Wanna peek?

We spent a week in Maine, trying to escape the "normal" here.
Turns out it was a great call.  The floors were finally being done, and the painting in the kitchen, family room and mud hallway were being finished.

Surprises and me are the best of friends.  I love them- it's precisely why I waited to find out my children's sex until they were born.  When we left last weekend the biggest rooms weren't yet painted, and I'm so glad I had to wait a week to see it.  All week, there was the anticipation of seeing what the paint looked like on the walls.  Would we like it?  Did it turn out as I planned?  Was this a huge mistake?

Yes, yes and no to the above.  WHEW.  Dodged that bullet!

And can I tell you?  The floors are the cat's pajamas!  We made the decision to have them darkened slightly and they turned out stellar.  It's all fallen into place perfectly and I couldn't be more pleased (or excited, truthfully).

The down side of this is that we now have to begin moving our belongings from the apartment to the house.  Silly me, I thought we didn't have that much stuff here in this small flat.  WRONG, WRONG and WRONG.  It multiplied overnight, that's all I can figure.  My "we don't need a minivan" minivan will come to the rescue, yet again.  She's handy that way.

I thought of you when I was taking photographs there tonight.  Really, I was.  I'll show you a few to whet your appetite.  No peeking at the kitchen, however, until later.  Until then- enjoy!

                                                    Piano room before .......

                                                                  The piano room after.

                                                     Family room before.....

                                                         Our soon to be American family room.

                                                      Dining room before.....

                                                                  Dining Room after.