I'm NOT going to have a nervous breakdown; repeat, NOT!

It's been a busy week. Last Thursday Hubby and I went with Swede to a conference in Topeka, and since we were going to be gone for about four days I had a lot to do to leave the house and pantry in good shape for the boys. The two or three times before that Hubby and I have been gone for a few days, LovelyDaughter was here to cook and manage, but not this time. I had some worrisome moments, thinking about it.

However, I at last figured out a plan. I came up with some easy ideas for menus, like sloppy joes and taco salad, and bought all the necessary ingredients for them. Then I wrote the meal suggestions on a list on the fridge. I also bought a spiral cut ham and baked an extra batch of buns and a big batch of cookies, and hoped for the best.

When we returned on Sunday, the boys were in fine shape, and the kitchen looked reasonable, so all's well that ends well.

Which is a nice ending for my four-day break from cooking. Although I'm still pretty tired. We went to bed at midnight, one, and two the three nights we were gone, and I was still waking up before seven, according to habit. But it was worth it.

I've been trying to plow into the week. This Friday is our wingding for MB3 and we will have thirty people here, including ourselves. For some reason this is freaking me out. Never mind that each family on its own would not be scary. I like all the people I've invited. But somehow, so many at once is shaking up my poor introverted soul.

And also-- it feels as if the house never could be clean enough for 30 (thirty!) people. Why is that?

I am planning to put out all things necessary for pizza and have a grand pizza-making party, as well as a make-your-own banana split/ice cream sundae gala. And in the middle, the Baker family is giving us a little musical entertainment. It all sounds like fun-- and like a lot of stress. I'm not used to this big of a gathering. However, we did it once for GuitarGeek and once for LovelyDaughter, for their graduations, so I'm sure I will survive. (In case you're wondering, no we did not do a big splash for DrummerDude's graduation because, bless his poor introverted soul, he insisted he did not want one.)

So that's my week, and here's hoping I pull it off!