So we've been in our new digs for a season now, but how come it seems like we've only just moved in? There's a semblance of order scattered among the myriad of moving boxes that occupy nearly every room. We have books in bookcases, photos on the hearth, dishes and glasses in their hopefully-permanent places in the kitchen. But we're still wading through tons 'o crap (TM) that we heedlessly dumped into boxes near the end of our move.

You know what I'm talking about - the stuff that simply gets tossed into a box to be sorted out Later when you're moving. After weeks of packing and preparing and sorting and making decision after decision, you finally don't give a crap anymore and just start tossing crap into a box because you simply cannot make another decision. Well, we have about a zillion of THOSE boxes lying around. Ok, so maybe not a zillion, but definitely more than a handful. In fact, I'll bet we have more than two handfuls.

Jen and I also may be skilled at a variety of things - I'm *awesome* with computers, she's great with the laundry and cleaning; but the one thing that we both absolutely lack any vision or skill in whatsoever is interior decorating. We've been here over 3 months and only yesterday did I hang our very first picture - a cross-stitch that Jen made and had framed. Oh wait, that's not exactly true. It was the third thing I had hung, forgive me. I hung a whiteboard in our office on Saturday, and I hung a cabinet in our bathroom a few weeks ago.

What kind of people take 3 months to hang ONE lousy picture??? Interior decorating handicapped people I tell you. Us. We're the poster children of Interior Decorating Ain't Us. I had to position and re-position the whiteboard numerous times in different places before I finally found a place for it next to the computer desk. What kind of a challenge is that? Obviously anyone with half a brain in interior decorating could say, "duh, just hang it up next to the computer." Not me.

We still have several large sized photos that my dad took and framed for us that needs to be hung. I still have a limited-edition signed print of The White Raven by Thomas Canty that I would love to find room on a wall for. What the hell is wrong with me that I can't hang a simple picture? What the hell is wrong with me that I simply cannot decide for the life of me where to place one of our many bookcases?

Damn - what I wouldn't give for someone to come to my house and plan out where everything should go for me. Someone to say, "Cliff, this photo would look great here!" and "I think having the bed over here and the dresser over there would make your room look spacious yet usable."

Actually, I think the furniture right now is arranged quite tastefully and I like where everything is for the most part. The living room is arranged such that my home theater setup is in an optimal setting. Ok, I admit that one I *have* figured out. But it's from a practical standpoint, not a creative one. And the computer room is pretty much laid out how I want - again, based on where I like the computer desk, everything else is simply placed where there is room.

Someone please please please volunteer their services to me ok? Come and help me complete the last steps in making our house feel like home? Our pictures are gathering dust and are yearning to be looked at. At the rate I'm currently going, it'll be time to sell the house and move before all of our pictures get put up. And aren't blank walls reserved for places like insane asylums? I definitely feel like I'm going crazy with all these blank walls around me.

A year ago today: Skilled Reader