Making the apartment a home

Today we went to IKEA.  It took us about two hours to figure out how to get out there by bus, but we made it.  We needed some housewares to get the apartment up to speed and to give it a feeling of home.  Last night I cooked using a dull paring knife which was comical.  I purchased an IKEA chef's knife today which should be a big improvement (This will be returning to Tampa with me. You can carry big knives on planes, right?).

About halfway into our IKEA run, I became acutely dizzy and nauseous as Ali piled item after item into the shopping cart, knowing very well that most of it would be staying behind. "This would be good for the girls", "We need this for the kitchen", "Their room looks like a prison",  etc.  My internal Euro calculator was running wild. My fingers began to tingle and go numb. My face drained of color.  An old lady asked me if I needed water.

While obviously an embellishment, I think you get the idea of my state of mind.  My justification, and what pulled me out of my downward fiduciary mental spiral, was the fact that our apartment is about 500 Euros per month cheaper than we budgeted.  Hence, this budgetary gap opens up some room for items that will make everyone more comfortable.  Or more simply put, as Nolan Goss would say, "Happy wife, happy life".  Why is that little bird still whispering that in my ear?