As my 60th birthday approached, I'd think 'you'll have to change your 'About Me' to read '60+'.
My birthday was two and a half weeks ago and I just did the update today - and realized there's a lot more than just my age to change. There's also updating that we still live in our dream house but it's now in Carson City. AND we are BOTH now happily retired. I truly did love my work in education more than any other work I've ever done - but boy howdy, I'm super happy to no longer be working AT ALL. Retirement is awesome!
J. is playing golf late today - a 2PMish tee time - it was strange knowing he was planning to play today but he was home all morning. He plays again tomorrow and will be out of the house pretty early.
I was glad he was home this morning 'cuz he helped me get brownies made - we're sending a care package to B. in Texas - hopefully they will ship tomorrow and arrive by the end of the week (or sooner).
I decided to head to Reno yesterday - I rarely go these days without a 'reason' - no new free play yesterday but it was a 4x comps for slot play so I decided to play. I had a great day and while I was down a bit, I regrouped stellarly on my favorite 'Hail Mary' machine. Made up all the losses and walked out even. Yay!
Our new neighbors T. & G. play mostly at El Dorado in downtown Reno - and their casino host got in touch with us (through them) and offered to set us up in their players club and bring us in at the same players level we are at Atlantis. Huge, HUGE nice thing for them to do - clearly hoping we'll play there and I'm sure we will a bit. We plan to go on Thursday evening for a bit - meet the host, pick up our cards.
I'm also spending Friday & Saturday night at Atlantis this week - there's an Anniversary celebration with drawings from 6PM to 9:30PM nightly - and since the room was free, I decided to stay. Might win (sure hope to) free play or cash - and those drawings can be really great - I've won lots of free play - not often, but some. It's worth the trip! And I'm super looking forward to staying there so having beers while I play isn't an issue.
In other news, J. moved my iTunes files over to the new computer - only since I selected using the "OneDrive" when we set up the computer, I've hugely exceeded my "OneDrive" storage limit. I can't save anything on the computer now. I just drafted an email to our Tracy Realtor and it couldn't be saved - anywhere. It's maddening. What a racket - use "OneDrive" and we'll charge you a monthly or annual fee to store your 'stuff'. This laptop has HUGE memory space - really, a LOT - so now we have to figure out how to deactiviate "OneDrive" and get my stuff on my computer's hard drive where it will stay safe and sound for decades.
Of course, J. made the change yesterday - and will now be MIA for two days - so I'm limited to just surfing the web, being on Facebook and updating the blog.
If you ever get a new computer and the setup asks 'do you want to use OneDrive?' say NO. NO NO NO NO NO.
Monday, June 22, 2020
Friday, June 19, 2020
AIr Traffic Control
There is a fair amount of air traffic overhead on any given day - Carson City being 26 miles away from Reno. It's definitely right on the 'flight path' of many South bound flights. I've started using an online site to 'see' what's flying overhead.
We also have private jets leaving Carson City pretty regularly - the Governor's jet, for example. We never really thought about that until our soon-to-be neighbors pointed out 'probably the Governor's plane' as we saw/heard a small jet overhead.
And Life Flight helicopters coming in to the hospital we can see across the golf course.
One of the many adjustments to this 'new' place are all the sounds - trying to identify what's what. Surrounded by construction and all the big (and small) equipment that requires. It's a fairly constant cacophony during the day. Has me on edge a bit. No reason why. Anything 'new' takes time to adjust to and that's definitely true for me when it comes to settling in to a new home.
Taxes are ready to be e-filed this morning and I feel so glad to have that huge item off the list of things to do. We're getting refunds, too, which is unusual. I calculated our Federal taxes to within one half of one percent - but way overpaid for State. Not surprising - I was so stressed about just getting the estimated taxes paid, I sent a huge amount to the State and knew I was sending too much. At the time I had to pay (January, 2020), I just wanted to get it done.
Won't have to worry about that anymore since we don't owe state taxes in Nevada, ever! So yay!!
And we changed the Federal withholding coming out of our monthly IRA withdrawal which eliminated the need to file quarterly estimated taxes ever again! We'll have enough withheld to keep us out of any penalty zone - and very likely within a low percentage of variance so hopefully no penalties for underpaying throughout the year.
I sometimes remind myself that when I feel like I'm being a slug - at my desk a lot during the day - I am doing things that need doing - and it sure feels great to get those things crossed off the list. Though I also admit 'slug-gish' days do happen. I'm retired!
In fact, today is the one year anniversary of my LAST DAY OF WORK!
