JL, I still think of booze on a daily basis, mostly because of reading in here. It is good to read other posts in here and all the different levels of struggle that go on. There a lot of posts that are a great reminder of what I don't want to go back to. When I look back, I did not really like myself very much while in the midst of drinking. There were internal struggles going on within me on a daily basis. My wife told me I used to walk and curse like a sailor in my sleep. A big weight gets lifted from your conscious when you stop drinking. I knew it was wrong but my AV would justify reasons to keep drinking.
DD, my wife's theory is to get everything out of boxes as soon as possible. It makes the house a mess but forces you to either find the proper place or get rid of it. We had a lot more storage at our house in PA, so we ended up saving stuff we didn't really need. We had the Salvation Army come with a big truck to haul away stuff.