Face it Honey, The Maid ain't Coming! DAY 5

Today was wild but productive. My Mother is coming to stay with us for a few weeks and we are so excited. Preparing your home for house guests is different than preparing your home for a meeting or party. When someone comes to stay with you, your preparations are categorized more as nesting than fine tuning or polishing. Of course this would be the case IF you had been sharing your home with others on a regular bases. Having a fairly "ready to go home" is one of the gifts that comes from entertaining often. Unfortunately that is not the situation in my case. Due to entertaining less and less over the past years, even though not deliberate, my home had a lot more than "fine tuning and polishing " to do. But, as I promised, even in the mess I am in, I will open my doors and entertain!

My tasks today consisted of putting a lot of stuff AWAY!!

Day 5 completed, 245 days to go!

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't Coming! Day 4

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't Coming! DAY 3 evening

I got the last coat of black paint on the backdoor, both inside and out.
I needed something for the urns at the backdoor. Large Pink Petunias would have been my first choice for the taller black urns, but we may have to save that for my front door wish list. My husband Randall had already planted tomato plants at the foot of the backdoor rails, and we had different lettuce/cabbage types on hand in bad need of planting. So due to what we already had, I planted the combinations in the black urns as well as the squaty cement urns.
I LOVE how first using what you have tends to create unexpected surprises. I don't believe I would have ever thought of using the vegetables there, but seeing the fresh and delightful color contrast between the dark cabbage/hot green lettuce and the black urn, Ive decided to create a kitchen garden right at my backdoor!!!

247 days to go!

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't coming! DAY 3 morning

Yesterday down, but I had a beautiful day!

Today, we got everyone up, off to work/school and went to the church to replace the Palm Sunday arrangement, which was so easy!
Supplies
Sago palm branches stuck in an oasis filled urn
greenery to hide the oasis
All from the church yard
COST $0

For Thursday and Good Friday we replaced the palms at the foot of the cross with thorned branches and a bare wisteria vine that loosely wrapped the cross along with a black drape and a bare grapevine crown. This is one of my favorites. Not for its beauty, but for how well it expresses the message. This is the third year we have done this in some form and it continues to move me.
Supplies
bare thorned branches
bare wisteria vine
grapevine wreath
loose unfinished black fabric
All out of the yard or the church already had.
COST $0

I walked home from the church, but first stopped to check in on our friends the Hintons who own the local Bakery. It was so wonderful to visit with them. It has been awhile, and their delicious bakery/deli is not a bad place to stop!!!!
We get so busy that days can go by without zeroing in and enjoying the gifts God has blessed us with. Friends are gifts AND blessings. If you are like me, we need to work on spending more time with them.

Started a load of laundry, hit the dog nose smudges on the windows, swept the high points.
Now Back to the Back Door!!

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't Coming! DAY 2

DAY 2 Tuesday, March 30, 2010 I spent all day on the road and all evening at a track meet.
248 days to go.

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't coming DAY 1 pm

It is important when entertaining to always address the door. After receiving your invitation the door (or entrance) is the first your guest will experience of your event- so you want it to be warm and welcoming showing signs of how pleased you are they are there.
Well if that is the case for guests attending a party, should it even more so be the case for you, your family, and friends that enter your home on a daily bases?? I think so! And THAT'S why I started at the back door.
TODAY, DAY 1
THE BACK DOOR
-Supplies needed
primer
paint brushes
paint I could use for the door
(I debated on painting the door black or red. I had black, so black it is!)
-COST
$0 had all on hand
-ACCOMPLISHED
primer on right side of back rail and door
first coat of black on the door
-SIDETRACKED ACCOMPLISHMENT
primer on fence post at the back lot

How good this feels. 1 day down - 249 to go!

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't coming DAY 1

OK, here we go.
We have already accomplished what I think is the toughest part. Facing the fact that all the additional help and money we thought we needed to get our homes and yards in order is not going to drop out of the sky, so we are ready and excited to go forward!!

