Is it a bad sign when the living rooms are just picked up enough that they don’t look like bedrooms, when the bedrooms are just picked up enough that you can make out a trail from bed to the closet to the door, when kitchen is just clean enough that you’d consider crossing the floor barefoot, and when the bathrooms have no standing water – and the children are gushing about how great the house looks?

We’ve worked all weekend, and it still feels like an uphill battle to Jodi and me. Meanwhile, Brendan is declaring victory: “Now all we gotta do is keep it this way!”