Mama S and I held down the fort here, first unpacking the girls’ room, and then tackling our own rooms. I’m one of those maniacs who will stay up all night unpacking because I cannot stand to live in chaos and boxes. Alas, I am prevented from such ideas by the amount of energy required to tend an eight-month old. I managed to unpack all of my clothes, Noah’s things, and Mama S’ clothes yesterday despite this. Daddy’s mum, our Amma worked away at consolidating food and kitchen items while cooking some amazing food. She’s a tour de force that lady! I think I should feature some of her recipes here because her cooking really is out of this world.

It feels good to be here. I don’t feel any of the strange displacement that I was expecting, and maybe that’s because I’ve grown so familiar with this house. Daddy’s family is so wonderful and warm, it’s hardly an adjustment to be sharing space with them.

The girls love their new room. It’s big and bright and they have a working fireplace! I picked up some new big-girl bedding for them at Ikea and they spent the entire day in there yesterday reading Archie comics. I actually thought they were outside because they were so quiet.

We’ve talked a lot with them about how settling into a new home is a process, even if that home is a familiar place. Hannu in particular has been stressed by all of the boxes and mess because she shares my love of neatness and order. We’re working like ants, just a little at a time, to set up our home and merge our households.

Daddy was a bit disgusted by the volume of our stuff. I think the move had inspired him to reduce more clutter, which is wonderful. It’s really astonishing how we amass so much and tell ourselves we need all of these things. My weakness is my sentimentality – I have a lot of keepsakes that I can’t bear to part with, but I’ve managed to fill two huge bags of stuff to donate while unpacking, and I swear this is not just an excuse to visit the local thrift shop!

We’ll get it all done, and likely most of it will be done this week. Meanwhile, my morning coffee is calling me, and I can’t wait to sit at the picture window in the kitchen and stare out at the fields and forest. It feels so right to wake up in the morning and see so much green. I love this place. Yesterday we were treated to a huge young deer and a coyote frolicking in the field. It seemed like they were pals, they were so comfortable with each other, and the girls were thrilled to have the binoculars out, watching the action.

Today is our first day home all together, but Mama S and I are heading back to the city this evening for dinner and a show. I never imagined the move in would take so long, and I got us tickets to the latest Boylesque T.O. show. It will be nice to take a little break from the boxes, and she and I rarely get to hang out just the two of us. There will be many evenings to spend as a family in our new place, eating lively meals around the big table in the kitchen, and chasing the kids up and down the huge driveway.

So far, this country life suits me well.