hostess with the mostest

i'm now on the second batch of family visitors. my dad and 3/4 of the tireless tetrad of fun are on their way back to long island after a brief stop in niagara falls. they left on wednesday, which gave me approximately 14 hours to clean, launder the linens, and do a massive food-shop to prepare for the arrival of my mom, stepfather, grandmother, and the two doggies. my house is bursting at the seams.

man, i'm tired.

today is good friday, so i'm marinating some salmon and defrosting some shrimp for a fabulosa, religiously-correct supper. my nana is exempt from the no meat rule because she's 81, weighs 80 pounds, and is diabetic, so she's getting a chicken breast and pasta alfredo. i made her pancakes, waffles, and bacon for breakfast this morning (i slipped and had a piece of bacon, so i am now damned to hell, for a short while, anyway). easter is the one holiday i'm NOT hosting this year, so i'll get a little bit of a repreave. now we just have to plow through a few more days of picking up after people, vacuuming the massive quantities of dog hair, entertaining, and moderating the heated political discussions between canuck, the "bleeding heart liberal-canadian communist" and my parents, who are stauch republican bush-supporters.

all-in-all, it's been pretty fun!