My home

We are finally moved in and somewhat settled.  We still need to organize the garage and the basement, but we are all in and mostly unpacked.  (I won't mention anything about Ster's room still having boxes and boxes of toys).

And we did get some new things for our house.

A new TV and soundbox above the fireplace

New couch and loveseat

(Which, by the way, has already been a wrestling mat for two nephews, a place to stand with one foot on the arm rest of the loveseat and one on the couch, and a place to flop over the back and push against the sides.  Not what I wanted a one-week old couch to go through.  I was not pleased.  But too chicken to say anything because it obviously wasn't a big deal to their parents).

New table and chairs

See the lovely bar stools?  Well, those will either be replaced or stained to match a little better.  We have a large table that is pretty much the same color of the stools or a smaller table that did NOT look good in there.  So, we splurged and got a nice table that I think fits in beautifully.  (When the floor is clean - which it is not at the moment.)

See how lovely the floor is?  Well, that floor shows all the dirt.  Crap!  But it sure looks nice when it is swept and mopped.  The picture below shows what it looked like before we cleaned it prior to moving in.  We cleaned it and then put on a shining agent so that it looks sweet.  It is a sturdy laminate wood floor.  Okay, so there are a couple of itty bitty scratches already in it, but because there is construction and mud and dirt all around little rocks have gotten in and scratched the floor in a couple of places.  But it is sturdy enough that our office chair can be rolled over and over the floor and then have it tip over and crash against it in a loud boom and not leave a mark.  Once again, I was not pleased.

I am pretty particular about my home.  I do NOT want shoes to be worn if they are dirty at all.  I would prefer not to have them worn at all, but I understand that there are times it can't be helped.  I have asked everyone to take their shoes off - but it may not last since my baby has free roam of the place.  I won't allow food in the carpeted areas, either.  But that is the only place Duke with eat his bone.  (At least it is dry and Duke will clean up EVERY. LITTLE. BIT. of his bone and won't leave it there to stain the carpet or get stepped on and ground into the carpet.)  So I may ease up a bit in the next little while.  I am also anal about cleaning Duke's feet off before I let him back in the house after he has been out to potty.  I won't let Ster take him out because I can guarantee that he won't clean up Duke's paws to my satisfaction.  The counters are continually wiped off and the dishes are done every night and put away.  The shower is squeegied down after each shower.  And I don't walk up the middle of the stairs - I alternate left and right because I'm weird that way and don't want to wear the carpet out.  I know.  Weird.  Ster has been really good with minding our new rules - no shoes, cleaning up after himself, rinsing off dishes.  I'm really proud of him.

People are welcome in my home.  But please don't jump on my furniture or track dirt in or leave your dirty dishes on the table.  I'm not asking for much!