It all started very innocently (as these things often do). I was in the dining room, having dinner with our then-current houseguest (who would be leaving after Burning Man), when Dad walked in.
"Hey, I found a replacement," he announced.
"A ... replacement?" I asked.
"Yeah, you remember Frances?"
"Sure." Frances is a former student of Dad's who lived with him and Mom for awhile when she was attending the university here.
"Well, her husband got a grant to do some research with the math department up here, and the family is coming up and needs a place to stay for a month or so," he explained.
Ah. Yes. A replacement for our houseguest. The light dawned.
"Oh, okay," I said. "Doesn't she have a kid now?"
"She has three, I think," Dad replied.
Hm. Three kids. Well, hell, it's a big house, and Frances is awesome, so I'm sure it'll be fine, I thought.
"Cool," I said, "Bring 'em on. It'll be good to see Frances again."
"Great," Dad said, grinning. "I'll let them know!"
I briefly wondered if our houseguest was flattered that Dad thought it would take five people to replace him, then thought no more about it.
Fast forward to after Burning Man. Sadly, the day after I got back, I got some sort of stomach bug. I almost ran over several people while dropping off our then-houseguest at the airport, and then worked half days until Thursday. Suddenly, I realized that the replacements would be arriving Sunday and that no one had thoroughly cleaned the guestroom since my brother lived with us several years ago.
Thus it was that, still weak with whatever evil stomach bug was rampaging through my digestive system, I had to clean the room to get it ready for our new arrivals. There was no way I could tackle something like this alone. No way in hell. Especially after seeing the state of the (shudder) closet!
So what could I do? What else? I called
sushirob and banshree. They agreed to come over and the flurry of preparation began. ...
To be continued Here.
