Preparing House So how organized is your house right now? So often people become overwhelmed with idea of entertaining; they get stuck as to where to start. Think about how your house will be used. Will this be a sit down meal in your dining room? Will groups separate into different rooms to talk or watch TV? Will your guests be staying overnight? Start early enough and focus first on rooms that will really be used. Don’t worry about ones that you think someone may wander into if they get lost on way to bathroom. Go through each room, one at a time. If there is a room that hasn’t been de-cluttered in awhile, sort through everything by dividing items into toss, donate and keep piles. This is a great time to make your donations and get that tax deduction in before end of year. Throw out items no longer needed and put away items to be kept in their appropriate place.

Think about who is coming to your house. If you have items that are breakable or valuable, consider simplifying items in main gathering room so you and your guests (and their children) don’t have to worry about accidents that could put a damper on evening. These items can be put up or wrapped up and stored in a plastic bin, which can be hidden in a basement or bedroom during party and brought out easily next day.

Depending on whatever else is going on in your life and if budget allows it, treat yourself to a cleaning service before your event. If funds won’t stretch that far, get whole family involved and divide tasks up. Another option is to trade blocks of time with a good friend. Also make sure you have enough supplies on hand (toilet paper, disposable hand towels for powder room, paper towels in kitchen, etc.) and that they are easily accessible if needed during time your guests are in your home.

If you give yourself enough lead-time and work at picking up and cleaning in manageable increments, you won’t get burned out and will only need to do a quick tidy day of your event.

As a whole I think there is a sad tendency in most of us to underestimate just how powerful we are. Just how much greatness lies inside each and every one of us - just waiting to get out. The reality is if you knew just how special you were - and how much greatness went into making you unique you that you are I'm convinced you'd immediately know that nothing can truly keep you from achieving that which you want in your life.

The journey is not always an easy one - very little of lasting or true value is first paved with an easy road. In fact we often find it is those very times we believed to be insurmountable that are often most responsible for our gaining skills it took to reach our eventual success.