Clean sheets and fluffed pillows on the bed, I started this evening with a windows-down drive home and a glass of wine to welcome myself back from a good day’s work. Jamey has been gone this week, but we’re crossing our fingers that he’ll get out early tomorrow morning. Still, a little reprieve apart puts us both in that homesick-I-miss-you mode, so of course he and I are both counting down the hours until he’s returned – we just aren’t as outwardly ridiculous about it, right babycakes?

In case you missed the update, we renewed the lease on our little house for another year. For the past few weeks we’ve both been back an forth on our living situation; first, we were going to stay, at least until we found a little place several miles up the peninsula that we would have moved in to next weekend had the schedule gone as planned. It was what we were looking for, and we got excited and a little attached to what our lives would be like in that new home. (I even went as far to adding new decorative items to our registry that I thought we would need there.) But due to circumstances of the current owners, that plan fell through and we’re sticking to Queen once again.

It’s been emotional here and there (I think you could venture to say I did not do Jamey any favors by dragging him along on my emotional roller coaster), but we’ve both decided that we really are quite happy in this little house. Moving was going to be a big chore, which would have also strained the emotions already bent out on wedding, job and daily life stresses. I’m glad we get to bypass those for now and sit tight until we’re ready – emotionally and financially – to find our next real home, one that we might possibly own.

In the meantime, I’ve decided we need to vamp up our lives here for the next year, so I’ve been reorganizing and assessing what needs to go, what can be upgraded, and what needs to be pulled together in general to make the most of this house while we’re in it. Last weekend was a kickstart to this plan, but of course we got sidetracked with a trip to our new Trader Joe’s and a Costco run that just filled up our pantry and refrigerator, as usual. Still, I’m enjoying our little tribute to Italy that’s taken over our kitchen window:

Due to lack of pantry space, we’ve taken to filling the nooks and crannies of our kitchen with pasta paste cans, olive oil bottles, beans and pasta, and other dry and jarred goods that can’t seem to fit anywhere else. I like how it’s added more of a cooking character to our home (not like we need any help with that, since flat surfaces tend to be overtaken by kitchen gadgets around these parts).

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m tidying up a bit more tonight, then climbing into my freshly laundered sheets with my book.

Yeah, the thought of this just makes me want to wrap up this post more to get a move-on. Time for bed indeed.