when ye go away

Plans changed and last night I found out my inlaws/outlaws/no-longer-sure-what to-call-them are coming today. The only rule I managed to follow in my hospital party discharge pack was not to operate household machinery. Well, the hoover - I still used everything else. I figured that with the kids going away for 11 days I'll have plenty of time to get the house straight then. Only suddenly I want the house to appear shipshape and I look about to see it needs Herculean effort to make it look as if I've not cleaned for a week as it looks more like I've not cleaned for a year. Even the dead flies seems to be reproducing somehow. So I get to spend my last bit of time with the kids frantically tidying :(
Still, we have made inroads and it now means when they're not with me I could spend that time doing funner stuff...