January Coffee Date!

Well, the holiday mugs are put away and I’m back to my favorite Harry Potter mug.  Usually the first week in January feels very blah to me, but this time it’s packed with activity.  Thanks to Coco and Deborah for hosting our monthly coffee date.  If we were having coffee together, the first thing I would tell you is… This episode of the Florida Trail Runners podcast was incredible.  The guest was Aaron Hale, a runner who is totally blind.  AND, he’s deaf.  He’s an army veteran who lost his sight from an explosion in Afghanistan, and then four years later he had meningitis which left him completely deaf.  He has a cochlear implant, which allows him to “hear” a Siri-like voice, translating the words around him and sending a signal directly to his auditory nerve.  As he put it, it’s not like the real thing, but is much, much better than the alternative, which would be having people spell words into his hand, a la Helen Keller. Oh, and why was he on the trail running podcast?   WELL, he just completed a 100 mile race, from Jacksonville Beach to Daytona Beach.  He runs tethered to a guide (the guide was also interviewed on the previous podcast episode.)  And as if being blind and deaf weren’t enough, when he lost his hearing he lost his vestibular balance, and had to learn how to walk by holding onto the rails of his treadmill.  So… the next time I’m tempted to think something is “too hard” for me, I’ll remind myself of the blind and deaf runner with no vestibular balance who just completed a 100 mile race. As a matter of fact, I’ve been reminding myself of that this week while getting ready for my daughter’s birthday party.  I’m suffering from “party hosting anxiety.”  I wish my house was spacious, nicely decorated, and impeccably clean, and that I were ready to host a get-together at any moment.  Hahahahaha.  Instead, I’ve been thrown into a panic- “Pressure clean the patio!  Pull all the weeds!  Deep clean the bathrooms!  Throw all that clutter into the bedroom!” Then, assuming that I can get the house ready, I always worry that no one will show up, or that they will show up but have a terrible time.  In this particular case I have the added worry that the party will be in our backyard, and there are two things out there that are potentially fatal: a pool and a trampoline. No one will be swimming, because the pool is too cold in the winter.  But that doesn’t mean someone can’t fall in (or be pushed.) And the kids WILL be on the trampoline.  I know- these people aren’t toddlers.  But they are in middle school, and middle schoolers do some stupid things.  I keep envisioning having to rush someone to the emergency room. I can’t decide if I should just avoid hosting parties as much as possible, or do it more often so I can get better at it.  At any rate, there will be 10-15 middle schoolers in my backyard tomorrow… but I’m not blind, I’m not deaf, and I don’t have to run 100 miles.  I just have to get through this party… I can do it! Do you like hosting parties?  Is your house usually ready for company?  Any tips for me?