Last Minute Shabbos Guests

The night after Chanukah, my former roommate from seminary got married. My hubby, baby and I went to the wedding. It was a lot of fun. We saw people we hadn't seen in years from our circle of friends and acquaintences. One person we saw was A. A. told us that she had been looking into our yishuv. She and I were talking about it. Last week, she called me up to tell me that her owner wants to sell her apartment that she and her hubby are renting in Neve Yaacov. That means that she'll have to be out of there by Feb. 10th. She's desperately looking for somewhere to move. We spoke at lenth about our community. On Friday morning she calls me with some questions about the forms. She also mentioned that she'd like to come for Shabbos. I casually said, "Oh, well next Shabbos we're supposed to go away to friend but maybe this Shabbos would be good." She realized that I didn't really mean it. A little while later she calls me back to ask me if it would be at all possible. They are desperate after all. I call my husband to see what he would say. Now we were planning on having a nice quiet Shabbos. We haven't had one of those in a while. He said it was okay. I called A. back and we discussed how to split up the menu. I'm so bad at dividing up work that I ended up doing most of the work.

I had already finished my cooking actually. I had put up the chicken and the soup and was planning on making couscous. We decided that we'd have chullent (that I'd make), pasta salad (that she'd make) and baked potatoes. So I quickly tried to get as much done as soon as possible. We suddenly went from a relaxed Shabbos to a guest Shabbos. I was more relaxed because I know that they're laid back people and wouldn't really judge me by what they saw that I did on a moments notice. I cleaned the guest room and the living room. Things were rushed. Luckily, somehow we were able to get ready for Shabbos early enough for my husband to show them around. They really appreciated that. Shabbos was very nice. They took quite a number of walks around the yishuv. They didn't mind the hills. They seemed like they liked it. Now they're trying to send in the forms and find a place to live. Her hubby is learning and she's working so they don't have too much money. It looks like they're hoping to find a caravan. I hope for their sake that they are successful. It would be nice to have a good friend in the neighborhood.

I have never in my life done anything so impulsive. I couldn't believe myself. I just said yes and somehow made everything work. Usually, I start planning for Shabbos on Tuesday and cook on Wed. and Thurs. I was amazed at my ability to cook for us plus two on such short notice. They were so thankful and they had a good time. The kids went to sleep late so they were kind of nutty by the end of Shabbos. Other than that I think that everyone enjoyed it.