The House of Goodwill's first guests!

Have you ever invited guests to stay at your house, and then really taken a good look around, and realized that you need about 20 hours of clean up to make it presentable before they arrive?

And, have you ever been in the middle of the 20 hours of clean up work for guests to come (on your only day off), only to find yourself resenting the guests (that you yourself invited) and wishing you could drop the work and just go swimming or read a book?

And, at the end of the 20 hours of clean up, have you ever discovered that you are actually really, really happy that the guests are coming, because it forced you do a million little tasks that you would have otherwise put off for a very, very long time?

Well, thank you Justin and Linda!  Because of you, we finally found places to put a whole bunch of clutter-y (but necessary) stuff that previously didn't have places to go.

And if I were to be honest, I might admit that there is a small possibility that some things may have been pushed into a laundry closet behind closed doors...but I'm only honest about the important things.

(No, I won't tell you if you look like you've gained weight.  So please don't ask.)

It is amazing how long it takes to get a house in order - where will we keep the board games?  And what about the dog food?  And the shop vac?  ('Cause the garage is the obvious place, except that we always use it upstairs...)  Same thing with the tools.

So many little things to get figured out.

But on to the good stuff!

My husband and his sister kayaking.  

Please excuse the blurry pics - they were taken with a water camera.

You may have to zoom in a little to see them, but nothing makes me happier than seeing deer on the neighbors' lawns from the water.

More deer enjoying the peaceful evening.

This is probably the perfect beach pic since we can't legally show the faces of our foster kids.

This is my husband's sister and her son, my husband, son and me with the foster kids.

I have to say, when the first guests show up with homemade pastries AND Seven Layer Bars AND a guitar for some group singing - they've set the bar pretty high for everyone coming after.

And Tia Linda has claimed a room now - I'm pretty sure that means they're coming back!

Hmm...what else have we been putting off working on in the house?  

I really need to find that thing I just don't want to take the time to do (or even better, some projects for my husband!) - and then invite them back.