Happy New Year!

Here we are.  It's 2012.  Yes, I know it has been for five days now, but this is my first post for the year.

This is also my first post since I took a holiday two months ago.  It has been a rather busy two months, so I'm glad that I had decided to take a break.  The holidays are always busy, of course, and this year we added to the general chaos by including a house remodel.

I'm happy to report that we have two new rooms in our home.  The first one, and the most important, is Rory's own bedroom!  The poor kid has had to share a room with his baby sister for 3 1/2 years now, and finally has his own space again.  He is one happy little boy!  We're still trying to organize his multitude of "stuff," but little by little we'll get it done.  We're trying to bring things in in a purposeful way, and making sure everything has a place, rather than just stuffing it all in.

The other room is a combination piano room and office.  It sports a new desk which actually has room for the printer on top, and a keyboard tray, cabinet for the computer, and hanging file drawer.  My plan is to step up my piano teaching schedule, so this will be very helpful.

My favorite change (other than the computer desk) is that we now have a lovely bamboo floor in place of the really disgusting carpet that had been in the living room (the area's former use) since we bought the house.

My second favorite change is that the new living room is accessible from the kitchen.  It has been nice to be able to talk to Hubby while I cook dinner or clean up afterward, rather than having to stop what I'm doing and running to the other room to ask him something.  It's also a little easier to keep track of the kids.  Especially since I can be pretty sure that Rory is in his new room!

Lily is getting used to having her own room now.  She was a little upset for the first couple nights, because she missed her big brother.  She's starting to enjoy having her own space to do things, though, so I think she'll come around.  She's been spending a lot of time bothering Rory in his room, though.

We haven't gotten a lot of school done the last couple of days, but I think that taking this time to get things organized will be worth it in the end.  Every time we get a little corner cleaned out, I feel like I can breathe a little better.

So, I'm ready to begin the new year with a new slate.  How about you?