The hummm of the dishwasher

As I sit here at the computer in my mother-in-law's home, I am amazed at how much I love the sound of the dishwasher. Let me briefly explain...You see, this tiny little house has been inundated with 10 adults, one two year old and one six month old for a few days now and we have had our fill of food, fun and fudge! Our Christmas Eve was our big dinner with everyone and we had it all. I am so grateful to Bill the 'mastah mixah' for orchestrating the dinner and then many thanks go to his 'little elves' who slaved away in the kitchen all day. The meal was a success and a delicious feast for me, Tim and my two offspring who, by the way, traveled from Phoenix to Jax and were so tired and ready for non-airplane food. Christmas Eve in the Hatcher-McIlrath family is not complete without a birthday celebration for Tim's mom, Buff. Yes, she was born on Christmas Eve 29 years ago :-) and we always celebrate with a spice cake and trimmings. But that's not all! The next day is Christmas Day and we had ourselves a big time! Eric and Amy scored the highest for the most presents and we certainly enjoyed watching them play with their new things. Well, truthfully, Eric played with his new toys - Amy preferred to play with, or rather eat the tissue paper that everything was wrapped in. As far as meals go, my very smart mom-in-law and sis-in-law made a few casseroles days before and froze them. They were quite tasty and even Eric cleaned his plate! It is now 2 days after Christmas and four adults have gone back home with one more leaving tomorrow. The tissue paper is safely out of reach of my six month old, Eric's new toys have been thoroughly broken into and all the Christmas china has been put back in the cabinets until next year. It is now nearly 11PM and all is calm and and all is mostly quiet. All but the dishwasher.