A really big week

- Tomorrow is my first real day of work, and I am so excited!  People have already been so wonderful in inviting us over for meals and making me feel very welcome in the office.  In preparation for tomorrow I got a manicure and dragged my husband to DSW for some new professional shoes.  He was such a good sport, he came with me the whole time.

- I've been working like crazy and our house is almost done - we have all the pictures up on the walls and everything.  There are only three things keeping me from feeling it's complete: 1) Of our six living room bookshelves, one arrived broken, and the replacement part is on its way.  So the books for that shelf are just sitting there forlorn.  2) We need to buy a display cabinet for some of our fancier stuff that we don't want to collect dust (i.e. the chess sets from Greece, the Roman coins, etc.). And 3) Since the kids are sharing a room now (!)  we wanted letters of Ari's name to match Xander's.  We've already bought and painted them as a family project, but we need to let the glaze  dry and then put them up.

Posing after painting.  Hooray for Jonathan's tripod!

- Have I forgotten to mention, we have a second car now?!  A Honda Odyssey.  I am BEYOND THRILLED.   Poor Jonathan went from a motorcycle to a Mini Cooper to a minivan, so his excitement is a little more contained.  It feels so big that we've been calling it our "spaceship" - Xander likes to press the button to close the side door automatically, which then enables Jonathan to get the car moving and "take off."

- Speaking of kids, they're doing okay.  As Ari's teacher put it today, "you guys did everything on the list [of stress] but divorce!  New house, new job, new state, new school, new car.  They're doing really well, considering."  I think she's right.  Xander's getting used to his school, and while Ari still screams bloody murder when we drop him off, and acts totally sad when we pick him up, his teacher sent over these pictures from the past two days.  Proof that he has a good time when we're gone!

- And let me end on a more serious note: please send all good wishes and prayers to Sylvan, who's been in the hospital, and to Gwen, who's been crazy with worry over him.  Refuah shleima.