JEI {14}: Come on over!

Welcome to the weekly link up, Just Enough Info (JEI).  The internets can be a great source of community, and I’d love to get to know you better!  Feel free to share your answers in the comments or link up if you have a blog.

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This week’s topic seems like a good followup to last week’s Thanksgiving theme.

Hospitality

Growing up, my family didn’t do much entertaining.  As a family with six kids there wasn’t exactly a line of wannabe guests beating down the door.  Because of this lack of practice, any entertaining was super duper stressful.  I guess we were afraid that in the eyes of our guests, our relatively clean home was probably not clean enough, and the tasty food we always had was probably not tasty enough.  In my mind hospitality=hard.  And mostly unpleasant.

My understanding of entertaining changed when I went to a Benedictine college.  What it lacked in orthodoxy, it made up for in spades with hospitality.  I was able to form relationships with several of the sisters on campus, and their gracious way of life always impressed me.

I was invited to several meals with the sisters– and there were never any apologies for their simplicity.  Soup and sandwiches.  Almost every day.  No one begged pardon if the floor hadn’t recently been swept, or if the windows weren’t completely shiny.  Perhaps it was their simple lifestyle that made entertaining easy.

If there’s no clutter to hide and the menu never changes, there’s no need to get bent out of shape when someone drops by unexpectedly!  It’s also much easier to be truly present in the moment with a guest.  To be able to welcome someone at any time is a goal.

These two opposing experiences of hospitality still play out in my life, though.

Someone’s coming over?!?!  The Hulk Mom comes out and starts barking orders.  Unfortunately I don’t have the option to live like a religious sister and completely disavow possessions.  My life is filled with Legos, markers, and dried chunks of playdoh that seem to turn up everywhere.

Whenever I go to someone else’s home, my standards are low.  I don’t mind having to move books off the couch to sit down.  I’m fine if all that’s served is cheese and crackers.  I don’t even notice the old Cheerios and other dried yuckos under the table.  And I’d just giggle if I found a pair of kiddo undies in tucked into the side of my chair.  I wouldn’t gossip or hold any of that against someone.  Why am I so afraid of that?

Unfortunately, I have been judged and gossiped about for my housekeeping.  (PS– My house isn’t even that bad.  Not really.)  As much as I can pretend I don’t care, I do.  A put-down thinly veiled with a self-deprecating comment is still a put-down.  I am a people-pleaser, so such comments are hard to brush off.

Getting over myself is the first step in working towards my goal of being hospitable at the drop of a hat.  Speaking of entertaining at the drop of a hat, let’s get to the questions of the week!
1. What’s your go-to “someone’s coming over” recipe?

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If David is home, we grill.  He works magic on meat and vegetables.  We do some combination of salmon, pork chops, bratwurst, chicken, steak, hamburgers, peppers (he’s the only one who likes them), onions, mushrooms, romaine, sweet potatoes, broccoli, bananas, and pineapple.

If David isn’t going to be home, then I get panicky because we eat weird food.  With enough warning, I like to do a crockpot of soup.  Just add a bunch of random veggies and meat and season.  Serving it with some bread and cheese pretty much covers any flavor problems.

 

2. You have 5 minutes to tidy before guest arrive. What are your tidying shortcuts?

Ah!  If you ever come to my house in real life, you have to promise not to look for evidence of these shortcuts!

 If I truly have only 5 minutes, here’s the plan:
-Have the kids shovel all the clean-couch laundry into a basket and haul it into my room.
-Have the kids gather all books/toys and put them into baskets or under couches.  (I’ve never told them that stuffing things under couches is an okay emergency cleaning action, but I do look the other way.)
Make sure the toilet is flushed and the bathroom has soap, toilet paper, and a towel and no ladles, socks, or stuffed animals lying around. (The sisters NEVER have to worry about bathroom ladles.)
Stack all the dirty pots and pans as to minimize their counter footprint.
Double check the living room for stray underwear.
Triage:  Either put a few dishes into the dishwasher, sweep, or vacuum depending on what looks worst.
-Tell the kids to pretend to read books on the couch until the visitors arrive.
-Return to triage list until all 5 minutes are used up.

Why yes, that is an impressive list of all I can accomplish in 5 minutes.

If I have more time, I Norwex it up.
3. What sort of music sets the mood for the perfect gathering?

We have two favorite Pandora stations for gatherings and life in general:  Irish Folk and 60’s R&B.  If you don’t want to listen to The Dubliners or Ben E. King, we probably can’t be friends.

Before David I wouldn’t have considered myself an Irish folk kind of gal, but it’s grown on me.  So we can still be friends if you’re not into Irish music it’ll grow on you.  But I stand my ground on Ben E. King.

There you have it!  Maybe a little more information than “just enough.”  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Answer these three questions on your blog (making sure to link back here!) or in the comments.

 

 

 

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7 Comments


  1. // Reply

    Ahh, to be able to disavow our possessions!! ?

    I like how your 5 minute count-down looks. I chuckled at the “having kids look like they are reading” part – I will need to file that away someday. Make us look a little more productive that way…

    And, like you, I have been the recipient of judgment and gossip about my housekeeping, too. So, I think that is why I am perfectly okay to be my happy, little introverted self, and struggle to invite people into my “safe space.” I don’t have to worry about people judging me on the dog fur (gets me all the time) if I don’t have anyone over!


    1. // Reply

      Come on over! I’ll even move the couch laundry for you. 🙂


    1. // Reply

      Welcome back! Here you go:

      December 8 Faith Formation
      1. Do your children attend your parish’s religious education program?
      2. Do you or have you ever taught religious education?
      3. What is your favourite religious education resource for kids?


  2. // Reply

    I love the comedy routine I imagined in my head of what you just described you do with 5 minutes. I usually use the 5 minutes crying! lol I enjoyed your post very much. It made me reminisce when my children were small and part of the 5 minute plan.


    1. // Reply

      Sometimes there are tears, here too. 🙂

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