Two days later, the inside of my house looks better even if the outside doesn't.

The art glass and displays all over the house have been rearranged. I have 4 grocery boxes of lovely pieces that I have grown bored with and am taking to the booth. Some should net me a nice profit. 

The office is tidied, boxes have been emptied or moved, papers have been filed. There is so much floor space again I laid out Molly's favorite fuzzy rug from Florida and she has been snoozing away on it. 

The living room is lovely and calm looking. Still a few more decorations left to put on the tree, but the rest is looking very nice. I did some shopping in my booth and at a few others to find the extra ornaments I need.

The final task will be to repot some of the plants so the grouping under the TV set and by the window are perfect. R way overbought on indoor plants, and some are not thriving or are actually very ugly. So they probably will not survive the repotting.

The outside is still a clusterfuck. I have machinery in my driveway and ladders and soffits in my backyard. They have only finished the soffits on 30% of the house after two days of work. Turns out my 1959 house did not have 2025 standard-size soffits so they have had to custom-cut each one, and that requires a lot more time to do. Also, the weather has not been cooperating at all. This morning it is snowing AGAIN but expected to end around 10am It's 8:30 and they literally arrived as I was typing this. So they are busy working in the freaking snow to get this done. The only silver lining is that it rained during most of last night/today's storm so all the icicles and black ice melted and it's easier to get around. 

++++

In many ways, this year-end busywork very much resembles my year-beginning work, just in the opposite direction. Then, I was systematically taking apart every section of my parents' home and lives, while also doing the daily household chores for me and Molly. I collected all of their reading and regular glasses to donate to the Lions Club. Cleaned out the pantry of my dad's BOGO buys and donated hundreds of pounds of food to the local pantry, while keeping Molly's and my food stuffs in the space. Emptied out drawers and closets and cabinets, packing for home or donation or giving to neighbors or selling at the garage sale. Packing my mom's display items while rearranging the rest for staging. 

Now, I am nesting, building our home back up. Finding the new right spots for their items and mine. Re-imagining what my living room should look like. Spending time in an office space that I enjoy and don't want to bury in crap. Incorporating R's passion for plants with my passion for vintage items. Most of all, right now, after 30+ years on the road to Connecticut, Detroit, or Florida, we will be celebrating Christmas at home from now on. I am figuring out what I want that to look like. All the while, washing dishes and doing laundry and making the bed every day. And making sure I find pleasure in this, like my parents did. They loved fussing with their house, making it look pretty all the time. I just don't think I realized how much work went into that.