hostess with the mostest....NOT!

Last Thursday night I was on the phone with my mom and just threw out the idea that she and my daddy come to our house for supper. I figured they already had plans, but I really wanted them to come hang out in “our space” for an evening. Of course the invitation was also extended to my sister and her NEW BOYFRIEND and my brother and his girlfriend (Court).

Well…Mom accepted the invite!

I was so excited! She offered to bring dessert and I asked her to bring Pictionary so we could play after supper. My parents were planning to show up around 6:15-6:30ISH (ish-is common in our household and could mean anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes late), my brother around 7:30, and Court, my sister, and the NEW BF around 8:30 (because Court and the NEW BF had basketball practice).

If anyone has seen our house, they know it is perfect for two people. There is enough room that we don’t kill each other but not too much to clean. Therefore, cramming 8 people into this one house, much less in the same room, is like cramming sardines into a can.

I planned out the meal and Worker Man and I went grocery shopping to get enough food for the 8 people who would be eating.

Friday came and I took my lunch break at 4 so I could get home early. Knowing my dad (the CLEAN FREAK), I Clorox-ed the entire house from top to bottom. I made sure the bathroom was cleaner than it had been since we moved in, the floor was swept, the kitchen counter was spotless, and the house was even DUSTED. Dusting is definitely my least favorite chore which is unfortunate since we have cobwebs EVERYWHERE (we’ll talk about that in a later post).

Then, I started getting everything ready for supper. Since I’m not very good at timing everything so it all comes out warm at the same time, I planned this meal and knew what should go in the oven when so that everything would be pippin’-hot and I would feel uber-wifey.

Well, Mom and Daddy finally show up around 7 (remember, they said 6:30ish so they are still not considered late) and things start out beautifully. They looked at the house to see what we’d changed and mom even brought me a hostess gift (two magazines, People and Family Circle)! Mom also brought her dessert with her to make at our house. No problem!

Except, while fixing the dessert, I ran around grabbing things she needed (i.e. mixer, eggs, butter, mixing bowl, pie dish, etc) and did not stick to my minute-by-minute plan of how to cook everything on time. Then, mom decided that her pie needed to go in the oven because it would take a while to bake. Therefore, the raw chicken sat on the counter for awhile until I demanded that the chicken (also referred to as THE MAIN DISH) be cooked before dessert! So, while the chicken was cooking, the homemade mac and cheese (Worker Man’s favorite), the cream corn (real kind—like Mema used to make), and the green beans (that Mammy canned) were all finished and quickly cooling.

During all this chaos my brother, Court, my sister, and the NEW BF (who I had never met) arrived.

By the way, I forgot to mention what Workman was doing during this time…

My daddy, my sweet sweet daddy, has a few peculiar eating dislikes. Two of the things had an effect on the meal that I was cooking. He does not like BAKED chicken and he doesn’t like garlic. I know…he’s a weirdo.

So, I kept one piece of chicken separate so that Worker Man could just throw it on the grill outside. Sounds harmless, right?

Well, did I mention it was POURING rain?!? So Worker Man runs outside in the rain and throws the chicken on the grill. He’s already frustrated about the situation and then he comes in and I’m pretty sure steam was coming from his ears. The grill ran out of gas (kinda ironic since Worker Man’s family owns an oil and propane company). And here we are with everything getting cold (except the chicken, because it’s still in the oven) and Daddy’s piece is only half cooked.

The easy solution? Run down to the in-laws house (only four-ish houses away) and throw it on their grill. Worker Man calls his parents, who are out Christmas shopping and asks if he can use their grill. They don’t mind, so Worker Man runs down to their house only to find that a squirrel has eaten a hole through the gas line. So, Worker Man carries the half cooked chicken back to the truck and has to DRIVE TO THE OIL COMPANY and get a new tank of gas for the grill. He comes back with the half cooked chicken and the new tank and proceeds to finish cooking the chicken on the grill in the rain.

He comes back inside just in time for us to wake Daddy up (he fell asleep on the couch because he had to wait for so long), get the chicken out of the oven, and say the blessing.

At this point I’m so stressed out and frustrated with all the food getting cold that I don’t even make an effort to present the food in nice bowls or even put it all in one place. Everyone is walking aimlessly around in the kitchen looking for the green beans and then back to the other side of the kitchen to get their chicken.

Did I also mention that we only have four chairs? So, my brother, sister, Court and the NEW BF take their food into the living room and sit on the couch and eat supper.

Then…we all played Pictionary (boys vs. girls). The NEW BF really got to see the true side of my family as we all screamed over top of each other (mostly me, I MIGHT be just a LITTLE too competitive) and had some scrumptious dessert.

Here are pictures from the game:

All in all it was a successful night...