For those of you who know me - you will be familiar with my 4 hour guideline. What's that you ask? Oh - well, I totally believe that any and all visits by family, friends - whatever - should never go beyond 4 hours. In fact, I tend to aim for 3. Simply put - if you arrive at 3 - you should be well on your way by 7.
I know, I know - you are thinking "Scrubbie - that's so harsh." Ya, I know. BUT - I sorta think that after 4 hours - it's really nuthin' but filler. The chat.... filler chat. The news... anything important would have come out in the first half hour. The food... well, you sure as heck had better be done after 4 hours. If you are still eating after that - you are being gluttonish. THAT is a sin. One of the 7 deadly, in fact.
No - after 4 hours - all the fun has peaked and anything left should be saved for the next visit.
So - there ya go. Hmmmm? Oh - the fam? No - they are totally on board with it. They agree. And, they are all in too. We don't get on each other's nerves. All the fun stuff is done up front. We all don't have to come up with odd excuses to get outa there. No, no - it's all good. You should try it.
The truth is you probably already do - but everyone is all "under the table about it". No - I think it's much better to be OUT IN THE OPEN and UP FRONT about it. As a family - just put it out there. Trust Scrubbie. There'll be a sigh and sense of relief around the table immediately.
We had a wonderful dinner tonight. And, the kid took the initative to propose the toast. God love'im.
Now that post dinner coma is setting in. Scrubbie's pullin off his socks. The wife and I have our tea. The most loved member of the family - the TV - is warming up and soon we'll be basking in it's soft glow and transported to fantasy land. Wahoo! (Amazing Race on tonight. BIG GRIN)
The layout - ya - nice eh? The one pic on it is the one that I did for the "Imagination" page I posted up earlier. Just wanted to take it a wee bit further with a couple other pics from the day.So kids - that's a wrap for Thanksgiving with the Scrubbie family. Next weekend - it's the Out-Laws' turn. Arrival time 3:30. Chat. Drinks. Dinner promptly at 5. Eat till 5:48 (including dessert). Coffee at 5:51. Post dinner festivities 6-7pm. Visit wrap up 7-7:30.
Mama Lou hates me for the schedule and loves to cross her arms and say "I ain't leavin'!" Hehehe - I'll get a pic of it. It's soooo cute.
3 comments:
I absolutely LOVE the Lighthouse layout! Awesomely done!
I better get outta here now, otherwise I might feel as though I have exceeded my welcome!!! LOL!
I love the 3-4 hour limitation and I fully intend on letting my family in on this "new rule" at the next gathering!
You're a freakin' crack up! You make me laugh!
Take care,
Candi
www.soinkincute.blogspot.com
LOL! Hey Scrubbie, I think you are on to something BIG here!!! Everything you've described in the 4-hour window is ... well, it is all TOO true! I followed along with every bit of what you said and it makes PERFECT sense.
The only difference I shall find in that 4-hour window is when my daughters come to visit from out-of-state as we don't talk often and are lucky to see each other once or twice a year!!! I remember summer before last, I had not hugged the neck of my oldest in FOUR years! Yes, FOUR YEARS! It was difficult to believe it had been SO long but when she arrived for a 3-day visit, she and I laid awake in my room until nearly 5 am talking and catching up!!! YES, that is pretty much a "woman" thing I do realize but for the most part, the 4-hour window is about TOPS for any conversation, eh? ROFL!
Oh, I did spend a few minutes shy of THREE hours SKYPING with the LOVELY Ms. Vicki Parker in the UK earlier in the day! Of course, only being our second visit via voice, we are still getting to know each other and I would imagine that the length of our chats will dwindle as we cover MOST all of the bases!!! I must admit however, I am a windy thing most of the time. I would imagine that is because I spent the majority of my life not doing much talking and am making up for it in my older years!!! He, he ...
Glad you had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving and in reply to one of your earlier posts, we ALL have SO much to be thankful for don't we? I often think about children raised elsewhere in the world who are not as fortunate to have the taste of freedoms that we do, nor the value of life.
See, I've rambled on so ... I'm sure you tuned me out after the third sentence now didn't you??? I shall explain that another post!
Have a GOOD week ahead ...
Hi Scrubbie - you really made me laugh out loud for real today! I absolutely agree with you on family visits! 4 hours is more than enough and thankfully, my parents agree too! Friends are different tho! Speaking to Linda for 3 hours was a pleasure!
Thanks for giving me a laugh. Later!
Post a Comment