Aftermath of the Dinner Party

On Saturday in anticipation of our guests arriving Saturday night - I slept in, spent some time on the net, procrastinated with the housework, groceries and cooking, chatted on the phone to a friend and flicked through some magazines.

Why is it that I can be so organised at work and in a total zone of going from one project to another, one deadline to another and be in total control (most of the time) of work coming in and going out - producing results and effective time management.

There are two split personalities - who am I and what has happened to Jeannie???

Did Jeannie ever exist when it came to household duties or was she living another life???

I remember when I first got married to Mal and we moved in together - he used to have his stuff all neatly folded in piles, his ironing was done and shirts hung neatly in the closet all buttoned up. He would never let his mother iron his shirts - never mind me - not that that worried me - actual I jumped up and down for joy. After endless Saturday mornings of being dragged out of bed as a teenager by my mother who shoved a massive laundry basket in my face and says "heres your weekly ironing - you need to get this done before you go out this afternoon - sleeping in till 1pm is not good enough - you need to get your act together" funny she still says those words till this day....

Anyhoo how did i get off the track - oh thats right the nightmare of household chores - it could be the memory of a mother who used to slam dishes, put on the washing machine, vacuum for at least 3 hours - screaming and yelling on a Saturday morning saying "am I the only one in the house that knows how to work" as I put my head further and further under the pillow...

So maybe that is why I procrastinate with household chores. The sad thing is though - I put it off so much that I get so close to running out of time. I then decide to go and do the groceries, then I realise I have to put the groceries away - prepare all the food, vacuum and mop - put away 300 loads of washing - help the girls clean their rooms to my perfection all in 4 hours.

I got so carried away with all this business that the girls come into the kitchen after me pulling a cake out of the oven that I had just baked asking what the yummy smell was. Then to my horror I had forgotten to feed them lunch - what a bad mother!!! mind you this is at 5pm. So not only am I bad at domestic chores, I'm also a bad mother. After stuffing biscuits down their throats I kick them out of the kitchen. By now I'm absolutely sweating my guts out - they'll be here in an hour and where is Mal to help me...oh thats right he's working...

5 minutes before they come - I finish all my podantic preparations and want to put my feet up and sleep for 600 years. I have a quick shower - in which time they have arrived and I had trained Mal beforehand in showing them to the lounge - offering them a drink and some nibblies. I walk down the hallway looking like a princess, but if they only knew what ugly, crazed and possesed woman had been in the house before. There is that split personality again.

The evening went well and Mal's workmate, wife and daughter enjoyed themselves. I think they were overawed at the candles on the table and the peaceful music in the background. Mr was a real gentleman and was quiet and polite meanwhile Mrs talked about herself and the 2000 jobs she's had the whole night while their tenacious 5 yr old got louder and louder as the night progressed. We had prayed for an opportunity to share Jesus with them but it never eventuated. I found it hard to say anything at all with Mrs chitchatter going on.

Its more than just sharing your faith though - its about building relationships and finding that common ground. These people were complete strangers to us but after a night that was fun and relaxing hopefully we have planted seeds of Gods goodness, abundance and love.