Lesson #43: Hostess with the "Mostest"

I enjoy hosting.  Having people over and taking care of them is what I truly love doing.  There's something about inviting people into my home, taking care of them, and showing them love that gets to me.  It's so great.  I'll take their coats, have food, get them drinks . . . I go all out.  Tonight, we had around 15 people in our teeny apartment to celebrate a friend's parents driving all the way from Montana to surprise her with a visit.  Another friend brought most of the food, we pooled our utensil resources, and there were plenty of mugs for hot chocolate and coffee (because winter is finally here!).  I had a blast.  And they did the dishes for me.  You can't top that.


The idea of hosting is a sort of "opposites attract" situation for Lyndon and me.  He would rather come to a quiet home where he doesn't have to worry about others.  If he can be fed, see his wife, and play video games all night, it's been a good day.  He's a man who enjoys his quiet time and gets it as often as he can.  It's not that he doesn't like people; he's more of an introvert who values his peace.  Because of this introvert tendency he has, we don't have people over as often as I would like.


Our group had to rearrange our original plans because of weather, and part of that change was meeting at our apartment instead of a restaurant.  I said it was fine without checking with him, so I was a little nervous.  He called me from the armory when they were on a break, and I cautiously told him the new plans.  He was incredibly gracious and had no problem with it.  I had dodged a bullet and just had to get my lazy butt up to clean before I was home free.


Growing up, my mom taught us to clean for guests.  It didn't matter how clean or how dirty our house was.  If people were coming over, we were cleaning.  Vacuuming, dusting, sweeping . . . any form of cleaning you could think of was done.  That is something that has stuck with me, so most of my day was spent cleaning around the apartment (Lyndon was certainly grateful).  I didn't even care that my day went to cleaning.  The cleaning meant that people were coming over, and yes, the apartment did need to be cleaned - win-win situation.


We were cramped, it got so warm inside that Taylor opened the back door, it was noisy, the kitchen was a mess (until the wonderful guests cleaned), and I loved every moment of it.  I don't ask to invite people over as often as I would like.  I try and stay very conscious of Lyndon's need for alone time.  I'm thankful that he's conscious of my hostess genes, too.


Now I just have to wait as long as I can before asking him if we can have people over again.