Wow. Well… 2022 is almost over, and it was quite a year!
If you haven’t read my previous posts there’s the one big, giant thing that happened. We moved to New Mexico!
Why New Mexico? Well, we were looking at Colorado. Colorado has big mountains. Turns out, New Mexico has big mountains - not quite as big - as well, and the cost of living is lower. But the big catalyst was that my sister got a job in New Mexico, so that made the pivot much, much easier.
We have been away from Iowa for a decade. In that time, most of my family has moved away from there, and some of Gabe’s family. And as far as I can tell, the weather is still kinda bleh there. No offense, Iowans, but I hate humidity. And while I like snow, I also like sun.
Guess what New Mexico has? All that. Except for the humidity. Okay, not nearly as much snow, but that’s okay. The sky is a perfect blue outside my window as I write this!
There’s also this thing where no one really visited us in Pennsylvania. We had beautiful, wonderful friends and neighbors there, but it really did come down to missing family. And the weather. I was on the struggle bus every winter there. Pittsburgh is one of the least sunny places in the United States. New Mexico? One of the sunniest.
We really miss our friends and neighbors in PA, but definitely recommend they come and visit us in NM! We’ve already had a few visitors, and we’ve only been here since May!
Okay. What else? Well, that was the biggest thing. Oh! And we sold our house and bought a house, and then my sister bought a house and now we own half of the New Mexico real estate. Kidding….
Most of the last months in PA were spent getting the house ready. Selling the house. The deal fell through. And then a better buyer comes along. Phew!
Since we’ve been here, we’ve done some hiking and been to Petroglyph National Monument - it’s about a 20 minute drive - and gone up to the top of the Sandia Mountains on the Tramway. Definitely recommend! Even though it was foggy looking out over Albuquerque that day. Still a fun time! We also went to the Balloon Fiesta and watched a mass ascension. 500-600 balloons going up in 2 hours as we stood on the field among them and ohmigosh it was so freaking cool. That’s in October every year, if you’re thinking of visiting! The weather is beautiful and BALLOONS!! Although there really are balloons up a lot here. Just about every day we see one flying over. It’s really cool.
At the beginning of 2022 I also became an employee with White Coat Captioning. It’s been a great year working for them, and I hope to continue in the future. Admittedly, becoming a W-2 employee certainly helped us buy this house. Although I would have made it work as an independent contractor as well. It was way easier with a glowing employer recommendation and paystubs.
Gabe has been working on becoming a home inspector. There have been a lot of bumps in the road, though, as we moved, and then I proceeded to make him paint a lot and do house stuff. And we currently have a leak in the roof of the garage. It’s a 30-year-old house with a flat roof. I still think we got a deal on it though.
2022 also had heartbreak for a lot of people. I’m still trying to come up with a fitting tribute for Lucy. The easiest one is always “fuck cancer” - she wasn’t much for swearing, but when she’d say that? The most adorable “fuck cancer” ever uttered. My heart is breaking for her family and I hope they are doing okay.
My heart is also breaking for another family who lost a loved one this past summer. Please, if you feel like your life isn’t worth continuing, call 988. Because you are loved. I promise you.
For immediate family, aka, dogs, Edie had decided to hurt herself a little in the hips and neck, so she was on bedrest for a time. Arthur didn’t care. He only walks for cookies. But then he had a lump on his back, and it turned out to be a little sarcoma. Pathology says benign/clear margins. But as Lucy would say: Fuck cancer!
Anyway, he's been wearing little shirts for a while. He is a nudist, and gets very frustrated because he can’t smoothly manipulate blankets because the shirt catches on them. Lots of frustrated little grunts. I know, buddy, I know. As soon as your hair grows back, you can run around naked again.
And then another thing just happened yesterday. That was December 10th. The story starts a long while ago, but culminated in a Facebook post by Sandoval County Animal Control on December 7th looking for a foster, some vodka - maybe gin too? - on December 7th and a promise. I promise to only foster. If we fail, it’s not my choice. And an application on December 8th, and a call that evening, and December 9th at 1pm, a dog being brought to our home with a crate and food and a bed.
Anyway, this is Chloe. Or something. She doesn’t respond to that name at all, and we’re working on that. Or we’ll change her name.
She was dumped. As one does with a mama dog and her puppies. Three puppies came into the shelter with her. Judging by her dangly boobies - she had way more. Hers are bigger ones than either Edie or I have - haha! The shelter was able to find a rescue to take the babies, but not mama. She’s emaciated and has yellow eyes and a nondescript brown color. I do not fault them for breaking them up a little early. They are full to the point of maybe having to euthanize dogs, and I absolutely know that they do not want to do that.
In her short time in the actual shelter, she slit her leg open trying to get out of her cage, so she has to wear a cone unless we can monitor her so she doesn’t chew on her stitches. They itch. She also isn’t allowed in our backyard without a leash because she’s pretty athletic. I will not be the foster that loses their foster doggo!!
We went on a walk today, and she doesn’t seem to really understand a leash, but also isn’t terrible with it. She’s a little nervous just walking out of doors into the outside. I mean, when someone dumps you and your babies, I don’t blame you at all. So far she appears to be fully potty trained and appears willing to learn. Our goal is to get her crate trained - I want to go see the lights at the botanic gardens! - and put 6-10 lbs on her. I believe she will be quite beautiful - regal even - when she’s at a normal weight and has gotten her muscle mass back. She’ll be fixed as soon as they can get her in, and she’ll never have to worry about babies ever again.
Sorry so much about that, but that’s what’s happening now.
2022 was uneventful for our health, so that was good. I did have an MRI a few weeks ago on a Sunday - yes, a Sunday - but that appears to be a non-event. Yay! We also got electric bikes, so we’ve been going out and riding. We even went for a ride after Thanksgiving, and might do more because it’s cool outside, but the sun makes it ok. The wind is the only issue, but a good windbreaker takes care of that. It’s been fun rolling around and getting to know our area. We often ride to the library - we have two in less than 2 miles - to grab my book club books.
Oh! We also had solar installed on our house here. Just waiting for the electric company to turn it on. Come on, PNM! And we have eaten an incredible amount of Hatch green chili since we have been here. It’s so freaking good. Even on Dion’s pizza. I’m serious. We are a green chili household, through and through.
I hope your 2022 went well, and that you did fun stuff. I hope that 2023 is awesome, and don’t forget to go outside and take a walk! Cheers!
