Now everything is easy cause of you

Everyone keeps asking us for pictures of the house. Our abode is not yet ready to have her picture taken. I gave myself until Sunday to do as much unpacking and arranging and putting everything in a place, and then I stopped. I didn't want to spend this week, Corey's last four days, working for a paycheck and then working on the house at night and not savoring every available second of this time together.

I do want to share this joy with you, so here are pictures. Once Corey leaves on Friday and the boys go spend time time with their grandparents, I will stage the house for photography to occupy myself, and THEN you'll get the pictures you're waiting for. Until then, give me a frigging break and enjoy what I can give you! If you see something in the background that truly captures your attention, click on the picture to make it bigger. Then don't give me any shit because my house is a mess.

We have some landscaping work to do next Spring. I am super proud of Corey Daniel though, because not only did the mow the yard this week and blow all the leaves out of the driveway, but he pulled all the dead vegetation out of this bed. I didn't even have to scream or pout to get him to do it.

This is what soldiers do when they are home on leave and you give them a break from minor home improvements and repairs and doing homework with their children. They sleep. They also don't pick up their shoes...ever.

This is our living room.

These are the new pillows I bought for my couch. We needed a touch of red. I have a very stylish aunt who says every room should have some red in it. There it is.

I let Corey buy himself a big new fancy television. I will be filled with anxiety if I do not clearly state that that table has more accessorizing in its future, and that there is a system for taming those wires.

My same stylish aunt gave us this glorious oil painting. And those blue Chinamen. This is our mantle. It's my #2 favorite thing to look at in our new house.

This is the wine we keep stocked in the house with two small children, one dog and one neurotic-ass cat. This is on my rolling bar cart my parents gave me when I graduated with my MPA. It's in our dining room. My mom made those toile curtains. Corey gave me that bowl for Christmas two years ago.

That's Corey doing Landen's homework with him. This was immediately following a severe breakdown - Landen is a smart, smart kid who thinks too much about video games and world domination and does not pay attention to what the f*ck he's doing in class. When he brings home C's and D's, he gets in trouble. Then we take things away from him and he cries and cries. I have the most work to do in my dining room.

I just really like this photo.

Murphy loves the photos. There is not amount of red eye correction on this computer to help him out.

And then, once he gets the camera's attention, he strikes a pose. This rug is textured and yuppy and beachy and we love it.

My friend Weezie gave us these little birds as a housewarming presents. From left to right: Coreybird, proud and confident and forward-facing; Nellbird, polite and demure ; Jakebird, who cannot make eye contact and Landenbird, who doesn't pay attention to shit.

This tragedy is what lies behind my beloved French door refrigerator. I cringe. I am also well aware that once my children become preteens, I will need another fridge outside because this one will not hold all the food they will require.

Because we have not perfected how to keep Murphy off the second floor, and because he loves the high-fat, high-calorie cat food diet, we have to keep Lily's dishes elevated. This is why they are on the table at the foot of the bed in the guest room. You're looking at a very unfinished room.

It was 5 PM when this picture was taken. Jake is doing a little journaling in his bed. Voluntarily. He was not being punished.

Optimus Prime lives here.

This is our grown-up king size bed. It's also my #1 favorite thing in my house to look at. I took this picture right after Corey and I hung these mirrors. There is no direct natural light coming in to this room. It has sliding glass doors out to the sunroom. To illuminate the room more, we hung these big mirrors. Corey said "Man, f*ck this!" no fewer than eight times trying to hang these mirrors.

Enjoy the peek, although it will never compare to the joy we feel in living here. Oprah says that your house is supposed to come up to greet you. Our house gives me the dough-boy "ee-hee" when I drive up or walk through it. 

.....