time to get in gear here

My daughter's birthday is just around the corner...not this coming weekend, but the next. She made an interesting choice for her celebration this year. Instead of having a party, she opted for a Girls Day Out. She's invited her Grammy, her great-aunt Shirley, and me to come along. Four girls (I use the term "girls" loosely here, as Annie's the only one under the age of 40) on the town for a day of shopping and lunch at a restaurant of her choice.
This plan makes my life much easier, as I have no party to plan and prepare for. However, it does mean having guests for the weekend. My parents and my aunt and uncle will be arriving Friday and staying until Sunday. I LOVE having guests, especially when it's people I love as much as these four characters. But I must admit, that it's time to get my butt in gear and start getting ready.
Whenever I start my "spring cleaning", I tend to let everything else go. So, right now the house is somewhat of a mess. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I still haven't even taken down the Christmas decorations in the basement (I've just blown it off since noone but the immediate family is generally down there). But the so-called guest room is down there, so this will have to be dealt with. And I need to wrap gifts (and probably still buy a couple, too). And I need to come up with a menu plan to feed everyone (I usually like to come up with as much to make ahead as I can, so I don't have to spend all my time cooking instead of socializing).
Anyway, it is time to start getting a handle on this, at least by making the obligatory lists. I'm big on lists, maybe to the point of obsession. Annie's birthday weekend will probably require in the neighborhood of 8-10 different lists. I realize that I could probably be half-way to ready in the time it takes me to make all these lists...but I just can't seem to help myself.

Quote of the day:
"A peacock that rests on his feathers is just another turkey." --Dolly Parton