Looking back :: The Entertaining House's Humble Beginnings
I'm feeling nostalgic... A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks and so I find myself looking back - at memories, photographs and things. I was looking for a specific photograph that I thought was buried someplace in this blog. It was a photograph of the home we just sold. I never came across the picture, but I did come across my very first blog entry on June 20th, 7 years ago. I read it and smiled. The Entertaining House has come a long way and has morphed into something very different. But I like my attitude and my snarkiness and reliving some of those good ol' days has been a good thing. Boy my kids were little... and pretty cute back then too! ;)
The blog, back then, was called Our Crazy Crowded Home... because it was crazy and it was crowded and we were in the midst of selling it and about to move into the "new" home - The "new" home was the house we sold last week. After the move, and because our home was so much larger, I thought I needed a new name... it was my friend Lorraine who came up with The Entertaining House. And, well, as they say, the rest is history.
The following post was my very first.
I have nothing to do... nothing whatsoever to do, so I thought I would kill a little time and start my own blog. Why not, everyone's doing it, right? I have no laudry to sort, wash, fold and put away? I have no kids who need and deserve my attention? I have no house I am desperately trying to put on the market? Nope not me -- I have nothing to do!
My cute little button nose (ok crooked and not so little) will magically twinkle and everything in this crazy crowded house will miraculously fall into place!
Instead of actually getting things done I will sit and wish they were done. I will watch my 21 month old son sleep soundly on the couch next to me. This is the (THE) only place he will nap so therefore the world around us must stop so he can get his much needed nap and I can get my much needed break. My two other children have been banished. My 8 year old daughter is in the (gasp) living room watching (gasp) TV... Well, it's not all that bad... she's listening to Radio Disney on TV and dancing. So yes, technically the TV is baby sitting, but she is up and dancing and not sitting and being a couch potato. So all's not completely lost. Now my other son, 6, is upstairs and he probably is being a couch potato and he is probably (gasp) lying on my bed watching some stupid cartoon and most likely he has not taken off his pajamas as I have asked him to do... many times!
It's Wednesday and my older two are on summer vacation. (Why they are calling this a vacation is beyond me. Maybe because it makes me, more than ever, want to vacate the premises!) It's raining and I am delighted. I had promised them we'd go to the beach today, but I am just too lazy and now I do not have to disappoint them nor do I have to go to all the effort that going to the beach with three kids entails. I got off the hook today... wahoo! Instead I shall pay the price with constant bickering and bantering over toys and who gets what and where and when.... Ugh, don't get me started on those danmed things called toys...
My lovely husband and I bought this house before we had any children. It was a charming New England Colonial with a little fence and 4 BR so we could plan for kids and entertain guests for overnight, or longer. Nine years later the antiques have found a new home in the attic and these brightly colored plastic items of all shapes and sizes have invaded our turf! We have been taken over by toys. Our family room used to be a haven of sorts -- big comfy couches, a large wide screen television set, a nice stereo system ... what else could you ask for? The couches are no longer comfy or cozy or overstuffed. To our chagrin they have become bouncy castles, playgrounds and trampolines. Ah yes, the children are so imaginative and their creativity will get them far in life... my ass... my children are disruptive noisy beasts, albeit cute disruptive, noisy beasts. My hi def TV is not for viewing movies, it's been taken over by Sponges and Dinosaurs and red muppets and egads, Bob Saget. Yes, that's right... my older two have recently discovered the tall skinny geek I had hoped to leave behind with my paisley prints, shoulder pads and stirrup pants. How many episodes of Full House will I have to endure? None without a nice alcoholic beverage in hand!
So here we are all cooped up in my crazy crowded lounge. I have a 2200 sq ft house and they all want to be in here, on top of me 24/7... add Bob Saget to that and now I am really desperate to move!
My dreamhouse would have a secret, hidden room with four padded walls.... I will, if I must, settle for a finished basement where Mr. Saget and the kids can play, scream, shout, jump, run, kick and bite and never ever pick up their toys!
The blog, back then, was called Our Crazy Crowded Home... because it was crazy and it was crowded and we were in the midst of selling it and about to move into the "new" home - The "new" home was the house we sold last week. After the move, and because our home was so much larger, I thought I needed a new name... it was my friend Lorraine who came up with The Entertaining House. And, well, as they say, the rest is history.
The following post was my very first.
"Nothing to Do."
Meet the youngest members of our crazy crowded homeI have nothing to do... nothing whatsoever to do, so I thought I would kill a little time and start my own blog. Why not, everyone's doing it, right? I have no laudry to sort, wash, fold and put away? I have no kids who need and deserve my attention? I have no house I am desperately trying to put on the market? Nope not me -- I have nothing to do!
My cute little button nose (ok crooked and not so little) will magically twinkle and everything in this crazy crowded house will miraculously fall into place!
Instead of actually getting things done I will sit and wish they were done. I will watch my 21 month old son sleep soundly on the couch next to me. This is the (THE) only place he will nap so therefore the world around us must stop so he can get his much needed nap and I can get my much needed break. My two other children have been banished. My 8 year old daughter is in the (gasp) living room watching (gasp) TV... Well, it's not all that bad... she's listening to Radio Disney on TV and dancing. So yes, technically the TV is baby sitting, but she is up and dancing and not sitting and being a couch potato. So all's not completely lost. Now my other son, 6, is upstairs and he probably is being a couch potato and he is probably (gasp) lying on my bed watching some stupid cartoon and most likely he has not taken off his pajamas as I have asked him to do... many times!
It's Wednesday and my older two are on summer vacation. (Why they are calling this a vacation is beyond me. Maybe because it makes me, more than ever, want to vacate the premises!) It's raining and I am delighted. I had promised them we'd go to the beach today, but I am just too lazy and now I do not have to disappoint them nor do I have to go to all the effort that going to the beach with three kids entails. I got off the hook today... wahoo! Instead I shall pay the price with constant bickering and bantering over toys and who gets what and where and when.... Ugh, don't get me started on those danmed things called toys...
My lovely husband and I bought this house before we had any children. It was a charming New England Colonial with a little fence and 4 BR so we could plan for kids and entertain guests for overnight, or longer. Nine years later the antiques have found a new home in the attic and these brightly colored plastic items of all shapes and sizes have invaded our turf! We have been taken over by toys. Our family room used to be a haven of sorts -- big comfy couches, a large wide screen television set, a nice stereo system ... what else could you ask for? The couches are no longer comfy or cozy or overstuffed. To our chagrin they have become bouncy castles, playgrounds and trampolines. Ah yes, the children are so imaginative and their creativity will get them far in life... my ass... my children are disruptive noisy beasts, albeit cute disruptive, noisy beasts. My hi def TV is not for viewing movies, it's been taken over by Sponges and Dinosaurs and red muppets and egads, Bob Saget. Yes, that's right... my older two have recently discovered the tall skinny geek I had hoped to leave behind with my paisley prints, shoulder pads and stirrup pants. How many episodes of Full House will I have to endure? None without a nice alcoholic beverage in hand!
So here we are all cooped up in my crazy crowded lounge. I have a 2200 sq ft house and they all want to be in here, on top of me 24/7... add Bob Saget to that and now I am really desperate to move!
My dreamhouse would have a secret, hidden room with four padded walls.... I will, if I must, settle for a finished basement where Mr. Saget and the kids can play, scream, shout, jump, run, kick and bite and never ever pick up their toys!