I’m fairly sure

 that a moving truck exploded inside our house.  I would say we are beyond the 'carefully opening and organizing the contents of one box at a time' stage, except that we are still trying to do that.  Looks are just a bit deceiving right now in the kitchen, living room, master bedroom… as we were completely caught off-guard by the Verizon Fios installation this morning.  Our scheduled appointment wasn't until tomorrow, however, at 8:31 a.m. Verizon called from our front stoop, and we instantly re-scheduled.

Never mind that Peter was headed to Main State to file an extremely important (read: we get money back) voucher or that I was both jammie-clad and non-coffeed…we needed internet and now!  Peter turned around, headed back and proceeded to tear apart the previously well-organized basement in order to locate all of the areas the tech might need to access, and soon the family room state matched that of the rest of the house…

 Two hours later and we were up and running with (finally) true high-speed internet.  Now we have even more ways to ignore the unpacking!  However, we are not…in fact, if anyone out there is in need of boxes, I have over 25 ready and waiting for you (I'm completely serious and my living room would thank you).

It may not sound like a ton, but one has to consider  we really only moved into the house yesterday from our most recent extended-stay facility.  We are also still trying to de-clutter (what we didn't finish in CA), simplify and organize.  Given we will (fingers crossed) only be here for a year, and it could be stressful at times, I would like the house to be in the best shape possible.  Which also means that we already have a running list of items that need updating to include new floors on the mid-level (if I type it, it will be done…) and new windows before 2011 (hello, tax credit!).   Upgrades already, are we nuts?

No, we are thrilled to be homeowners again.  As crazy as it sounds, I do not want to rent again in the near future.  It's one thing if we are stationed overseas, but our CA rental experience was not nearly what it could have been.   We are so happy to finally be able to make changes without consulting anyone but ourselves (and the HOA if it involves an exterior change).  We can hang pictures where we like, paint at the drop of a cloth, and exchange the carpets for laminate flooring on the mid-level without explanation.

Are we going to up and redo the whole house?  Not a chance.  The kitchen is heavenly…laminate floors, relatively new cabinets with a Corian sink and countertops.  So much easier to clean than our old kitchen and the rolling shelves in the cabinets make organization a breeze.  Our bedroom is as big or bigger than the one in San Ramon, and Little Guy is already happily ensconced in the sitting area (our term for it) with his own window seat (I see a transportation theme for that cushion).  

Which reminds me:  yes, Peter, the girls and LG love the house.  We visited a week ago Monday for the first time, and within minutes the girls were discussing patterns for their seat cushions and Peter was admiring the layout of the kitchen and the upstairs.  We were relieved that the girls were content with the paint in their rooms (though Wallies will be acquired soon), as just getting the house cleaned and prepped for the movers' arrival was plenty of work for us last week.  Then the unloading of the boxes, getting the furniture (mostly) in the right spots and getting it all put back together correctly began in earnest on Friday. How did it go?

 Overall, it has been the easiest move yet.  Though we were a bit stunned by a few treats that the CA movers chose to pack, not having to worry about the kids on Thursday or Friday helped immensely.  They had already decided that hanging out in Maryland would be far preferable to assisting us, so the crew hung out at the house on Thursday and headed over to Shoreham Beach for the afternoon on Friday.  Then again, since our kids are head over heels in love with "Baby Nate", they were thrilled to stay behind.  We then took a bit of a break over the weekend, and started back full force on Monday with continued unpacking and now…

 Now we are starting to feel somewhat settled.  We had our first real dinner in the house tonight at our new kitchen table (an excellent, sturdy Annapolis consignment shop find), and the girls are actually sleeping in their own beds (the cardboard box 'hotels' lost their allure around 6 this morning).  And only a few more days until we head to the beach for a few days of  surf, sand and sun before heading north to visit friends and family.

 While it's in the back of my mind, for now I am choosing to ignore that four letter word that will change our lives quite a bit on July 27.  We are just living in the moment, enjoying our new house, and reveling in some much-needed family time.  Who could ask for more?

Kudos for the great beach photographs (as usual) to Mark (of "ShannaMark", as coined by Little Guy).