*SIGH*

It must be the milder weather and messiness of my house. But lately (and by lately I mean today) I've found myself reminiscing about happier times--like last Christmas when the Ehman and Schodroski families came together in our new home to celebrate the holiday:

Hallway, Dining Room cleared at last
A Christmas miracle, some say
DECEMBER 26
DINING ROOM TABLE, Downstairs -- Maybe miracles really are really for real.

In an amazing turn of events, the once perma-cluttered Downstairs Hallway and Dining Room were cleared shortly before the Christmas holiday. The clearing reportedly took place as Keith and Sarah prepared for the temporary surge in the house population, which was to take place on Christmas Day.

“It was a critical measure, both for safety and sanity’s sake,” Sarah said in a statement issued early yesterday.

The number of people that typically inhabit the house was expected to increase by 550%.

The clearing comes after several months of maze-like living. The Dining Room was serving as a temporary shelter for homeless tools and miscellanea. The Hallway was host to a constantly changing array of things such as boxes, tools, recent purchases and laundry.

“It makes [the Downstairs] seem so much bigger,” Keith said of the newly emptied spaces, as Sarah danced happily around without stubbing her toes or bruising her shins. Or knees. Or thighs.

The Hallway experienced a brief relapse on Christmas Day, when Auntie Julie, Grandma and Grandpa Ehman arrived and filled both the Living Room and Hallway with presents. The fallback lasted only a few hours, however, and did not seem to hinder traffic or the Christmassy mood in any way. All rooms were clear again by the time the crowd dispersed, around 9 p.m.