I assumed that the reason all five of us are a little on the unsettled side was because of my new work situation; that three days a week I leave the house with the kids in the morning, and come home after they’ve returned home from school. 1.5-hour latchkey kids. I assumed incorrectly. None of us are really having any problems with this. In fact, it’s better than I thought it would be—for all of us. Character-independence building kind of stuff. Also, the 3:30pm Dictator is only able to dictate twice a week.

Nope. It’s the living in a staged house that is basically killing us. I realize in the grand scheme of problems, a family of five living in a basement is hardly what many would consider A PROBLEM, but we are finding it more difficult than not. Emily is concerned about the lack of food in her food. “Not all of the food groups are represented here,” she says. And she’s right. We are eating like we live in a frat house — think pizza, Chinese food, and chicken wings for those of us who eat chicken wings (I do not omg). There’s nothing green as far as the eye can see (unless you count garnishes or green M&Ms). I even drank Coke Zero for the first time in years. It’s like I don’t even know who I am anymore.

We are on top of each other. All the time. And everyone’s irritated by everything. I’m suddenly aware of who breathes loudly and who I can’t sit beside when we are eating our morning cereal out of paper bowls and plastic spoons. CRUNCH. I’m suddenly aware that we need a schedule for when we use the bathroom, since we are only using just the one. We are bickering over the television, over computer time. I have been volunteering to run errands in the deep freeze just so I can breathe. You guys, I willingly filled up my Jeep. Twice.

I have nowhere to go to take my pants off, watch Gilmore Girls, and write a blog post on my laptop.

Instead I have to keep my pants on, watch my children play Madden 25th Anniversary, while Emily works on her history paper on my laptop.

There’s no decompressing.

But I know this is short-lived. We have had lots of people come through our home each day, the feedback has been wonderful. There’s no doubt about it — our buyer is out there. And then things will go back to normal.

And I will be able to take my pants off.

On Friday night, a conversation with friends over alcohol and American goodies from Trader Joe’s (mmmmmmmm licorice) that began with the true beauty of The Royal Tenenbaums and ended with us all trying to figure out what our Top Five Movies Of All Time are led me to two conclusions: A) I make good choices in friends and B) Choosing only 5 movies is nearly impossible.

All of my time living in my basement has allowed me to ponder this.

Almost Famous

Sleepers

Fargo

For sure. And then the rest goes a little bit fuzzy. How do you decide what’s THE BEST. Cinematically the best? Or is it something you can watch over and over and over and over and over and never tire of? (If that’s the case, I could make a strong case for almost anything John Hughes and Back To The Future and, well, I’m not proud but Dirty Dancing.) Or maybe it’s something that you associate with a good experience. Beaches was the first movie I saw in the theater without my parents. Annie was the first movie I could act out from start to finish. Garden State was the first movie whose soundtrack I devoured.

Some Kind of Wonderful. Possibly.

Dead Poets Society. 

On The Waterfront. Pulp Fiction. Fight Club. Apocalypse Now. Rain Man. The Diving Bell And The Butterfly. Stand By Me. The Princess Bride. The Silence of The Lambs. The Godfather Part II. Mermaids. Newsies. All could have been contenders. (See what I did there?)

And of course, The Royal Tenenbaums.

Not nearly impossible, it seems.

Clearly impossible.

Could you come up with only five? I would love to hear yours. I’ve got nothing else to do but sit in the basement and listen to everyone chew.