A great start

Those who've been reading here awhile know I'm not much for new year's resolutions. But that's not to say that if you find yourself inspired to try something, challenge yourself, or make changes, and it happens there's a fresh annual calendar on the wall, that you should stop in your tracks and wait for a better time.
And it's in that spirit that I find this year, about a month old now, is off to a great start in our home.
Now at this point I need to state right up front that I had very little to do with all this. I certainly didn't initiate it, or prompt it so far as I know. But one day, a scant few into the new year, I came home to find the Bear busily burrowing through the various heaps that tend to accumulate around our place. I at least had the good sense to jump in and do what I could to help with the project that evening, and Tweetie was cooperative in that she was content to entertain herself and watch the goings on around her without much fuss.
Momentum being what it is sometimes, the next day and the subsequent weekend saw ever more progress. The front hall was excavated, the heap on the kitchen counter next to the basement stairs was completely cleared off (the one or two of you who've been to our place might just remember, and cringe at, exactly what I'm talking about). The Bear, who'd been learning the ropes on bottle duty to give me a break while we were on vacation, took on the job at home. Between the two of us, the kitchen was getting a much more thorough cleanup each night before bed. And when he learned he was going to be at home for awhile, he took on morning duties with Tweetie, getting her up and ready for daycare so I could get off to work (and consequently back home) earlier. Tweetie has loved the one-on-one time with her Papa (formerly affectionately referred to as 'the man in the phone').
As the month has continued, the Bear's been busy down in the basement, tackling his great nemesis, the clutter in the lab. Box by box, shelf by shelf, he's picked through the piles and bins and stacks. He's sorted. He's purged. He's organized.
In the shop he's built a rock solid work bench out of the boards we removed from the deck last summer. There's a special shelf at one end to keep the drill press at a useful height.
And even with all that done, neither of us have completely dissolved into obsessed work nuts. We took Tweetie to the pool two Saturdays in a row. We've walked to the grocery store as a family (dogs, too!) We've both found ourselves a little less stressed and bothered having a simpler, cleaner space - my sleep seemed to improve with knowing I'd wake up to a fresh kitchen. But I think the family time, and the time spent with the Bear just doing everyday stuff, has been what I've most enjoyed. It's also been a source of encouragement as I look ahead to becoming a family of four.
Today the Bear left for the mainland to take on some roofing work with my brother-in-law. The work is welcome, both for the income and the chance for the Bear to get out of the house before he loses all steam on the home projects. But I've been spoiled a bit having him home this last while, and I think I'll be missing him just that little bit more.