a few groceries at the store while I was there. I returned home to finish preparing for company. Somehow, overnight, every single plate and bowl appeared in the kitchen with dried-on sticky guck on them. (Since when is “guck” not a word, Spell-Check?)
But I didn’t start in the kitchen. I started at the front door, so first I moved all the furniture back into place in the living room. Then I removed dog hair from the furniture and tidied up. I worked in concentric circles, until I had narrowed down the mess to the kitchen. (This took an unanticipated and shockingly long time.)
That meant I had finished cleaning the guinea pig cage and did Poop Patrol in the back yard and the Swiffering was done. Then, I faced the towers of plates and dried on guck.
I took a drought-friendly shower and drove to Costco for provisions. Miraculously, I had enough time to drop food off at home before heading to school to pick up the carpool kids.
All that and the afternoon and evening did not turn out as expected. For whatever reasons, my friend’s friends weren’t able to show up, so the two of us sat and talked and watched her delightful and talkative two-year old. He threw rocks into my fountain and picked a million tiny flowers and ate grapes for the first time in his life. He walked my big dog until the big dog nearly pulled him over in her hurry to reach me. He played with Little People and their vehicles and threw a ball. He called the guinea pig a “dog” and the picture of a pig on the fridge a “rabbit.”
(Two year olds are so fun, especially when you are not directly responsible for their happiness and welfare.)
I would have done it all again. The Rug Doctor, the guinea pig cage, the scalding dish water. For one thing, my house is cleaner than usual and all that stuff needed to be done.
But beyond that, it was so great to talk to Carrien. She is a remarkable person and I’m amazed that a blog friend turned into a real-life friend . . . furthermore, it’s amazing to me that she’s living this brave, gigantic life in Thailand with her kids and husband. She’s a superhero but in disguise as a mom of five who is changing the world in a remarkable way.