Wow! It’s been almost a year since we started this adventure and now, we’re approaching Christmas and 2026. The house is making a lot of progress as we’re close to getting our occupancy permit.
We are at the stage where the inside is getting finished. We have some tile down, but ran short, so that’s on order. HVAC is now working, so now we have heat and cooling. Just need the wood floors installed and the rest of the tile and bathroom done. Our plumbers are coming this week to start setting the toilets and sinks after the counter tops go in today and tomorrow. Friday is the appliance pre-install walk-thru but can’t install anything until the floors in done. Unfortunately, our tile crew has the flu, so they are down for the week. Our GC got it also, so things are slowed down for now. We are still working on getting a carpet installer, which we need before we can get furniture delivered.
We’re thinking we get occupancy around the 2nd week of January. Probably won’t have everything done, but at least we can start moving into the house and out of the trailer. Lots of little stuff to do yet. We still have to pick out handles for the cabinets, get organizers for the cabinets and stuff for the house. We’ll have baseboards installed after we get our occupancy permit. And our mirrors for the master and 3/4 bath are on backorder because of parts – so those will have to wait. Like I said, lot of little things to do yet.
Next spring we’ll start with the landscaping. I’m hoping to put in a retaining wall around the house and level off the pad so we can do some xeriscaping around the house and get in some native plants. We have to add some steps up to the house and gravel around the house, so the rain doesn’t splash mud on the white stucco. It’ll be another year before we get everything settled out. And we need to have the outdoor cooking area done so we can BBQ.
So much else has changed since we first got here. Wendy left her job at Vitality Works and is now working for PNM our electric utility for NM. It’s great because I can help her with all her work. I’m retiring for good on March 27th this year. A bit scary as I’ve spent a lot of my retirement monies building this house, but I think it’ll work out fine with Social Security and my pension. I’ll need to be more frugal, which will be a challenge but character building. I think I’m going to work on a consulting business to bring in a little extra income and do volunteer work at the Albuquerque Biopark and Aquarium to use my scuba skills. I’ll also play golf and do some shooting along with woodworking and riding our Can-Am in the desert. I love riding our side-by-side as it’s sooooo much fun and really is a good workout.
In the spring, I’m going to work with Wendy’s cousins to revitalize our pastureland. We have about an acre and a half of land we can use for pasture. We’re going to let Wendy’s cousin’s goats graze the land along with the cow. And we have overwintering Sandhill Cranes that are spectacular to watch.
I’m hoping that once the pasture is revitalized, the Cranes will spend some time at our place. They keep the dogs busy watching them as they are a noisy bunch of birds. Sandhill Cranes are the largest crane in North America.
This year the holiday season is going to be pretty low key. We’re staying here in New Mexico and doing some local events. We saw the Nutcracker this year – very different from the versions in NYC and Seattle. We’ll do Christmas dinner at one of the local resorts and then stroll thru Old Town Albuquerque and enjoy the lights. It’s been warm here, in the 60’s during the day and 30’s at night – unusual for NM this time of year.
We’ll there’s a lot more to talk about, but I have to get some chores done before 7:00am this morning. Need to go turn off the lights in the house and get the garbage out to the curb. I have to leave the gate open today for all the subcontractors coming as it’s going to be busy here today and tomorrow. And I need to finish a drainage trench today with the tractor and spread the rest of the gravel. Have to get the tractor back to my father-in-law on Sunday/Monday.
Take care everyone and have a wonderful pre-holiday weekend. Wishing everyone a wonderful Xmas and New Year.
-Gary
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