I thank you all for your comments. You've all had some good suggestions and comments. If I do decide to do this again, I think I'll suggest rotating houses and meals. I think working on our own projects would work out better too. that way if one person didn't carry their own weight, it wouldn't matter. The whole idea was to have time with friends soing something we all enjoy, sharing ideas and patterns, books and new ways of doing things and having fun together.