Next Step
Celebrate your weaknesses. They are gifts!!
If you are interested in this blog, or if you are following /participating in the journey, then what you feel are your strength and weaknesses probably fall in line with mine.
The biggest surprise I have had to date professionally, is how God took what most would have considered weaknesses and created the Fearless Entertaining Concepts. Some of these concepts are...
Find an inspiration
Stay loose when thinking about your destination
Use first what you already have or is easily accessible
Start by putting things together that bring you joy
Step away and enjoy
Share with others
Have fun while doing all of the above

But just as an over organized person needs to be careful not to micromanage, we at times need to reign in our thoughts. Some are great at Multi tasking. I find that I will Multi Mess if I try to do too much at one time leaving half completed projects all over my home OR ignoring necessities like feeding my family due to the need to put my focus in overdrive in order to complete one.
It's all about balance, but gone are the days where we beat ourselves up for possessing what are actually gifts no matter what end of the spectrum they may fall.

So today, day 1, I first took care of some family basics. These are tasks I am embarrassed to say I would often omit when getting into project mode.
I made my bed, started a load of wash, started the dishwasher, swept up the big pieces, wiped the kitchen counter and decided what to fix for dinner. Now I feel better about beginning a project.
I think I will start at the back door.

Face it Honey, The Maid ain't coming and you don't got no Yard Man

Since 2005 I have been co-writing books and speaking on the topic of entertaining and the importance of bringing people into your home. I have emphasized and demonstrated in our books, speaking sessions and television segments how easily this can be accomplished by simply opening your doors. I have stressed that the gift comes from inviting guests into your home and not what or where you serve them.

AND THEN IT HIT ME.....

In the five/six years that I have been working and speaking on the Fearless Entertaining books and their concepts, I have entertained less and less. My home as wild, fun and wonderful as it has always been, now had half done or out of place projects in EVERY room, a far from full refrigerator and a "wash it as you need it" laundry schedule. Don't get me wrong, my home has never been mistaken for Donna Reed's or June Cleaver's, and I am pretty safe in saying that it probably never will be. But that is where the strength of the Fearless Entertaining concept of inviting people in where you are, being who you are, comes from. No one lives the way the 1950's television shows portrayed. I believe they probably never did, but we have allowed them to put unrealistic expectations on ourselves, our homes and our families instead of enjoying all that life brings us.

Those familiar with what we preach, know that frequently having guests in your home affects you and your family on many different levels.

To list a few

• 
  
  Friendships and the strengthening of relationships


• 
  
  Joy, laughter and creativity


• 
  
  and yes, basic upkeep and maintenance on your home

We have all heard or made the comment "The best way to keep your home in shape is to host a party or meeting at least once a month." Well friends, if that's true...I need to throw a party, and SOON! I have let it get out of hand. A beautiful flower arrangement no matter how big, can only hide so much!

I have noticed that we often allow the blessings and gifts we have been given (and many times prayed for)- to swallow and overwhelm us. For example- our 105 year old "fixer upper" -well I guess we've been waiting for someone to drop out of the sky and "Fix-her up"?? And the adjacent extra lot and carriage house that we prayed and prayed for not long after we bought the house-well i guess we've been waiting for lots and lots of money for landscapers and architects to work their magic. But you know- It hasn't happened, and rather than getting frustrated, overwhelmed and feeling defeated, I believe it is time to look straight in the mirror and say "FACE IT HONEY, THE MAID AIN'T COMING AND YOU DON'T GOT NO YARD MAN!!"

Yes sir, it is time to do what it takes! Since we have seen the Fearless Entertaining approach successfully eliminate fear, intimidation and idleness but add joy and laughter where entertaining is concerned, we are going to put it to the test. We are going to see if the "use what you have, don't be afraid, just start somewhere" Fearless Entertaining thinking won't work for us in this area too!! Of course...we must open our doors and entertain all along the way, so join us. 250 days puts us right in the middle of the holiday season. Let's see what we can accomplish on very little money, very little time and a lot of the right attitude!