Ups & Downs

My goal before writing this post is to come up with more ups than downs about being "homeless" for the past 11 months.
UPS
1. My mom lives next door
2. The monitor reaches next door
3. I can leave my sleeping babies in their beds while I run errands
4. I get to see my baby niece everyday
5. No utilitity bills (except when grandparents leave)
6. No mortgage/rent payments (we give expensive Christmas gifts instead)
7. Less housework
8. Less yardwork
9. My babies have a close relationship with the grandparents
10. I rarely feel alone, even though PBTB is gone A LOT
11. I borrow things from my mom and grandma all.the.time
12. I can pick up my mom's wireless connection
13. We eat over at my Mom's and MIL's A LOT
14. My grandparents have cable (never had it before)
15. My parents have TIVO (never had that before)
16. My grandparents' stairs are carpeted (I'm notorious for falling and ours were wooden)
17. My grandparents like to keep the house warm :)
18. My grandparents are snowbirds (we'll see them again in April)
19. My kids have a huge yard to play in (hurry up spring!)
20. I have a garage during the winter (while my grandparents are gone)
21. I have a kitchen, even if it's not mine, for now
20. I do have my own fridge and freezer
21. I have very generous Grandparents
22. I have very patient Grandparents
23. I have very tolerant Grandparents
24. I am very lucky to have a place to live

DOWNS
1. The term "put it away" does not exist here (we live on surface tops, all "aways" are taken)
2. I miss housework/yardwork of my own
3. I have constant anxiety about my kids/husband breaking something
4. My kids are too close during the night (they wake each other up), probably single biggest complaint
5. I have to pick up messes as soon as they are made, no exceptions, I can barely keep up and probably fail most of the time
6. It's impossible to clean or pick up when there's no space
7. I am dying for my own space
8. I miss my pets (some live at the construction site, others took up residence at a nearby barn)
9. I can't have parties
10. I have horrible guilt if the house isn't spotless
11. Doing laundry before my grandparents left was a nightmare
12. I hate putting our clothes away, because they're more accessible in the laundry baskets
13. I am in EVERYBODY'S way all.the.time
14. My stuff is in EVERYBODY's way all.the.time

Boy, that felt so good. I am so relieved and feel so good that my "ups" outweighed my "downs", by a long shot and without even trying.