OK, we've been moved in to the new house for just over a week now.

<> My parents and mother-in-law were a huge help during the move-in. Dad did a lot of the basic handyman stuff around the house, Mom cleaned and unpacked boxes, Mother-in-law did landscaping work. We couldn't have done it without them.

Our city provides us with garbage cans for garbage, recyclables, and yard waste. We haven't received the recycling and yard waste cans yet, so my first lawn mowing wasn't a bag job. It still took about 45 minutes, and the skies opened up and rained on me about 5 minutes before I finished. Mowing and bagging is going to take even longer.

<> Our big purchase for the new home was a 50" LCD HDTV for the family room, where we spend most of our time. Once the DirecTV people got the satellite installed, we got to watch some serious HDTV. For those of you who don't know, HDTV is amazing. I've been watching the HD channels just to see HD programming. We're excited to find out Arrested Development is going to be on HDNet.<> I also can't wait to see the new season of LOST in HD.

<> My big project for the rest of the summer is to tend to the yard. Currently, it's infested with weeds. I learned from my Dad that taking care of a lawn is a big project, but making your lawn beautiful and weed-free is a glorious thing. I'm gonna have to get lots of weed killers to get it up to shape, and it's going to take time, since I refuse to use a lawn-care service. Here in Kentucky, we've got a particular weed called wild violet that is a pain in the butt to kill. It took years to get it out of my last lawn, and when the neighbors don't care to get it out of their lawns, it doesn't make things easier.