'Twas the night before houseguests

'Twas the night before houseguests and all through my house
Not a thing was quite ready, not even my spouse.
The towels were hung in the bathroom with care,
In hopes that our guests would not see the mess there.

The children are nestled all snug in MY bed,
While dread of sleep deprivation dances in my head!
You see, me in my slippers and Jason trav’ling Texas
Had just gotten used to a house without houseguests.

When out on the internet there arose such a clatter
I sprang to my desk to see what was the matter
When, what to my web-surfing eyes should appear,

But a birthday invite! How I hope they’ll stay here!

With 5 sweet children, so precious and good,

I just cannot wait to see M’lissa and David.

More rapid than eagles Emily and kids came,

And have kept me company and kept me sane.

"Now, Mom! now, Robin! now, Kristen and kids!

I love you so much! But there’s no more room in the inn.

To the Crowne Plaza Hotel! It is right by the mall!

Now hurry up! Come right now! Dash away all!"

As siblings that live far apart, far and wide,

When their grandma turns 90, they mount to the sky,

So up with Southwest, United and Delta they flew,

With their arms full of kid’s gear, and lots of love too.

And now, in a twinkling, I've realized right quick

That my family won’t judge me if things aren’t perfect.

We are coming together to celebrate and do
Our grandma’s 90th birthday! And Jane’s baptism, too!

This is the t-shirt logo for our Grandma's birthday. Ninety is the new forty.

We haven’t all been together for years...
Thinking of that puts me almost in tears.
I care not if my house is just perfectly right;
My heart swells to think of the beautiful sight:

Of our family, together. How lucky are we!
To be a happy, loving, eternal family.

STILL, all will be gathered here for days on end
And I have plenty of things to mend.
The kids’ toys, their closets and more are a mess!
We all will work hard and just do our best.

My pantry is stocked with chocolate and junk food
And not to be bossy or demanding or rude,
But a job chart is hung on the fridge with great care
In hopes that I won’t be pulling out my hair!

In truth, I can’t wait to see my sweet fam’ly
With their kind faces and warm love for me.
They are witty and smart, a right jolly old crew
And we never run out of fun things to do.

Remembering this and all else that I’ve said,
Helps me to know I have nothing to dread;
Now I’ll websurf no more, but go straight to my work,
And clean up this house; with a smile as a perk,

This is always what I look like when I do housework. Always.

And setting my alarm as early as it can,

I’ll awake to continue my housecleaning plan;

Such that when all arrive I’ll feel cheerful, not weepy

But I think most of all I’ll be feeling quite sleepy.

So they’ll hear me exclaim, ere I run out of sight,

"Welcome to all! And to all a good night!"

......................................................................................................................................

The real story: I love having houseguests. Robin the Wonderful has planned a party for our Grandma's 90th birthday (I hope she will blog about it), and every member of our family will be here for it! When I found out that everyone would be able to come, I invited (begged) those that live furthest away and have the youngest/most kids to stay with me. We will be in cousin heaven here and I can't wait.