Last night I met another one of the neighbors. After telling him we'd lived here for a month, he asked why we hadn't been out of the house. I emphatically explained that we had - mowing the lawn, pruning the trees, weeding the flower beds, fixing the sprinklers, etc. He then told me he'd seen us, but he thought we were the hired help.
We've been busily working on the house. It has been years since every extra moment we had got consumed with house fix-up, but that is again where we are. We are slowing chipping away at the to-do list. I have a bit of house ADHD. I'll start one project and while doing it, I'll notice five other things that need my attention right away. My attention gets diverted and soon I'm cleaning the cold air returns instead of sealing the grout like I'd originally planned - drives Brandon nuts. But I can't help it - there's so much to do.
After talking with another neighbor, I found out the old owners had just recently painted the inside of the house. Brandon had called it. While repainting those rooms, Brandon made the comment that the old paint looked "brand new". I felt slightly guilty. but then didn't. The new color makes it feel like home.
Here's the two rooms before - living room is green, dining room is red. Thanks to Ben, Chelle, and my cute new neices for posing for the picture...
Here's the living room after new paint. It's a better green now - more "split pea" rather than "Christmas tree". Much more me. The dining room turned a bluish gray (not in the picture). Thanks to Halle for posing in a diaper with a myriad of necklackes and the stuffed cats. 
