The solar system, a great dog, and a hectic evening

It was hectic at my house tonight, but the afternoon started out calmly. Jacob brought his latest project--the solar system--home. I had seen it before but he painstakingly explained it to me, describing each of the planets and some of their remarkable statistics. Truthfully, I was pretty impressed--it's a good presentation. He got 100 on the project, and 100 on his presentation. Kudos to his dad who helped and who, thank goodness, is good at this kind of thing. Homework was a different matter--his class had moved on to the geography of South America, and it was hard for him. They provide a small map, but we ended up using Google; still we were both frustrated. His mom arrived and in minutes they finished what Jacob and I had labored over for a half hour. She tells me I'm too intense and should not sit by his elbow while he does homework--but shoot! Truth is he sits by my elbow, and yes, I probably do give too much help. I'm reforming. I admit I got in a snit about homework, cooking, and conviviality, but I recovered my good disposition. Think I'm tired.
Then the evening got hectic--Jay, Subie, and Phil arrived, ready to try the new TV and move furniture. Big problem: TV didn't arrive, and we learned it's backordered until early March. But they all moved furniture, measured, and we got a new sectional ordered for the "sunroom"--that's what I'm going to insist people call it. During all this I was making a double batch of my version of sloppy Joe, and occasionally stopping to sit and sip wine when my opinion was called for. The couch has been ordered--tan, but we will put lots of bright pillows and throws on it.
Subie, who hates sloppy Joe and will not eat it, liked mine. In fact, I think she had two helpings--just not on a bun. She and Jordan ate theirs in a bowl. I loved mine and look forward to the leftovers. Everybody else seemed quite content--Jacob followed his sloppy Joe with a peanut butter/jelly chaser.
Phil comes accompanied by Santiago, his seeing eye dog, who is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever known. He is nine years old and more than ready to retire, but Jacob loves him. Sophie loves him too, though she gets a bit jealous at times, and Santiago does try to eat her food. He's also a bad counter surfer, and we watch that nothing is where he can get it. A big lab, he's easily able to reach up and steal food.
Everyone was gone by seven-thirty (having arrived at four-thirty), and I did the dishes (not much to do since others had gotten a huge start on it) and settled down for a quiet evening. Whoosh!