Are You My New Insurance Agent?

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Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

This friendly little guy visited us on our back porch yesterday. He spoke no words but he seemed glad to see us, and stayed still as we sipped coffee in the cool of the morning. He is not a gecko, but I did ask if he was selling insurance. His lack of reply suggests that I was in error with my question.

Today I was visited by a vulture as I walked along my foothill route. I discovered, upon closer inspection that the building I thought was a building site storage facility, was actually Las Cruces City Well #40. Along it ran a road (hard pack dirt and deeply rutted) running parallel to the Organ mountains, so I set off that way yesterday.

I took the same route today, and saw said vulture riding the thermals. He alit atop the light pole that was adjacent to Las Cruces City Well #41, about a mile along the way. From his profile, I realized that he was not the hawk that I first assumed, but had the beak and head of a vulture. He was nowhere near the size of the meadow vultures, which are called turkey vultures. Here they are something else.

I’ve also seen some rather large tracks in the soft sand, and well, they don’t look like dog feet, but then again, the sand may wash out the toenails. I’m thinking large cat, which means mountain lion or something of that sort. I have no idea whether such animals are in this area. But I see others walking about from time to time, so I assume it must be fairly safe. Certainly no, “Beware of Dangerous Carnivores” is apparent.

Which all suggests that it’s time to invest in a local animal, plant, reptile, bug book. One should be able to talk intelligently about the critters and plants that one inhabits space with. I must say, there are a number of native plants that I would love to have in my yard. Others not so much. The “palms” which are both common to the foothills and throughout town as decorative flora, are quite awful from my perspective. The whole thing is essentially dead except for the very top. The just grow taller and taller, and the lower leaves all die off. Not my cup of tea.

On the home front, we have secured driver’s licenses, gotten our direct deposits all changed, and done a bit more of shopping. We have received the Contrarian’s desk and chair, my cutting table, and seven bookcases (in need of assembly). We are scheduled to get a chair and a stand for the flat screen today. So by Monday we should be ready to get our guys back to haul the rest of the boxes from the garage to the library, and I can finish the unpacking.

This comes as no small feat, and one very necessary at this point. I got ready to make pizza yesterday, and realized that the jar of yeast was obviously in a box that is unmarked and still in the garage. We had flour tortilla pizza instead. LOL. Such is life.

So that’s the state of things here at this time. We are trying very hard to not push it. We have a lifetime to settle in. But you know how it goes. At some point, you just want it all done! And I do. Another week or so and it probably will be.

Are you feeling in a limbo because you can’t move on until X is over, done, or overcome? Do you tend to live in the future rather than this moment? I have in the past been prone to this. If you solved it, tell us how. If you haven’t, tell us your story.

Adios.

A Journey of a Thousand Miles. . . .

I had some time to reflect on this journey as I sat in the pew of the church yesterday. How far I had come, how impossible the journey seemed at the start. How may obstacles and roadblocks, climbed and dismantled.

The meadow, with all its richness of animal and plant life had become my prison. Distance and an ugly lane that threatened any vehicle that had the nerve to attempt it, served to keep me embraced in a love-hate relationship that grew more to hate, sad to say. I resented my lack of mobility and distance I must go to get to the most mundane of destinations.

Having the most loving of husbands, he declared that I had given him twelve wonderful years in the meadow, and it was now my turn to live out my dream.

And so we find ourselves here. Here in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where the terrain is so very different, and the weather is no longer my enemy. Saturday, I went to our Farmer’s market, and purchased a fine walking stick from a lovely gentleman who makes them as his retirement hobby. And today I set out away from the neighborhood and into the foothills to see what I could see.

A rough dirt road leads east towards the mountains, following a line of electric poles. A building stands in the distance, belonging no doubt to the building contractor who was forced to abandon his plans when the housing market collapsed three plus years ago. It is that collapse that allowed us to purchase a huge home thousands of dollars cheaper than we would otherwise been able to afford.

A third of a mile along the route, a side road veers off to the right and begins a meandering weave still heading east but in a less explicit way. I scan back and forth for snakes and other unfriendlies but see nary a thing, just the desert grasses and tiny cactus plants littering the sand. Off in the distance, I can see mean looking houses and perhaps a trailer or two, suggesting that there is another neighborhood out here. I can hear a dog or two, but that is all. Few if any birds seem interested in the land, though it is still quite cool this Monday morning.

After about twenty minutes, I feel my legs, which suggests that perhaps I’ve gone far enough this time, and I turn back. I see an old pickup running along the electric lines, that main “road” I had doglegged off from. It continues on to where the pavement begins, slowing down and dropping carefully over the curb and then proceeding off to the highway.

I returned home tired but happy and an hour later, I headed off to the aquatic center to start my second new adventure–swimming laps three days a week, and the senior discount of $1.50 per hour. And from there, a stop at the grocery store to get the food necessary to create a few pleasant meals.

