There is nothing simple or easy about a move. Someone once told me that three moves was a good as a fire...you get rid of stuff with each move and other things get broken, repaired or replaced. Our move was no different.

Most of the stuff arrived OK, no worse for the five months in storage. But there were some oddities. The Bose Sound System is missing its remote. I had allowed the packing team to use it for music in the house as they worked so it was the last thing packed...the remote was not. Funny thing; you can't even turn the unit on without the remote. New one is ordered. My favorite chair, a 40 year old Eames style lounge chair was taken apart for storage or shipping, don't know which and the bushing that keeps the swivel mechanism working was damaged beyond use. Don't know where to find another one of those...chair is not usable.

Most of the household goods made it into the house after all the downsizing we did in Illinois. Of course by house I am including the attached garage. I have build shelves in closets and hung new cabinets in the laundry room, increased the storage capacity in other places but still there are boxes stacked three deep and 8 feet high in the garage. And of course there are the two extra couches, three extra chairs, desk, book case, coffee table and assorted lamps. But all in good time. This experience has given us a new perspective on the idea of prioritization.

The new stove comes next week, the new refrigerator is here and working well. The new granite counters come tomorrow and the kitchen plumbing will be reconnected on Monday...Superbowl party on Sunday, no problem. We have painted a couple of rooms and settled on a color for most of the house. I have a new streamlined desk to assemble in my new "study/hall"...got to get the boxes of books out of the hallway upstairs and my computer back from my grandson (that might be hard to do).

But if you ask I will tell you that the move was worth it. I am spending Wednesdays with the best apprentice project doer in the world. Though I do have to answer a huge number of questions as a form of compensation for the labor. Most of the questions are short, one word or at least a simple thought that is proceeded by the simple three letter word WHY? Oh the joys of being three and a half. But, he does know the precise timing for the use of the "That Was Easy" button from Staples . We are having fun. Yesterday we went out to lunch...Costco for hot dogs. He is a cheap date.

This weekend we will watch the Superbowl with our daughter and her family. Snacks and meals will all be on paper plates and cooking may be in disposable pans but it will be great to be together. The older I get the more I realize how very important family is and spending time with them is the greatest in the world. But while we will be spending time with one we will miss the other.

Being in the Pacific Northwest means that I am no longer able to pick up Emma after school. She doesn't understand why we had to go back to America. We missed seeing Scarlet begin to crawl. She is now in a "creche" with a young caregiver named Maxim. I like to think she misses walking around Paris on my chest. My son starts a new job on Monday and we will miss all the changes coming in their lives. So it is bittersweet to be here in the PNW. We gain time with grandsons and lose time with granddaughters. We gain time with daughter and lose time with son.

Somehow through all the transitions and moving we always seem to have to give up something to get something. I know is it wrong to want it all, but it would sure be nice to be able to be all together somewhere. We are settling into the house...the boxes are all emptied on the first floor and most of the second floor. The furniture is sort of placed in proper locations we are beginning to find our way around the community but there is still a big hole in our hearts as well. In time we will settle into a sort of normalcy, the Sunday Facetime sessions will settle into a regularity, and we will begin to feel like we are home. But for now...I miss walks through Montmartre with Emma and baguettes, and the simple smile on Scarlet's face when she wakes up from her nap.