full house

no no, i'm not going to start talking about the t.v. show. today, the fearsome threesome (mom, dad, and yours truly)has grown to five. my sister and grandma, who live out in california, will be spending the next week or so with us. we have all been looking forward to this moment with much anticipation, and i will especially enjoy the extra noise (sometimes it's just a bit too quiet here for my liking). right now we are all in the same room either reading the paper, working on the computer, or dozing in and out of consciousness from flying the red-eye. my brother has already clocked-in at work (a.k.a. online poker).
needless to say, the days leading up to their arrival consisted of various cleaning rituals. when guests are arriving--whether they be family or the queen of england--my mom adopts the persona of a dictator, listing off her demands to the lowly worker bees until the last possible second. i was proud of myself this time around because i actually took initiative before the dictator came to life. i happily told my parents which duties i would be taking care of in hopes that the whole process would run more smoothly and without unnecessary nagging. i cleaned the guest bedroom and changed the bedding. i scrubbed the bathroom, replaced the shower curtain, and emptied the garbage. i did everything i said i would with one exception: i did not vacuum the sand in the guest bathroom, and my mom made sure to remind me of that slip-up. what she doesn't know is that after i come home from volleyball training tonight the floor will inevitably be blessed with a few more grains...or rather, a few thousand.