Are there any occasions that would come up over that time period that you would need b-day presents, cards, gift wrap etc.. maybe a few standbys.. When I had surgery back in September I started some major cleaning/purging... Why I felt compelled to do this.. I don't know, probably nerves and it kept my mind occupied but it made me feel better to know that it was done. Pick up extra stamps/envelopes. Post notes over washer/dryer of how you like things.. for instance, my girls don't like certain things put in the dryer so it's posted for everyone. Do the same for other parts of the house. Also make list of recycle days, garbage days, etc on your list. Get a big desk calendar and write every dr appt, playdate, activity etc and leave out for everyone to see. Tell kids to always reference that before making plans. Possibly put laundry basket in each room so when someone is doing laundry they don't have to guess who's it is.. We have 3 teenage girls and they each do their own laundry. I don't have to figure out what socks/underwear belong to who. Maybe sign up for Blockbuster or Netflix during this time, will give everyone (mostly you) something to do that won't require inconveniencing anyone, kids can order online w/ you.. make the list before surgery. Have a couple hundred dollars cash somewhere, kids always need $$ plus you will have for people when they run errands. Pick up some extra nighties/bathrobe/sweatpants. Assuming you won't be very mobile you will have something new to wear. Get extra bandages, I didn't have what I needed for my incisions so someone had to run out and get some. Stockup on ibuprofren/cold meds/vitamins.. etc.. Do you like puzzle books/crossword puzzle books? But in the end your houseguests WANT to help you.. so even with all your planning and organizing and cleaning they are there to help you.. No doubt they will appreciate all your prep work but they are there to do all of the things that need to be done. Leave cleaning supplies in each bathroom so there is no guessing to what you use or like done. Leave a couple rolls of papertowels under each sink. Your caretakers will appreciate that you have taken the guesswork out of what you like. Does everyone know where the clean sheets are? Towels? Good luck to you!

Squirrel - I didn't think about just scootching it over. You mean still on the same wall? Or over above the light switch on the other side? I would rather have the tall mirror than multiple things. DH and this guy were friends growing up. We've never done anything with them as a couple etc. It's just one of those things where they still like each other but don't get together. We run into them frequently while out shopping on the weekends. They do live close by. Kmcg - I love that pic! Three plates vertically on either side of a mirror on the gallery wall or the thermostat wall?

I don't post often, but I thought I'd share how I manage my "gallery" walls. After spending years in the military, and then marrying another military person, we moved all the time. Each house presented new problems of where and how to hang photos and art while doing as little damage as possible. I cut open paper grocery bags, lay the photo or artwork on it and trace the outline. Then I do a cartoon drawing or label the brown paper template such as "John's Wedding," or "MIL looking left." After all the items are traced I start "hanging" the paper templates on the wall with painter's tape. I can move them around, arrange and re-arrange until I'm happy with the look. I've saved most of the templates from other moves so I no longer have to go through the drawing and cutting. I measure down from the level top of the frame to the spot where the nail needs to be and write that on the paper template. I seldom have to put a nail in twice. I've been trying to work our family photos onto the wall of our incredibly short hallway. I wanted them facing the hallway since the living room side is far to bright for some of the older photos. This was the beginning of the layout. This post was edited by caroline on Sat, Jul 5, 14 at 12:36

Linelle - I don't eat fish (I have, but I prefer not to). I don't like to even wade in waters where they swim for fear of touching them. I have, at times, been so startled by an unexpected photo of a fish when turning the page in a magazine that I have actually thrown the magazine across the room - just an automatic response. I can't pinpoint the exact moment when this fear came on, but I was pretty small. I do remember being in a pet store when I was maybe four or five years old, and running my hand along a table full of sale items. My hand stopped on something that felt odd, and when I looked to see what it was, it was a dried-out, dead fish. Horrifying! I believe I started having fish dreams not too long after that. I'd wake up screaming in the night, certain that a fish was in the bed with me. My poor mom, being awakened at dark-thirty and having to quell the unreasonable fears of a very insistent little girl! When I was a tween, I used to like to go fishing with my grandfather when I visited my grandparents' lake house in the summer. He would bait the hook for me and take any fish I caught off the hook, and I thought it was great fun. I guess I wasn't horribly phobic at that time. One day he and I went fishing out in his boat. I caught 17 fish, and we took them home with us. My grandmother deemed them too small to fix for our dinner, so she decided to make a sort of stew out of them for the dog. She put them in a pressure cooker (I have no idea why), thinking they were all dead. Something happened and once the thing heated up, we heard hideous thrashing inside the pot. After awhile it stopped, but when she lifted the lid, there was a nasty film on top and a few eyeballs floating around. Again - horrifying stuff. The dog ate it up though. Once I told a boy in high school about my phobia, and shortly thereafter I opened my locker to find a huge dead fish inside. The boy thought that was just the funniest practical joke ever, and chased me up and down the halls holding it by the tail. I remember trying desperately to keep my cool and not show how agitated I was, but I fought not to burst into tears - or pass out. (I know this is getting to be way too long ...) A few years ago I decided that I wanted to overcome my phobia once and for all and actually sought counseling for it. I also tried to do a bit of immersion work on my own, and DH and I went to a local aquarium one afternoon. It's long been difficult for me to even get close to a fish, in any manner - even those behind glass. The salt water aquariums didn't bother me terribly; after all, those fish are often beautifully colored or comical looking. The freshwater tanks, however, caused me to panic. I forced myself to remain seated next to one that was built low to the ground with glass walls, with the various lake-living fish swimming right up to me on all sides and behind me. I couldn't do it. I sat there and just bawled and hyperventilated, and DH got me the hell out of there. Around that time we were traveling regularly to Mexico, and scuba diving was very popular where we stayed. In spite of my fish phobia, it sounded like a lot of fun, and I went so far as to take a few scuba lessons here, but did not go on to be certified. I didn't like the feeling of breathing underwater and couldn't get past a feeling of simmering panic. I know I wouldn't have made certification anyway - at least not with the instructor I had - as his group went to a local man-made lake to receive their certification, and the waters were often murky and always filled with curious fish. Pretty sure that seeing something like this would have induced dangerous panic in me! Gosh, I am sorry to have told you more than you ever wanted to know. I've not been asked about this in a long time, and I guess my memories just came flooding back!