My arms hurt from movements they haven’t made in way too long. My legs get stronger and feel pretty good. The Contrarian is off to Lowe’s to but picture hangers, and grass killer to get ready for the renovation of our back yard. We have a lot of stuff to buy this week, a gas grill, table for the patio, a desk and chair for his office, and some kitchen cabinets and counter for my craft room. And of course some 7-8 bookcases to buy for the library. Then the rest of the boxes to be moved in, and back to unpacking.

But the end is near.

We have the car retitled and registered and we will get our new driver’s licenses and voter registration before the end of the week.

And then there is all the other plans. The hope that I can find volunteer work at the mission or at a food pantry. The traveling we wish to do to the Grand Canyon and to Taos. And we must visit Carlsbad of course, it’s only a couple of hours away or so.

It is a new life. It is a new commitment. It is my dream come true.

What is your dream? Are you living it now? Are you working on it?

Until the next time!

Being Pooped

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Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

That is me.

All this time, you probably thought I was a human.

I’m not.

I live to be lazy.

It’s really really hard to be lazy when you move. Cuz if you are lazy, the boxes just sit and talk to you, and they are creepy.

So, here is where things stand. I know, you haven’t been able to sleep for waiting to hear have ya?

Kitchen is basically done, except for the one or two boxes that I obviously never marked and are still in the garage holding my salt-cellar, my food processor, and a few other things. But I can function okay with the way things are.

The floors are being done by the end of the week. Our guy has found the tile store which supplied the tile for the main floors, so when finished, the whole house will be tiled except for the closets which are carpeted.

We have two fully functional bathrooms, all the caulking is finished, and I have shower curtains for both. The front-loading washer and dryer are wonderful, using much less water and soap that the top filler. Love them both.

Once the floors are done we will move to phase whatever, getting our moving guys to bring in the boxes from the garage, and getting the stuff to set up all three rooms. So a new round of deliveries. We are still missing our coffee table and end table (not yet in) and a chair and a TV entertainment center, also not yet in. I have 4 more chairs to purchase for various rooms, and various other smaller pieces of this and that, and so forth.

I wish it were all done, but it’s a process, and we are so far done that it freaks me sometimes to recall how things were just a mere two months ago. We are now waiting for the insurance cards to arrive so we can re-register the car. Then there is the matter of getting new licenses, registering to vote, blah, blah, blah.

Our handyman is also going to give us an estimate on making a gazebo off the covered porch and rocking the back yard. Then we will buy some additional plantings. I want mostly native desert plants. I get some good ideas from the neighbors.

So, sorry about the boring aspects of all this. I get very little time at the computer since I am obsessive about getting things put away. I’m ready to set up my craft room and the library. The Contrarian will take care of his office set up, and has pretty much decided on his furniture desires.

I’m paying attention to the political scene but have not fire in the tummy for writing about it right now. I hope that changes when I finally get settled in.

I’m cooking, but frankly not really enjoying it much mostly because I’m so tired when I get to it. We are loving the restaurants about town though. I have learned that what I make must be strictly Tex-Mex, since New Mexican cuisine is quite different. We are in love with the enchiladas, burritos and tacos, even though they don’t resemble my versions. I spied a local bookstore in old downtown and will be stopping in to look for an authentic New Mexico cookbook.

So that’s that. Hope you are all doing well. I try to visit when I can.

Oh, do me a huge favor. Please send a HI at my new e-mail. Nothing more required. It will make it ever so much easier to set up my new address book. I truly hate setting up a new e-mail service. But I can one-button add you from a e-mail sent to me. So please all of you, just drop a HI to casapeyton@centurylink.net and I would appreciate it. I know I owe a couple of e-mails myself to those who have asked for a street address. I will get to it soon, I promise.

Adios.

What a Difference a Few Days Makes

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Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

Hola!

Boy things have been moving fast here. As you can see, being back on the Internet one of them.

This is the front of our home.

We have furniture (partial at least) which was delivered Monday and we moved in that afternoon, having a bed and a couch.

Our POD was delivered on Tuesday, and Wednesday three wonderful guys were hired to unpack it. They did so in record time and I began to reassemble my kitchen. That took three full days but it’s pretty well done now.

The POD was picked up Wednesday afternoon, so we are done completely with them. The washer and dryer arrived today along with the Direct TV and the Internet connection. I’m now in the process of unpacking clothes and the next item is to pull up the carpeting in the extra bedrooms and put in either tile or wood flooring and then set them up. So I’ll have a bit of a breather.

The fireplace at the right is ours, and is a gas one which the Contrarian is thrilled with. I’m not sure we would use a wood one. After all these years, he’s about tired of dealing with wood.

The weather has been wonderful. Sunny every day, and hot. Most everyone says close to the house during the day, and most outside activity takes places in the early evening or early morning.

I’ve been walking the neighborhood each morning which takes about 25 minutes in total. Fun to get ideas on landscaping and so forth. The mountains remain beautiful. At the end of the block I can look left and see the Doña Anas and to the right of course, the Organs. They seem close enough to walk to, but I rather suspect they are not.

