Tonight begins the last onslaught of arrivals: my mother and brother from Memphis (sometime), my daughter and son-in-law from Switzerland (also sometime).
My hostess anxiety is kicking in, right on schedule: what needs doing? what will I forget to do? what will somebody point out that I have forgotten to do when it's too late to do anything about it? Trying to offer it up. These last days of Advent ought to be meditative –– I so often think –– and are the time when I'm most likely to forget my prayers in the shuffle of tasks.
Heading out in a few minutes for what I hope will be a last round of shopping. Between us, my younger daughter and I have made a list in Google Sheets, which we've shared with each other; so far this week she has done two or three shopping rounds, checking off items on our list as she goes. I need to consider what still needs to go on the list, as well as what still needs buying.
I have done exactly zero baking or cooking ahead, but there it is.
Wearing today (because I listened to myself yesterday):
Sierra, plum/magenta leggings, purple Xero Oswegos, secondhand teal cashmere cardigan. It's cold now, but probably going to warm up a lot, as it did yesterday.
Dora is in love with my older son, who plied her with cheese cubes to win her heart. Only four more people to meet, and hopefully they'll follow my directions (toss her some cheese cubes, then offer her one, THEN look at her and pet her, sorry if this sounds micromanagerial, but it's not that hard, and you want her to like you . . .). Anyway, thus far introductions have gone well, which is one load off my mind. Much nicer to share the house with a laid-back happy dog who likes everybody and doesn't have to be shut up all the time.
OK, well. The downstairs bathroom sink seems to be clogged (yesterday it was the upstairs bathtub), so I have to find someplace to brush my teeth before I can go out and do this shopping I've been dragging my feet about doing.