I've been counting the days until we close on the new house for a couple weeks now, for several reasons: I want more elbow room; I'm dying to get access to the rest of my clothes; Annie's claws are getting dangerously long, and I packed the cat clippers; we need to measure the living room to make sure the couch we want will fit; I want to start building up a pantry so I can actually *cook*; and I need a little music in my life (preferably something other than the thumping dance tunes permeating the wall we share with our next-door-neighbor at the Ben). Yesterday, a new and more urgent reason got added to the list: I CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF OUR TEMPORARY APARTMENT.

The apartment has been very convenient, but now it's starting to get on my nerves. There's nowhere to put anything; consequently, our stuff is ALL OVER THE PLACE. The relocation company provided a vacuum cleaner, but it's so loud—and at the same time, so ineffective—that it's not worth vacumming. (It also doesn't have a built-in HEPA filter like my vaccum does, so vacuuming guarantees an allergy attack.) There's a whole list of annoyances, from dishes to storage to sharing a bathroom (horrors!), but I won't go through them all in detail. Suffice it to say that I feel depressed when I even think about entering that apartment, and that getting the keys to our new house will be liberating indeed.

Phase two of the Liberation will occur next Thursday, when the movers—and my clothes, and Annie's nail clippers—arrive. Al and I are already planning our own, do-it-yourself Clean Sweep, complete with Keep, Sell, and Toss areas (we'll use different rooms, since we don't have a yard). We did a lot of weeding in the year leading up to the move, but we've got more to go through, and we've learned some great new tips from the Clean Sweep organizers.

Phase three of the Liberation will come around the end of January, if all goes according to plan. That's when our kitchen remodel should be complete. Al and I are still waffling on Corian vs. granite (we've picked out a Corian, but we're reserving the right to change our minds once the floor and cabinets go in—and once we see how well we're sticking to the budget. If we're at all over, Corian it is), but we finally settled on a floor tile, and the work will probably start as soon as we get the keys to the house.

Three more days to go. WOO FREAKIN' HOO!