Guests

The first entry in our Guests book reads like this:
8-8-99 - 8-12-99 Kay, JR,Tyler & Jacee 

I don't remember what we did with my sister and her family over those few days but my guess would be cooking out, swimming, and fishing in the backyard pond. It would have helped to have those notes but initially I was just thrilled to remember to remind guests to sign their names. Subsequent entries provided more details - why they were visiting, where we ate, what we did, and invitations to various homes to return the hospitality.

There is even an entry from ourselves:
8-26-00 - 8-27-00 We were grateful for our semi cool basement guest room while our air conditioner was on the fritz. It was 93 degrees upstairs. Of course our newly acquired hometown was 109 degrees today earning the "Hot Spot in the Nation" title - hotter than Death Valley. The front page of the hometown newspaper (in back of book) shows our air conditioner repairman fixing our unit! :-)  Signed, Ourselves

Having a place to host guests as I started setting up my own homes has been important to me. Growing up in a small house with six occupants, one bathroom, and all spare space occupied didn't leave any room for guests. Until I left home at eighteen I can only remember having one high school friend that stayed overnight in our house. Typically sleepovers would be during the summer in a backyard tent made of blankets thrown over the wire clothes line. (Now that I think of it that was a pretty nifty guest room in a Lawrence of Arabia kind of way.)  

Until this last move the guest rooms have typically been a spare room with a private bathroom close by and, if I remembered, fresh flowers from the garden on the bed table and a mint on the pillow. The NYC guest room/TV room/dining room consists of a sectional couch that acts as two twin beds and floor space that accommodates an inflatable queen mattress PLUS a twin mattress if placement is just right. Oh, and one shared bathroom. 

But I still enjoy the parade of overnight guests. This past month it was a favorite cousin and a newly engaged couple who came to town for a romantic dinner at Rockefeller Center. The Guests book helps me remember all of these events over the last few years but more importantly, the friends and family times.

7-8-06 - 7-9-06 Came up to ride The Lizard. The weather couldn't have been any better for cycling.....