Almost Ready

Shawn and I are almost ready for my parents' visit! They'll be arriving tomorrow afternoon, so we've been hurrying to get lots of things done in preparation for their arrival. This weekend, we got up the majority of our Christmas decorations. (We still need to put the outdoor lights on the porch.) I'll put pictures in a separate post later this week. We also have finally finished making our 2nd bedroom a guest room as opposed to a storage area. Once I finish cleaning in there and make the "bed" (aka - the futon), I'll post before and after pics. I think you'll be impressed. :) I've also been working on making some Christmas presents. Some of these will need to be done before I leave for the airport, since I don't want my parents to see them. ;)

Since we're hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I've been planning my menu for quite awhile now. Although most of the recipes I've found seem pretty easy, I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. The problem, really, is that I've never made most of these dishes before. I'm really hoping for beginner's luck to kick in, although often when I make something, it takes a time or two before I really do a good job on a recipe. I found the recipes for the turkey, chocolate pecan pie, and apple pie on allrecipes.com, and they all received rave reviews, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Like I said, I need to leave for the airport to pick up my parents in approximately 26 hours. In that time, I need to do some dishes, do a couple loads of laundry, vacuum all the floors, clean the bathroom, mop the kitchen, clean off the kitchen counter, make a grocery list and go shopping, make the cranberry sauce, make 2 pies, and finish those Christmas presents I mentioned. Oh, and I need to dust and straighten up the living room and clear off the dining room table. That's all do-able, right?