Rush to the Middle: Settling but not settled

We've had a lot of firsts this past week: the husband's first day of work, the boys' first physicals in three years (still in good health, thankfully), the first day of school, the boys' first non-bunk beds (at least in our own home), new 20" bikes for both boys, our first town farmers' market, the husband's first trek into the trails behind our house, my first forays into the local grocery shopping and thrifting scenes, signing up for our first ski and snowboard lessons (when in New England, after all), our first day with our new church congregation, and on and on. It's been a whirlwind: people keep asking us if we are getting settled in, and I always feel like the answer is no because we keep doing new things. However, by that measure, we may not be "settled in" for quite awhile, because we seem to encounter something new to do almost every day. Which is good, of course, though a bit exhausting.

The unpacking continues, relentlessly, unfortunately, and I am losing some of my motivation to finish it, because so soon we will have to pack everything up again and move to a more permanent place, but that strategy, not unpacking, really only works for a few things, so it's not really a good solution to my lack of enthusiasm. I am also dressing up our unfinished basement for the boys. So far, with just the addition of a big square of carpet, a shelf with bins of their toys, their school desks, and a giant ottoman that is far too big for our current bedroom or the living room, the basement is their favorite place, so I want to keep the fun going by adding some simple fabric panels to separate the play area from the storage area and use some existing shelves to separate the laundry area as well. The husband has also decided that since we had to get cable to get the internet and the x-box has been in storage since we moved back to the States, he is going to set up a TV down there as well, for gaming and watching sports, which means we will be getting our first television since we got rid of ours after we were first married. So it's basically going to become the playroom mini man-cave of everyone's dreams down there pretty soon...plus laundry!

Which means, yes, we are settling in, slowly but surely, but we are still far from settled. I did have a burst of affection for my new home the other day, while I was in a neighboring town exploring an architecture salvage store, a couple of thrift stores, and a clothing store featuring local, indy designers on my way to an awesomely cheap veggie market. The sun was shining, but the weather was pleasantly cool, the stores were intriguing and filled with all sorts of colorful people and bizarre items, I kept having the most random but entertaining conversations with chatty folks, and I found some great deals along the way. This really is my kind of place: a quirk around every corner!