It's Friday - and our plans include cleaning kitchen and bathrooms, working on putting stuff away (unpacking, tidying, organizing) in the 'office' and general tidying.
And I'm going to try to take a walk. J. and I took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday - he wanted to show me a house that has 'blue' stone I was considering for the yard. It was a nice, brisk walk and it felt good.
I saw the Physician's Assistant this week and had some labs done and my Triglycerides are higher than last year (I looked at lab results on line from Tracy doctor) - and I need to work on that. The relationship between consumption of things that turn to sugar (I switched to raw honey on my yogurt, thinking that was better than sweet yogurts) and lack of movement can't be denied. I like honey on my yogurt. And a beer now and then. So if I want those things, I need to physically move more to offset the consumption.
My FitBit is also going to help with that - reminds me to get up throughout the day and move -
Free play day at Atlantis tomorrow!!
We also have private jets leaving Carson City pretty regularly - the Governor's jet, for example. We never really thought about that until our soon-to-be neighbors pointed out 'probably the Governor's plane' as we saw/heard a small jet overhead.
And Life Flight helicopters coming in to the hospital we can see across the golf course.
One of the many adjustments to this 'new' place are all the sounds - trying to identify what's what. Surrounded by construction and all the big (and small) equipment that requires. It's a fairly constant cacophony during the day. Has me on edge a bit. No reason why. Anything 'new' takes time to adjust to and that's definitely true for me when it comes to settling in to a new home.
Taxes are ready to be e-filed this morning and I feel so glad to have that huge item off the list of things to do. We're getting refunds, too, which is unusual. I calculated our Federal taxes to within one half of one percent - but way overpaid for State. Not surprising - I was so stressed about just getting the estimated taxes paid, I sent a huge amount to the State and knew I was sending too much. At the time I had to pay (January, 2020), I just wanted to get it done.
Won't have to worry about that anymore since we don't owe state taxes in Nevada, ever! So yay!!
And we changed the Federal withholding coming out of our monthly IRA withdrawal which eliminated the need to file quarterly estimated taxes ever again! We'll have enough withheld to keep us out of any penalty zone - and very likely within a low percentage of variance so hopefully no penalties for underpaying throughout the year.
I sometimes remind myself that when I feel like I'm being a slug - at my desk a lot during the day - I am doing things that need doing - and it sure feels great to get those things crossed off the list. Though I also admit 'slug-gish' days do happen. I'm retired!
In fact, today is the one year anniversary of my LAST DAY OF WORK!
It's Friday - and our plans include cleaning kitchen and bathrooms, working on putting stuff away (unpacking, tidying, organizing) in the 'office' and general tidying.
And I'm going to try to take a walk. J. and I took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday - he wanted to show me a house that has 'blue' stone I was considering for the yard. It was a nice, brisk walk and it felt good.
I saw the Physician's Assistant this week and had some labs done and my Triglycerides are higher than last year (I looked at lab results on line from Tracy doctor) - and I need to work on that. The relationship between consumption of things that turn to sugar (I switched to raw honey on my yogurt, thinking that was better than sweet yogurts) and lack of movement can't be denied. I like honey on my yogurt. And a beer now and then. So if I want those things, I need to physically move more to offset the consumption.
My FitBit is also going to help with that - reminds me to get up throughout the day and move -
Free play day at Atlantis tomorrow!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Projecting Forward
Atlantis and Grand Sierra are offering a fair amount of freeplay these days - so my weeks include two or three trips to Reno weekly, depending on the offers. I'm pleased as punch to say after some loss, I regained and have stayed mostly even the past week or so. The play is fun - nice to get out of the house and playing on the casino's money makes for a fun day. Fun to see friends - may not know people super 'well' but not seeing people for weeks on end has left all of us slot players grateful and glad for the gift of slot friends.
I'm home today - next trip to Reno will be Saturday - and while I vowed to work on organizing the office, I've been doing other stuff.
For me, the huge things on the list are the things I procrastinate on terribly - and upon getting started, it really wasn't that hard - I finally (FINALLY!) projected our 2020 taxes and gleefully realized that the amount I've set aside to send the IRS at the end of this month won't be needed. We're going to change our withholding on our IRA withdrawal for the rest of the year (and going forward) - and that increase will more than cover what we'll owe when combined with what has already been withheld. This is a HUGE event - because those funds will now be moved back to savings and have increased our savings balance enough to pencil in a higher number for landscaping.
