Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/72612
family chatter how to clean your house the way you WANT it cleaned," she promised. "Sounds good," I thought, "because the only way I WANT my house cleaned is by someone else and it sounds like that is what is happening here. Bring it on!" For the week leading up to her visit, I did not to me becoming a party hostess was when Janie came over to demo some products. for a week, it is at least 11 years old. The only way to really fix this floor situation is to replace the sucker. But Janie attacked it with her special Swiffer-like, but chemical-free, mop and did a fine job certainly equal to my usual mopping job. She then polished the windows, scrubbed the bathroom, cleaned the oven door and I just sat back, watched and made appreciative noises. Oh yes indeed, this is the way I like to have my house cleaned! Once the cleaning was over, I felt guilt in addition mop my kitchen floor. This was actually not a huge stretch for me as it often goes longer than a week without mopping. But I made it out like it was a huge slip up in my normally very high standards for floor cleanliness. Not only had the kitchen floor not seen a mop The "Party" I I (almost) Had BY MARY BECELIA 've always been against "parties" where you are invited to someone's house and treated to a spiel about a product. Drink enough wine, nibble enough hors d'oeuvres obligated to purchase said product. So how did I recently find myself this close to hosting such an event? attempt to distill it to a quick story. Well, I can do it in one word actually: and you often feel Yes, when I heard that my friend, "Janie" was selling a line of environmentally-friendly was invite all my nearest and dearest to come by and plop down some cash and I'd be sitting pretty on top of a pile of free gifts! products that actually appealed to me, I became dreadfully excited at the thought of: hostess gifts! Stuff I wanted! Stuff I could use! All I had to do 30 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • July 2012 It's a lengthy tale, but I will Greed. cleaning to my original greed. Janie had just cleaned a quarter of my house. She had even tackled the toilet. This was above and beyond for sure. I owed her a party. We set a date and she went over details with The first step in the process that (almost) led "I'll show you me: food, seating and how to encourage people to attend. My head was spinning. In addition to being a sub-par housewife, I'm not much of a hostess. Suddenly, I was feeling overwhelmed and wondering if the gifts would offset the cost of those party platters from Costco. While I smiled and nodded on the outside, internally I was starting to panic. Could I pull this off? try to persuade people to come over to my house to spend money when I wasn't even a fan of these parties in the first place? Could I, in good conscience, don't invite me to yours either. I'm a disaster as a guest. I eat all the goodies and then buy the cheapest thing offered. Please! Don't even pretend to be surprised. And Mary Becelia lives with her family in southern Stafford. a bag of Doritos for the snack? No, no and no. I could not. I tossed and turned all night before emailing Janie the next day and backing out of the party. She was gracious and understanding. She is an awesome person. So I got out of it. I'm not proud of myself, but there you have it. You don't need to worry about me ever inviting you to a purchasing party. Could I get by with just