Christmas Eve party planning & prep & cleanup
I don't know exactly when T specified the party would begin this afternoon/evening, and I'm not going to ask right now, because that would increase his stress level. His stress level is already high. It is the day of our annual Christmas Eve party, and we're not ready for it yet. I'm guessing 5pm. [UPDATE: 6pm]
Yesterday I did some general putting away of things in the common area, but that's not nearly enough, we will have to transform both the common area and the sun room into a Christmas Eve party environment. I'd already put away my board game several days ago, but now the dining table is covered with other junk that will need to be cleared, tossed, or stored.
Everything in the common area and the sun room that is not party-friendly has to be moved somewhere else (and then later moved back again). So, I moved all the tropical plants back outside -- we won't freeze again until Friday night, I'll have to move them back inside by then. I've put away a bunch of stuff that was just hanging out in the sun room. All the stuff related to my home office that was moved aside for the Christmas Tree will have to be moved to my bedroom temporarily. And so on, and so on.
After everything unrelated to Christmas has been moved, then T will start decorating the common room and the sun room. Eventually we'll set up the dining table as a place to grab snacks and desserts, including napkins, paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils, etc. And we'll set up the sun room as a place to grab beverages.
At some point I'll sweep the floor, and clean my bathroom. We'll need to rearrange the furniture in the living room to a more party-friendly arrangement -- all of that will have to go back to where it was later.
It's an enormous amount of work, and I'm usually physically exhausted by the time the party starts, but then I'm on my feet hosting the party for 5-6 hours. And then at the end of the party I'll have to put all the food away so the cats don't munch on it. And then for the next several days I'll spend part of each day cleaning up and reversing everything we're doing today.
This is why I didn't go running this morning, and why I haven't lifted weights since recovering from COVID -- I'm going to need every ounce of reserve energy for today's tasks, and it will still leave me exhausted and limping by the START of the party.
But this is important to T, so I do it. If it were only me throwing a party, I wouldn't be doing it on Christmas Eve and competing with the rest of the world for attention. I wouldn't have put up a tree, I wouldn't be putting up decorations, I wouldn't be rearranging furniture, and I'd only invite a specific number of people that is within my ability to host comfortably. Like, up to five people.
I mean, right now I'd be studying for my final exam, LOL. Which instead I'll be doing on Christmas Day. Thank you, Jesus.
Yesterday I did some general putting away of things in the common area, but that's not nearly enough, we will have to transform both the common area and the sun room into a Christmas Eve party environment. I'd already put away my board game several days ago, but now the dining table is covered with other junk that will need to be cleared, tossed, or stored.
Everything in the common area and the sun room that is not party-friendly has to be moved somewhere else (and then later moved back again). So, I moved all the tropical plants back outside -- we won't freeze again until Friday night, I'll have to move them back inside by then. I've put away a bunch of stuff that was just hanging out in the sun room. All the stuff related to my home office that was moved aside for the Christmas Tree will have to be moved to my bedroom temporarily. And so on, and so on.
After everything unrelated to Christmas has been moved, then T will start decorating the common room and the sun room. Eventually we'll set up the dining table as a place to grab snacks and desserts, including napkins, paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils, etc. And we'll set up the sun room as a place to grab beverages.
At some point I'll sweep the floor, and clean my bathroom. We'll need to rearrange the furniture in the living room to a more party-friendly arrangement -- all of that will have to go back to where it was later.
It's an enormous amount of work, and I'm usually physically exhausted by the time the party starts, but then I'm on my feet hosting the party for 5-6 hours. And then at the end of the party I'll have to put all the food away so the cats don't munch on it. And then for the next several days I'll spend part of each day cleaning up and reversing everything we're doing today.
This is why I didn't go running this morning, and why I haven't lifted weights since recovering from COVID -- I'm going to need every ounce of reserve energy for today's tasks, and it will still leave me exhausted and limping by the START of the party.
But this is important to T, so I do it. If it were only me throwing a party, I wouldn't be doing it on Christmas Eve and competing with the rest of the world for attention. I wouldn't have put up a tree, I wouldn't be putting up decorations, I wouldn't be rearranging furniture, and I'd only invite a specific number of people that is within my ability to host comfortably. Like, up to five people.
I mean, right now I'd be studying for my final exam, LOL. Which instead I'll be doing on Christmas Day. Thank you, Jesus.