It was a little (and I stress little) bittersweet leaving the cement bungalow (what are we going to call this house?? This one will be the deluxe bungalow). Sadly/strangely? That house is the longest we’ve lived anywhere since….uh, since I was a kid living at home I guess. So much happened in that house. We moved there when Nathan was a 5 month old– FIVE month old! Now he’s almost a 5 YEAR old. Mackenzie came home to that house, we became a family of four in that house. But, at the end of the day its just 4 cement walls and seafoam tile.

Our new place is pretty much the exact same house except with a dining room in the front which oddly makes such a huge difference. We no longer have to split our family room into family room and dining room. Now the kids actually get a sizable area to play. And we have a backyard. A really nice big back yard. Its a lot of mud and clover but I sprinkled some grass seed and hopefully we’ll have more grass than mud soon. And speaking of back yard, we’ve talked about getting the kids a playhouse. Well. That proved to be not just difficult but flat out impossible. The BX has none. I tried to order them from the BX’s online store and ha- they won’t ship them over here. So, thats really awesome that they don’t even ship to the exact people they are supposed to be selling to. If it weren’t for our “weight problem” (we’ve got 10,000lbs, we’re only allowed 14,000 and we’ve got a decent amount in storage so we’ve got to be hovering around our max) I’d have PC build something amazing. He’s a pretty crafty craftsman and I’d feel….vindicated? Like the BX can take its plastic playhouse and shove it. Sadly, the end result is still the same: no playhouse.

Time to get back to work.

In other news our house closing was today and we are no longer homeowners. Im not sad about being rid of the headache but Im a little sad thinking about someone else walking into our house and calling it their own now. Which is really dumb because we’ve lived in the cement bungalow for way longer than we ever lived in the Colorado house. It wasn’t like we brought babies home to that house or raised kids in that house or celebrated huge momentous occasions in that house. Maybe its just because I liked it so much. But, its just a house. And if we stick with this Marine Corps thing there are going to be many more houses we call home.

I would love to share the wealth and make sure each and every one of you are proud owners of the worlds best ice cream scoop, but….just how many of you are there? If there are only a handful of you then thats one thing. If I wake up tomorrow with 400 comments saying “pick me”…..I might need you to click on the Ad’s a few hundred times to support this habit (and lucky for you, the ads are no longer related to pinworms so, yeah, there’s that.)

And depending on how many people there are I’ve been rolling around ideas as to how to handle the fun! stuff! because the cement bungalow is a bit limited on storage space. And I can only consume so many bottles of Famous Daves BBQ sauce at a time. And its not possible for you to send me what I really want which is an Arby’s Jr. So, Im wondering- would it suck all the fun out of it if I had you make a donation to a charity that I like? or you like? or we both like? in lieu of sending me a box? Lets discuss.

As an aside, I love me some Etsy. If someone wants to barter with some Etsy goods…..well, [insert a clever witty comment that I am unable to generate at 9:15 at night, but will probably lie awake trying to come up with].

Im feeling pretty walled in these days. When my parents visited they insisted I not buy ANY more furniture. I kept trying to explain to them that I bought the things I had under the premise that we would be leaving after 3 years. If I had known we were staying I may have been a little more choosey. I’ve even contemplated selling some of the pieces I’ve bought because I have found things I like better…..who does that? Today I passed up a beautiful desk/table and Im still stewing over it. It was new (antique but new in the store) and Yuki told me with her Chinese accent “this beautiful desk….from capitol….I found in Beijing.” And just the way she said Beijing made my heart beat a little faster. But there was just no where for it to go– no where that I could stand having it for the next 3 years.

I feel like with the 4th family member that our 1100 square feet of house sort of imploded. If we had a basement or a garage or just a small area for storage we would be so much better off. Part of me feels like we’re trapped by our possessions, the other part says 1100 sq feet is just not enough room. Period. Ive thought about getting rid of our fairly large coffee table because when Nathan lines up his planes and Sandy is flopped on the floor there is no room for Mackenzie to spread out on a blanket. I’ve thought of getting rid of the Pottery Barn knock of kitchen we had made and paid a fairly pretty penny for because Nathan doesn’t play with it that often and what?, are we really going to save it for another 2 years until Mackenzie is ready to play with it? Im not sure I can do it. I hate that it clutters up an entire corner as it is. Im sure my husband would like to edit this to add in something about the ottoman I bought and he’s never liked. How long is THAT going to take up space in our family room?

There are so many things that Im inclined to part with and yet I think “well, if Im just going to have to buy it again….” Nathan has a little table and chairs set in his room. I’ve never really loved it but PC got it in the Philippines for the right price and it served its purpose well. He no longer uses it. Ever. He’s probably too big to even fit his legs under the table. Mostly it just gets piled up with crap and looks like a hideous mess. I’ve (unilaterally) decided to get him a desk. (Hey, PC, isn’t it a great idea–get Nathan a desk?) He likes to color or work on the preschool workbooks I have for him. Its all about “preparing himself for his career as a pilot.” Since the table and chairs are just wasting space I’ve decided to give them the big heave ho at the next flea market (oh yeah, PC, did I tell you we’re going to the flea market when you get back?) But then I think….Mackenzie will use them, I should save them. I tell myself this with way too much stuff….these boy blue jeans? Mackenzie can wear these. The Brio train stuff…..Mackenzie might love that. And I just have to get out of this rut. Because really- she isn’t going to wear the boy jeans. And really, she’s going to get a cute white table and chairs set in order to host the perfect tea party up in her room, even if I have to pay double shipping from Pottery Barn, because, just because. And the trains….alright I’ll save a few. But probably- she isn’t going to love trains.

I’ve slowly started going through the house one drawer, one cupboard, one basket at a time and weeding through things. Im not exaggerating when I say its having an impact on my mental health to just always have clutter all over. Its stressful, its unpleasant to look at, its embarrassing when friends come over to have your house look like Pee-Wee’s playhouse and with everything else I have to fill my days Im tired of spending so much of it always picking up. Im making a concerted effort to keep on top of things more and I think the less stuff we have, the easier that will be. Sort of like a New Years resolution type deal. I’ve started taking before and after photos to track my progress.

This weekend’s project (weather provided): the front yard. Im tired of the weeds. I enjoy gardening. Nathan enjoys it and it looks nice to come home to. (Steph- no need to remind me of the “Rock Garden” that never was…..)

Step 1: purchase flowers