Hey,
Good enough to hear your not avoiding us because your in the doghouse.
Here's the line I bet hooks her
.....
"Honey, what should the Village on the Holiday Layout look like."
(Best to check the padding in the wallet first 
)
Wiring can be a satisfying puzzle to meditate on.
The want for expansion never dies.
You have your step up from "something!, anything!" layout. But naturally You want "more".
So, IMO, Time to run trains, contently, while you plan your next moves.
Slowly, deliberately, carefully, and keep yourself busy with small projects you can test, and perfect for "the biggie".
Maybe its time to find a box of junk, or at least an item in need of some minor repair?
Loco's and/or scenery can be had for next to nothing if your patient and not extremely picky.
Even an old PW would keep you busy. There's always the option of selling it later if it doesn't really appeal to you.
Grouped blocks, turnouts, or accessory "conditions", thrown by single switches, connected to various relays for each scenario wanted, would give you a puzzle to wire.
There's lots of cheap digital controls to play with too.
Search out some of the tech threads by Gun Runner John, Stan, and a few others.
The focus has sort of been using various, extremely cheap, generic, electronic modules from E-bay, and others, to build all kinds of goodies.
