The wandering Jews are home

We arrived home this morning after 36 days of wandering while our bathroom was remodeled. (Everything in our lives seems to revolve in multiples of eighteen.)

BTW, the bathroom looks smashing, although it's not quite finished. We are still waiting for the shower door to arrive and be installed, hopefully some time early next week. The tiler will be here at 7:30 AM tomorrow to seal the shower and floor tile. Our neighbor has graciously agreed to let us use his shower for the day, which believe me we will need after dragging our stuff back into the house today and trying to rearrange everything.

I am a compulsive unpacker. Any time I arrive home after spending at least one night away, whether it's vacation, hospitalization or business travel, I get the urge to immediately unpack. I've been this way most of my life and think it comes from watching my mother deal with the return home after family trips.

So Rik shlepped all the boxes, suitcase, food, etc. into the house and I immediately began the unpacking process. Place food into the fridge. Put the clothes away. Set up the wardrobe boxes. Move all the clothes stacked on the bed into the wardrobe boxes (carefully shaking off the lathe and plaster dust and swiffering the floor repeatedly). Slide said wardrobe boxes into the closet. Move coats and extra supplies of soap, etc. into the basement onto the new heavy duty shelving Rik has just installed. Oy.

Most important: figure out the bathroom. Where will we put things in the new configuration, which has less storage space than the previous? I remind myself not to grab all the space and save some room for RIk to put his things away.

Then we got a little crazy and rearranged the living room furniture. We always like to do this in the summer. It allows us to flip the chaise cushion to the other side for more even wear and gives us a new perspective on the room. Plus we are thinking of acquiring a free piano and want to see if there is space to put it in the living room.

All in all, it was a busy day for all of us. The dogs are thrilled to be back in their own yard. Rik is happy to sit in front of the TV and catch up on the news. And I am looking forward to sleeping in our own bed after so many nights away.

Thanks again to all our friends and neighbors who made our month-plus away from home pleasant and enjoyable. We think you're all terrific!