Before and After

I always clean the house before we have company (or family) visit. Even though I know that it won't be long after they've arrived - especially if they're staying for a while - that it will be pretty much impossible to tell that I even tried cleaning the place up. But I just can't help myself. I have to clean first, and I know I'll have to do it all over again once they've left.

That's exactly what happened over Thanksgiving weekend. I had the house all cleaned up. It was actually looking pretty good. And then an extra dozen people dropped in for the weekend. Not that I'm complaining because they were all family, and it was awesome having them here.  -- They should come more often. --
But, wow - things just kind of exploded, and all the evidence of my cleaning disappeared. (Amazingly enough, it's exactly the same when it's just my kids here; it does not seem to be proportionate to the number of people in the house. Or else it's my kids and other people are perfectly neat. Hmmm... I'll have to think about that one.)

Anyway, if only I could restrain myself and just save the cleaning for after they leave...  Well, for everything except the bathrooms. Bathrooms must always be cleaned.

Anyone else?