Settling In

 

Every morning, when I get up, I do a balloon check, looking south out of the bedroom window. Most days, we have balloons - there were five this morning. The day I took this photo, a couple of them drifted relatively close to the house, though usually they are far in the distance. I have been up around 7:00 most mornings, which is prime time for balloons; by about 9:00 they are all down.

Our belongings are all here, boxes are all over the house, and we are unpacking room by room. Our bedroom is mostly unpacked, and the kitchen and the dining room. I got the garage organized to the extent that I got the car in. We have hardly started on the living room and the office. The guest bedroom will have to wait for now.

We had our old couch and loveseat from Washington hauled away before we moved. They both were duct-taped on the bottom, and it did not seem worth the money to have them moved. We also left our main television behind, and we disassembled our office furniture and took the pieces to the dump, so we needed a new living room set, a TV, and a computer desk. We already ordered a sectional and recliner, to be delivered Friday, and a desk, to be delivered Thursday, and we are looking at televisions and TV stands.

For now, the main task every day is to choose a room and get it set up. We still get to look forward to the first day that unpacking is not the main order of business.

Some other notes: Arlo and I have found a nice walk that includes a little-used trail down the street, then over to Cabezon Park, which includes a dog park that we have had to ourselves so far, then back home via a different trail that goes by the mailboxes. It takes about an hour. We have to walk during daylight hours, though, which is different from Jubilee - there are no streetlights here.

The sun here is relentless. It has been in the forties each morning, but sunny and clear day after day. The temperature rises quickly to seventy or so by the afternoon. I wear a hat during my walks to keep the sun off of my face, and I think I felt a little sunburn the other day when I forgot to. I cannot remember the last time I got sunburned in Washington.

I already have a bridge partner for Thursdays, and I already played in a tournament in Santa Fe. My partner needed a couple of silver points for her Life Master, and we got those on Saturday. She still needs some gold points though; I might help her with those as well.

So far, we are happy here.