Here are some random photos from the last couple weeks... 

Post-Halloween version of after school snack found on living room end table.

We had lots of Halloween candy left after discovering our street is not heavily visited on Halloween night. No sidewalks.

Our stuff from France with someone's stuff from Australia perched on top in the white boxes.

We waited over four months for our boxes to arrive. The winter clothes are welcome, but unpacking is slow. Most breakables made the trip fine (I had my doubts when I saw the verticle stacking). I averaged only one broken piece of Harris china per trunk (a couple dessert plates, which are superfluous anyway and a bowl that Scott's great-grandmother painted for him when he was a baby. He had a brief time of mourning over it, but the matching cup and saucer made the trip and it's not like we ever used this bowl). 

Artsy photo of Poochie Woochie (one of her many nicknames).

What to say about this puppy?  We will have her second puppy training class at Petco this Saturday. Out of the six dogs in her class, she is the one who fell asleep during her first class--which we feel is a sign of her calm, good-naturedness, and not that she's exceptionally lazy. Her ability to sleep through noise has been put to good use as Justin has been drumming a lot lately. There is a drum set in the basement now that merits its own post. For now, let's just say that it gets really, really loud around here.

Poochie Woochie's ratty, Dr. Suessy tale.

 Pepper is cute, but her tail is kind of ratty looking. More photos to come.

Do African musical metal figures go well on mission-style mantel? Probably not. This and myriad other decorating quandaries abound as I unpack our African, Colombian, French, and American stuff.

Figuring out where to put things on the walls is going to be a challenge. When we received our shipment, I was thinking that I would have everything up by Thanksgiving. I have hung up one clock so far. Paintings are not unwrapped yet and piled up in a trunk. These walls may stay bare for a while.

Poochie Woochie practically disappears into the floor. Works in fall leaves as well.