I'm really glad Mark decided to make office shelving units rather than purchasing them new. Between the lumber and paint, I figure one large and one small bookcase cost right around $100. I call that cheap for two large pieces of furniture that are color-coordinated and hefty too.

Hopefully Mark will still think they're beautiful in a decade despite his ever-improving skills. I know I'll continue to love them, but I'm an easy sell.

Moving my books and office supplies back in was a slightly more bittersweet experience. I'd already expunged over half of my clutter, but I found during the six weeks I spent with the rest piled out of reach that I really only missed 10% of what remained. Still, I put it all back anyway, not quite brave enough to delete items I rarely look at but might need...someday. The good news is, everything is now within easy reach and is instantly accessible.

Mark asked what I wanted to do with the wall space above the longer bookcase. "More shelves?" he suggested.

Unfortunately, I've found that stuff expands to fill the space allotted to it, so I decided to go for something pretty instead --- a fish tank turned aquaponics setup. Yes, I know I've poo-pooed the sustainability of aquaponics in the past, but I originally just wanted to put in a fish tank for pure soothing inspiration. If I'm already committing to feeding ornamental fish and heating their water, suddenly aquaponics made more sense.

So I used my Christmas money from Rose Nell and Jayne (thank you two so much --- you rock!) to order a premade unit that hopefully won't drip onto the books below. Stay tuned for talk of ammonia, cycling, and other technical terms once my present comes in the mail.