Getting ready for company

29 April 2007
When my choir director, and also the Weatherman for Channel 2 in Salt Lake, Sterling, announced he was coming to our fair town, 150 miles from his own home and the home of the choir I sing in, he asked me if our small town had a motel. He was coming to give a Weather Bug talk to the local Middle School children.
We have about 6 motels. One, the Best Western, I figured would be the one to suit his needs and what he was used to in larger towns. Then he asked about breakfast. I knew of two cafes that reside on Main Street, but couldn't really recommend them because I have never eaten there. When asked why, I answered, . . . because. . . we live there? We make our own breakfasts. . .
I thought about that, and the next day called their house in the morning. I asked them if they would like to come to our house for breakfast. They accepted the invitation.
That is when I looked at our house through "company eyes" and began to panic. I believe it was Dave Berry who mentioned becoming "house blind" to all the mess. You step over, past, and around the mess. You look beyond that orange counter top for so many years, you forget it is orange. The mess is not there, until you come back through the door and look through "company eyes". That is when you notice the clutter, the dirty windows, the cobwebs, and everything that just becomes a part of every-day life. So I began to clean. I cleaned for several days. As I cleaned I began to de-junk. I got things put into garbage bags to give to the annual yard sale for our choir. I took much out to the trash, I dusted, washed windows, floors, bathrooms, bath tubs, toilets, etc.
We shopped for fun stuff to serve. We bought fresh strawberries, sausage, and a new griddle.
We had pancakes, strawberries, frozen blueberries, sausage and eggs. I made a syrup recipe that is a favorite of Sterling's. We bought the small griddle because it is something I have wanted for years so I can make pancakes at the table and visit with the guests, rather than stand in the kitchen, away from the company.
They arrived earlier than planned, but had to call to get directions to our house. They came in the Channel 2 Storm Tracker. I got a picture of the Storm Tracker in front of our house, and a picture of them at our table. They brought us a box of their favorite cookies. It was from a place called Paradise Bakery and Cafe, located in Salt Lake.
They stayed about an hour and a half. We had a nice visit, a peaceful breakfast and great company. The short visit was over too soon, and Sterling had to be at the Middle School early to get set up. They invited us to come to the Middle School to see the production.
It was what they called Super Saturday. The theme was Innovations. They had different work shops in science, rockets, art and weather. It was a beautiful Saturday morning with perfect weather. (Does the weatherman really get to order the perfect weather?)
I sat on the grass with Sterling's wife, Danette, the whole morning. She took video of the event so Sterling could show it in his weather program later that day on Channel 2. Then at exactly 12:30, after the hosts presented Sterling with a beautiful cake, Danette and Sterling rushed out to the Storm Tracker, loaded up their equipment and cake and hurried back to Salt Lake, a 2 1/2 hour trip, so he could be ready for his weather segment on the 5:00 evening news.
I headed home. Dave was outside doing gardening things. The house was perfectly clean. The whole rest of the weekend was ours. It was sort of like the let-down you get after Christmas. What now?
I love having company that hasn't seen our house before. I find that the house gets so much cleaner, and I have incentive, after three days of cleaning, to keep it that way. It is much easier to keep it clean, because one thing out of place really stands out.
Besides the memories made were priceless. It was fun. They are sweet people.
Dave likes to talk about our lives being like Groundhog Day (the movie). You spend your life living your days, one just like the other. Beige days, if you will. Then something special happens, and that day stands out above the rest of the beige days with much color. When you look back on the past week, month and year, you see mostly beige days interspersed with bright dots of color. Those are the special days that live on in your memory. This was one of those days.