Panic Inducing Massive Party Clean

Those of you who are organized and keep a pristine house  the majority of the time, look away and stop reading.You'll get nothing out of this post but possibly a self congratulatory pat on the back for your domestic skills, and an opportunity to shake your head at me. DD#2 turns 15 next week. She has a pretty humble request for a celebration-host a few of her closest friends for a movie marathon, smoothie  and pizza making, binge fest. Sounds simple enough, but I have been in the throws of a six month declutter and purge and honestly can say the house looks more a train wreck that it did before. While opening a closet door was a daring feat, and I had used my older two kids rooms for additional storage, most of the clutter was hidden from sight safely behind a door of some kind. 

Now, as DD#1 has moved home and is finally doing some purging of her own and we have transitioned my son's bedroom for the youngest, we are at the stage like in Clean Sweep where all the items of the cluttered spaces is moved out to the front lawn. In our case, the upstairs hallway and entire family room downstairs, and Kitchen table have become the front lawn. Winter in Minnesota is not the best time to have this sort of clutter display.There is no opportunity for a garage sale, loading and moving items like small appliances is a challenge in the ice and snow. The truly sad addition to this is the lack of deep housecleaning that has been done during this declutter as well. While a few loving spaces are kept sane-the entry, the dining room, the living room, as well as the kitchen, apart from the table, I could spend two days dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbing floors and walls alone to get the house where it should be. 

While this is the worst it has been in that area, it certainly isn't the first that I have had a major panic clean within the weeks or days leading up to a houseful of people. It has though been three years since I last had the entire family over for a child's birthday as we stop at 12, so longer between panic cleanings. I have DD#2's confirmation next fall, and that had been my ultimate target date to turn my cluttered home into that idyllic, at least for me, place of relaxation and organization.This will be a big lift, and I will have jobs for each member of my family. Keep me in your thoughts.  Pray there is enough ibuprofen and Icy Hot for when my muscles give way.