Return to live

Normal life is beginning again. We are completely into the house, one more trip to Sturgis to clean up and the closing is next Wednesday. It is so great to have the whole house to ourselves - even Mike says it is such a relief to not worry about the renter in the basement. The boys have themselves a great area to watch TV and a table to play games or draw. They are still sharing a bedroom, but I hope to have the 2nd room emptied enough to put Steve in it before next week. I have over half our stuff sorted through - put away, garage sale, good will, trash. I had 3 trash cans out at the curb this morning - one is a big curby from the trash company!! I still had more I could have put out, but did not want to overwhelm them! I have re-purposed the hutch. We are getting rid of the top portion and using the bottom in the kitchen. It adds extra counter space and inside the door area I installed 2 sliding trash can holders for plastic and aluminum recyclables. For such a big house, there is not much closet and storage space, so I am making due and coming up with some inventive solutions. I think Mike is impresed, although it will all be so much easier once we weed out the extra stuff. With not working, I am able to get to laundry and other tasks much more often and the extra things we had to compensate for my busy working, single mother lifestyle are no longer necessary. I am making myself let go. I imagine I will have 2 garage sales this year, the first to get rid of the major stuff and a second for the things I decide as we go that I can do without. I am really trying to simplify.