Lately I get grumpy at the drop of a hat.

Ok, it's not really a hat that has to drop, just anything that falls or is placed or is left where I don't feel like it should be, namely, any of the thousands of random bits around our apartment that make it look cluttered. It. stresses. me. out.

Instead of tidiness, every room in the apartment is full of stuff that doesn't belong there. Leftover packing boxes (some still filled with stuff), old shoes for Goodwill, dog toys, random furniture pieces we don't know what to do with, etc.

So, my Christmas wish for this year is this: I want our apartment to be clean and decorated and cozy and feel like a home. I don't want it to stress me out to go inside. I don't want to start getting ready for bed and get distracted by clutter and start cleaning at 11:30. It would be really lovely to leave for the frigid winter winds of the West with a lovely little apartment settled and waiting for our return.

So, yes. That's my wish - to have our first home feel like a home in time for Christmas.