Home at Last

We crazily decided to combine refinishing our wood floors with some wall painting, staining and finishing new baseboards, and 2 family vacations (St. Helens with my family and K Falls with his family). I'm quite tired of living out of a suitcase (though it probably wouldn't be as bad if I had cute suitcases like those in the picture!). So after 18 days out of our house, we're finally back home. Not moved in, but home.

3 things I've learned from our temporary homelessness:

1. Though we've lived wonderful years as a wandering couple in temporary homes, it's much harder and less enjoyable with a baby. Our mound of luggage seriously triples when we have her: portable crib, stroller, baby pack, diapers, diaper pail, special gentle detergent for the diapers, butt paste & other baby toiletries, portable high chair, extra blankets, fan for her to sleep, monitors ... and the list goes on. It feels seriously ridiculous.

2. My kitchen is better organized than anyone else's kitchen. I'm saying this a bit tongue in cheek, but I have decided that every kitchen is organized around its cook. My mom's kitchen is organized around her cooking style, and mother-in-law's around hers. And neither of them cook like I do. There is no maple syrup or sucanat, much less a dehydrator and lids to sprout wheat berries and quinoa (oh yeah, there's no quinoa either). And there's certainly no room in our trunk for those things. I'm really not knocking my family because their homes reflect their lives, as they should. Sleeping in someone else's bed and using someone else's bathroom is hard enough, but I've realized that cooking in someone else's kitchen is the hardest for me.

3. We really need check-in time at night, really. We've gotten in the habit of sitting on the couch and chatting after she goes to bed. It's just not the same with family around. Enough said, yeah?