Went home and assembled the vac, then used it briefly - it's nice. It had a different sound/feel than my old one, but I'm hoping it will do well. It did fare decently against the existing cat hair, so I have hopes. Had lunch, then realized the time, so headed back in.
Will attempt assembly of the desk later, and call it my next step towards getting the living room all organized and such.
For now, have some minor things to take care of at work - reports, lab machine maintenance, etc. Should be able to split at a decent time.