I’ve seen bunnies running in the foothills and I think a roadrunner. We have doves and some sparrows nesting in some of our trees.

The neighborhood is quiet except for the dogs, which I wake every morning on my walk. You can pretty much identify where I am in the subdivision by which dogs are barking at me.

We’ve been going pretty much non-stop since Monday morning, and every single muscle in my body is telling me about it.

It’s more exercise than I’ve had in a good while, but in a week or so, I’m sure I’ll be fine.

This gives you a general idea of how the house looks.

The kitchen is actually bigger than it looks. Next to the fridge on this side is a full pantry that is already bursting with canned goods.

Everything seems to work fine.

I’m doing my first load of clothes in my new washer and it is so quiet you wouldn’t know it was working but for the ding at the end.

We still have a lot to do with landscaping and the office, library and craft room, but at least we are now able to cook and relax.

I still have plenty of furniture shopping to do, mostly chairs for various rooms. These will come later when we get those rooms set up better.

I have a new e-mail which is casapeyton@centurylink.net. I can’t figure out how to capture my old e-mail yet, and it all seems strange as you would expect but the wi-fi is wonderful. Anyways, enough for now, and I hope to get back to blogging on a serious basis soon. Sickening about Wisconsin, but I figured that dick would pull it out.

So Adios until I can get back at it. Take care, and thanks for all your encouragement and prayers.

So Many Decisions

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Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

Well here we are on our next to last day in Motel land. We bought cleaning products and took all the new bedding and towels to the house and spent more time trying to figure out how things work. Three thousand switches would not be out of line. There is even a switch for the gas fireplace. There are lights for indoors and outdoors, and garage and well, you get the picture.

Tomorrow the furniture is being delivered. Then we will return to the motel and pack it up and leave for home. We will be without Internet until Friday some time. Hopefully there will be no glitches. We are supposed to be Wi-Fi available and of course we are wired for cable. The dish is already there.

One puzzling oddity that we have not yet solved. Mail is located at common mail boxes at the end of the block between blocks. But they are not numbered by house number but contain 24 boxes numbered 1-12 “A” and 1-12 “B”. We also have no key and no way to know which is ours. The one neighbor I talked to said they got keys from the “builder” back when they first bought into the area. He’s shut down his building operation now it would seem due to housing crisis.  

So the first step is to call the company and see if they are still in operation, and then I guess call the post office. There must be a solution. But as you can guess, we are used to having our own mailbox at the curb. So weird.

We’ve decided to slow down our unpacking and remove all the carpeting from three bedrooms, the only carpeting in the house. The master bedroom has cherry wood floors. We are putting down wood floors in those rooms. Figured it made more sense to do it now, rather than have to dismantle rooms in order to do it, and especially hard when you have 6 book cases filled with books.

Thanks for your great ideas regarding a house name! I like ’em! I am anxious to get settled, but realize it’s going to be a slow process, and that is what it needs to be. Better to get it right than just throw things together.

So, thanks again for all your support. And hopefully I’ll be back with you soon.

Bless ya!

Homeless No More!

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Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

Just an update.

I am one pooped person.

We shopped.

We got the keys to the house late yesterday, and the deed has been filed. We are officially the owners of Puffin Hacienda. The Contrarian prefers that title, and prefers that you now refer to him as Don Contrarian, if you please. Yeah, I know, I told him to go soak his head too.

I do think a name is in order for our new New Mexican home though. Puffin seems wrong, since there are no nests or sea shore near by. We nearly made an offer on a place located on Leaping Lizard Loop. Now that is a name doncha think? So, given that we are in the foothills of the Organ Mountains on the way to the White Sands Missile Range, and on the way to Alamagordo. We have yuccas and other desert like plants, and no doubt plenty of gecko-ey like lizards around. So offer up a name for our abode!

As I said, we shopped.

We bought a sofa, chest of drawers, dining room set, lazy boy, coffee table, two end tables, another occasional chair for the library, and a entertainment center for the big screen. We have about 3 more chairs to buy and patio furniture, all the book cases, and some kitchen cabinets and kitchten top to construct a work area in my craft room. Also the washer and dryer. First we are building a stand to raise them up since I’m getting front loaders.

I also purchased bedding and towels and a shower curtain.

The bulk of the furniture is being delivered on Monday. The POD arrives on Tuesday, the Direct TV and WiFi is being hooked up on Friday. So we are moving over on Monday, since it will be no worse than we have here, actually a bit better. No cooking equipment, but a microwave and fridge, and couch and chair, dining table, bed and one bathroom worth of stuff. Whew.

So we are moving along. Still a lot of crap stuff to do, such as register the car, new driver’s licenses, VA tax waivers to fill out, yada yada yada. But given that a year ago I was on the way other end of this, I think we are moving along darn well. At least the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bright enough to look for sunglasses.

Thanks for all your good wishes, and let me know if you can think of a name for our hacienda. And yes, I keep thinking that the Feather needs a new name now too, so offer it up if it comes to you.

TA TA

So from Monday until Friday no Internet. How will I survive? lol…