It’s been a bit since I last posted. Couple of weeks or so. Thought I’d post up progress on the house and what’s been going on with us as we adjust to living in New Mexico.
First, the house. Things are progressing quickly. We’re still hoping to make a Thanksgiving move-in date. It’s going to be close. Drywall is getting hung this week. All the interior framed walls have been insulated. Interior doors are here; frames are in and stained. Drywall should be done this week, then the team comes in and does plaster and texture. Here’s a picture of the current state of the dining room/drybar area. The brown stuff is sound insulation installed in the framed areas.
We’re getting the power trench dug this week and the buried pipes marked. We have cabinets on order, appliances are in storage with the vendor and I’ll be putting down some $$ for the lighting package. Our GC is dealing with the flooring and carpet. Pella will be here second week in September to fix all the windows and install the front door. The house is wrapped and ready for stucco – so that’s in flight.
We’re waiting on the Septic company to get back to us and schedule septic install. Then we’ll get water installed and painting started.
Things are starting to come together and it’s exciting. Thank goodness because I’m NOT A TRAILER PERSON. Living in the 5th wheel has been an experience, but I’m ready for my house and living like real people. Wendy is super excited. We bought Amish bedroom furniture and an Amish entertainment center. We still have to buy a bed and a living room television so there’s more monies. We did settle on Ethan Allan living room sofa and chairs for the kitchen island eating area. We have a fabricator for the kitchen counters and the quartz picked out. Once we get most of the interior stuff done, then we’ll level out the building pad and start work on the retaining wall to keep the pad stable and define a “yard area”. We’ll probably do a cinder block wall and stucco.
On a personal level, Wendy secured a new job with PNM the power company that I used to work for. It’s significantly better than where she’s currently working and close to home. She’s excited and I think she’ll like it a lot more with a lot less stress and drama. We’ve started going to a local church that’s small and has a lot of locals. Since my brother-in-law is recovering from his lung and heart issues, we haven’t gone out to breakfast, so we decided to invest time in our spiritual needs and become more rooted in the community. It’s very helpful for my mental health and our marriage.
We’re slowly finding doctors and dentists. I now have a good endocrinologist and cardiologist locally. I haven’t spent enough time finding a primary care doctor, but I’ll get that done this week, hopefully. My endocrinologist in Seattle put me on Ozempic, so I’ve lost a lot of weight (175 -> 157) and my blood pressure is way down. My diabetes is better and improving, but I need to start exercising on a regular basis and so resistance training. The Ozempic has reduced my lean muscle mass some, so I look a bit like a skeleton. Wendy isn’t happy with how much weight I’ve lost. With resistance training, it’ll restore the lost muscle mass. Still haven’t reviewed my echocardiogram with my cardiologist, but I read the results which seem positive. I’ve been taking MitoQ to help reduce and repair some of the hardening of the arteries. It seems to help but I won’t know until I talk to the cardiologist.
Once we’re in the house, I’m going to get involved in some shooting sports, specifically sporting clays. I think it’ll help me get more rooted in the community. The sporting clay shooters meet on Wednesday for breakfast before they go to the range. Sounds like fun and a chance to make some new acquaintances.
I’m planning on going to full retirement right after the first of the year. I think it’s time, and I will have the shop empty, so I can start building out my office and doing wood working. And there will be a lot of landscaping to complete. I can ride on Wendy’s medical and vision insurance and supplement with Medicare and a gap insurance plan. There will be plenty to do around the property, and I do need to get the pasture fenced.
Harp, our Wheaten Terrier has been having issues with arthritis. We took him to the vet and they gave him a shot of Librela Blue which really helped him. It’s good for about 3 – 4 weeks before he needs another one. He’s at 3.5 weeks from his first shot, so I can tell he needs another one. I’ll take him in this Friday. He’s getting up there now. He’s 11 going on 12, so we have a little more time with him and we intend to spoil him until we can’t. His passing will be really hard on Wendy and I. He’s such a wonderful dog. We are parenting Juni, which is Jaret’s labradoodle, but she’ll leave when Jaret comes to NM this October to pick up his stuff. He’s moving to Utah and becoming a resident. That’s a whole different story, but a good one….finally!!!!
Well, that’s about everything for now. There’s always little stuff going on, but generally life is trending in the right direction and we’re fortunate that everyone and everything is healthy for now.
Have a good week and labor day. We all work too hard, and need to work on being present for our loved ones. I’m so fortunate to have a wonder wife, daughter and sons. I miss them. I’m hoping I can make a trip up to Seattle and spend some time with my family and reconnect with our grandkids.
Take care –
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