94% of the way there

I'd say we only have about 6% of our possessions (indoors) still in boxes. Don't ask about the garage - we'll save that for Spring weather...

So, that's good news! It's shaping up around here. Once I feel it's respectable, I'll post some pictures for my MN peeps and other out-of-staters.

My favorite things about this house:

#1) Little bar area off of kitchen island: an eat-in set-up like I've never experienced: food slopped straight from stovetop to kids' plates. No walking. No dishes to transport. Skillet to plate. Love it.

#2) Washer and dryer on 2nd floor... I do laundry for fun now (outright stretch).

#3) A "true" dining room with enough space for all my beautiful dining pieces, gifted by Mom and Dad. (Have I ever told you the story of how, when my mom's death was imminent, she told Dad, 'I am perfectly fine with you remarrying but don't you DARE let any new woman have my dining room furniture.' I truly think it ranked as one of her proudest possession! And Dad and Nancye faithfully Uhauled it up to MN the first year they were married - promise kept!)

#4) Using our leather couches, formerly serving as the "formal furniture," as our main furniture. It's so comfortable, easy-to-clean, and I don't miss my cushy overstuffed couches one bit! Plus, I don't miss my formal living room one bit! This is where the action is all the time, anyway!

#5) Where it's located... this neighborhood is great. There's a bike path up the street, as well as an elementary school with a playground down the other way. The Caribou is walking distance. The library is RIDICULOUS. And the local Giant Eagle grocery store serves crepes topped with nutella on the spot. COME ON!!! I'm pitching the plan to go to Giant Eagle for my first date night with Scott :)

The boys have adjusted marvelously. And so have Scott and I, if I do say so myself.

If only I could find one last thing in the remaining boxes... been looking for it feverishly since we arrived. I'm beginning to panic that it may remain lost for the remaining 5.5 months until Aug 3:

MY ENERGY.

Has anyone seen it? I really need it.

For this reason, I'm so slow in returning messages, popping cards in the mail, emailing, or anything else. I'm perfectly content being a bum all day long, in my PJs if I could. I'll just ride this wave and hope my home, my children, and my friends/family forgive me!

Almost forgot: Guess what I got for V-day???? Scott sneakily jetted off to the car while I was wrapping up baths with boys. We had planned for a candle-lit meal in peace once they went to bed. I didn't even notice that he had planted a big box in the living room. He unveiled it in the dining room once dinner was over. A VACUUM!!! Like, a really, really nice vacuum!

To some, this may seem lame or unacceptable.

But to me, one who has spent the last several years developing anxiety every time I had to turn on my sometimes-it-works-sometimes-it-doesn't PMS-y cheap-o sweeper, it was as if Scott had just handed me a ticket to domestic bliss. I LOVE it. LOVE IT! (He did get reprimanded by a female bystandard in the store while he was vacuum-browsing, scolding, "Don't you DARE get your lady a vacuum for Valentine's Day!" Thankfully, this had no impact upon him. :)