rivka

Work until 4:00. Client, client, lunch, client, group, notes. This pattern is perturbed somewhat by the fact that it's 11:30 and my 10:00 client, although she called and assured me she was coming and was "just a little late," has not yet shown up.
Edited to add: She just showed up at 11:50. I told her she could wait and see if my 12:00 client shows up or not.

Grocery shop. Ten people are coming to brunch tomorrow and there's no food in the house to speak of. (Well, there is, I suppose - but we can't really feed them all canned soup and packaged beans and rice. Not even if the menu is supplemented by the homemade pie in the freezer.)

Clean the entire apartment.

curiousangel will, of course, be enormously helpful here. The front rooms are the most vital, but many of our guests won't have seen our apartment before. They'll probably want to peek at the bedrooms, which means that the bedrooms shouldn't be utterly squalorous. In a pinch, some cleaning could happen tomorrow morning. I suppose.

Retrieve the pear-cranberry pie from the freezer and bake it. I've never frozen a pie before, so I'm counting on the thaw-and-bake instructions in the Joy of Cooking to work.

Make brunch entrees and stow them in the refrigerator. We're having baked egg casseroles, one with ham and cheese and one with mushrooms and cheese. If I can find my little oven-safe cups, I'll also make two mini-portion egg casseroles (one ham, one mushroom) that are gluten-free. Otherwise, I'll be making an omelet to order tomorrow. Oh: I should also find out whether there is hidden gluten in Worcestershire sauce.
Edited to add: No, there isn't. That makes things slightly simpler.

Consider making a cinnamon-applesauce coffeecake. This one will probably have to wait until morning. Not a big deal - it's a fast recipe.

Get dressed for New Year's Eve. Admire

curiousangel in his tuxedo. Drive down to the 18th century Adelphi Mill to do 18th century dances. Break for dessert at 10:30 and champagne at midnight.

Sleep.

Finish cleaning the apartment. Cut corners if necessary - which it probably will be, if we're still cleaning in the morning.

Make a cinnamon-applesauce coffeecake.

Either go get

minnaleigh and bagels - possibly not in that order - or finish brunch setup: lox platter, fruit platter, plates, silverware, glasses. Juices and champagne (for mimosas) can stay in the fridge until people start showing up.
Edited to add: Which one goes on my to-do list depends on which one

curiousangel would rather do - it's not that we'll be choosing between the lox platter and

minnaleigh's attendance.

Make a simple sugar glaze for the coffecake, which should be cool enough to glaze at this point.

Bake the egg casseroles. Time them to be done about half an hour after I expect people to arrive. No, not after the time brunch is supposed to start - after I expect people to arrive.

Field phone calls from lost guests. "Yes, I'm sorry, all the buildings in our complex do look alike."

Entertain like crazy.

Wash dishes.