I'm reminded of the L O N G tunnel that you have to drive through just past the entrance to Zion National Park-- where you actually pass natural "windows" before you reach the end. We're not even close to the end of our tunnel, but we reached a window this weekend. And what a glorious view it was. A game of lawn pick-up sticks, poppy popcorn ceilings, dramatic Dyson turn-arounds in the bedroom from hell, our first brunch on our new dining room table, freshly primed walls to block out past mistakes, and then BAM!-- let there be light-- five three-inch potlights wired by B's inner-electrician, to be exact.

It's now been a month. We're not nearly as far along as I'd envisioned. But 35 hotdog and tots dinners, eight straight-pony-tail days, six fiber-glass facials, and 1,394 trips to Home Depot later, I'm beginning to feel settled. Even on the guest-bed mattress that we drag nightly to the middle of the basement floor.

Hey, it's home. And now you can see it for yourself @ flickr.