Last week was nuts. Not this last week. The week before that. And really it all started the week before that. I would have written about it sooner, but it took an extra week to recover.

So here I am finally getting to it, and as you might have guessed, the crazy week involved my grands Lyla and Wren along with their pups, Smidge and Diggity, plus a cast of characters ranging from daughter Erin and Kate to my client/friends Martha and Chris, to my LH 50th Reunion Committee, and finishing up with the Tapestry girls.

Told you it was nuts.

So let’s start at the beginning, shall we? That would be with the first week of October when I got the hand-off of Erin and her wife Kate from their friend, Melissa, with whom they had been staying for a few days. We then had 24 hours to prepare for a big family dinner that had been in the works for months. When my Oregon crew comes into town, we take full advantage of the opportunity for everyone to visit. So I had brother Ted smoke a couple of pork somethings and we killed the rest of the fatted calf. A wonderful time was had by all 11 of us.

On Wednesday morning, I took Erin and Kate to the airport with promises to see them soon when they come back for early Thanksgiving, this time with 9-yr-old grandson Oliver!

Then began preparations for my next event, a dinner for 9 on Thursday. These guests would be my Lake Highlands High School 50th Reunion Committee. Since we enjoy each other’s company and have rekindled old friendships while planning the gala event held 2 years ago, we decided to have regular potluck dinners, with each host choosing a theme. I was first and my theme was Tailgating, with the requisite decorations, football jerseys, and food (another of Ted’s pork whatever–cooked to perfection. He can be bought by the way, if you need amazing meat for any occasion.) More food than we could eat and great conversation, along with a couple of strolls down memory lane, made this a fun night. Can’t wait to see these folks again in December!

Amidst my entertaining, I was also working with Martha, my long-time client who has become a dear friend. We were finishing a slideshow and Shutterfly book just in time for a visit from her life-long friends who would be arriving in two weeks.

She came the following Monday, which was also the day that I was to begin taking care of Lyla and Wren while their parents took a long-needed trip to Seattle and Vegas. And the puppies (they are a year old, but still so small that we call them puppies) would be staying also. The hand-off would happen that afternoon, following Dancing with the Dettes, a time-honored tradition at the high school where the Highlandettes demonstrate to the neighborhood girls the ways of our drillteam, and then have them present a routine to family and friends (and grands.) I made my way to the gym, climbed into the bleachers, and enjoyed watching my girls high-kick like they were made out of rubber bands, which they are.

Then we picked up the puppies at Tamala and Richard’s. And all the paraphernalia, which was a lot. I barely got it all into my car. But the girls have laps, so okay.

On the way home we had to drive by their school. I had been unfortunate enough, on our last sleepover, to drop the girls off at school by turning in the wrong direction into the circle drive. The yelling, pointing and scowling that ensued reminded me of the movie Mr. Mom, when the other mothers scream at Michael Keaton, “North to pick up, south to drop off, Moron!” My grands were suitably mortified.

That was not going to happen again. So we practiced, TWICE, circling the block and driving into the circle drive from the correct lane in the correct direction. “Mr. Cho will be standing there, with his arms like this, and he will motion for you to come like this, and you will turn there. . .”

We made it home; the girls set up the puppy area downstairs; they set up the girl area upstairs. We made dinner as set out on the three pages of instructions Molly had left, along with the mountain of food on the counter, in the fridge and in the freezer.

After dinner Wren went to the dress-up drawer and put a red tutu on her head. She looked at me, “I’m your red car.” Lyla stuck her arms out, “I’m Mr. Cho.” I dutifully drove Wren around the island in the kitchen, following Lyla’s arm motions until they were sure I had it right.

We did homework, took showers, Lyla started to feel stuffy, we took medicine, and we fell into bed.

And the afternoon and the evening were the first day.

The chaos was just getting started. Stay tuned for Part II