We've been doing our 'homework' on planning the backyard and it's super hard. Because of the EXTREME winds (really, they make the Tracy high winds we'd get once a month or so look like a breeze), we have to consider options for ensuring whatever we use as ground cover won't blow off and away. And because we love to garden - we love piddling around, dead-heading blossoms and weeding, pruning, etc. - it's hard to know what to do. Most yards here are plants with decomposed granite around them - the DG is compacted down so it (mostly) stays put. But the things about it's composition that make it 'stay put' are also things that make continued planting problematic. We would need to pick plants we are OK with forever because trying to 'add as we go' would involve digging up the DG, replacing it (after planting) and then needing to compact the DG back down. Otherwise, it will end up on the golf course or on our back patio when there are high winds.
And so far, 'high winds' (as I call them vs. the almost tornado or cyclone winds they resemble) are happening weekly.
I'm torn about the decisions we need to make and finalize for the landscape company - and I just keep going over and over.
We trekked to a local nursery earlier this week and made a list (and took a lot of pictures) of plants we like. We hope to give our landscaper a 'plot map' showing what we're thinking - precise location of clusters of plants - mostly perennials with some shrubs added in. The landscaper already spray painted 'walkways' and 'planted areas' on the ground so we have a rough idea.
We plan to have a pretty bench near the northwest corner of the yard - it's a beautiful view and we enjoy going out nightly to look at the rabbits that come out at dusk every day. We'll need that bench secured into the ground. We're also thinking of some kind of water feature - while I'd love to do something amazing like a 'stone wall with a sheet fountain' we'll likely buy a pre-formed 'fountain' of some kind - for a bit of water sound. Bird baths are also being considered but so far, I haven't found any available that I like. I'm not big on 'traditional' - so I need a modern take on how to give birds a place to drink and hang out.
I think writing this post helped me finalize (in my head) an approach - we'll pick the plants, have them planted, get the DG to be the ground cover in those spaces and see where we're at next Spring. Odds are the plants will fill in beautifully and we'll have plenty of dead-heading, pruning and weeding to keep us busy. We also plan to do some planters (we brought all of our patio pots with us from Tracy - though we sacrificed all the soil that was in them - to add pops of annuals for color at the front door and on the back patio. And maybe in a corner or two of the yard.
Season 3 of "Marcella" is out on Netflix so I have to get back to watching it - it's complex and when I don't follow it closely, I end up torturing J. about 'what just happened?' Poor guy.
I'm home today - next trip to Reno will be Saturday - and while I vowed to work on organizing the office, I've been doing other stuff.
For me, the huge things on the list are the things I procrastinate on terribly - and upon getting started, it really wasn't that hard - I finally (FINALLY!) projected our 2020 taxes and gleefully realized that the amount I've set aside to send the IRS at the end of this month won't be needed. We're going to change our withholding on our IRA withdrawal for the rest of the year (and going forward) - and that increase will more than cover what we'll owe when combined with what has already been withheld. This is a HUGE event - because those funds will now be moved back to savings and have increased our savings balance enough to pencil in a higher number for landscaping.
We've been doing our 'homework' on planning the backyard and it's super hard. Because of the EXTREME winds (really, they make the Tracy high winds we'd get once a month or so look like a breeze), we have to consider options for ensuring whatever we use as ground cover won't blow off and away. And because we love to garden - we love piddling around, dead-heading blossoms and weeding, pruning, etc. - it's hard to know what to do. Most yards here are plants with decomposed granite around them - the DG is compacted down so it (mostly) stays put. But the things about it's composition that make it 'stay put' are also things that make continued planting problematic. We would need to pick plants we are OK with forever because trying to 'add as we go' would involve digging up the DG, replacing it (after planting) and then needing to compact the DG back down. Otherwise, it will end up on the golf course or on our back patio when there are high winds.
And so far, 'high winds' (as I call them vs. the almost tornado or cyclone winds they resemble) are happening weekly.
I'm torn about the decisions we need to make and finalize for the landscape company - and I just keep going over and over.
We trekked to a local nursery earlier this week and made a list (and took a lot of pictures) of plants we like. We hope to give our landscaper a 'plot map' showing what we're thinking - precise location of clusters of plants - mostly perennials with some shrubs added in. The landscaper already spray painted 'walkways' and 'planted areas' on the ground so we have a rough idea.
We plan to have a pretty bench near the northwest corner of the yard - it's a beautiful view and we enjoy going out nightly to look at the rabbits that come out at dusk every day. We'll need that bench secured into the ground. We're also thinking of some kind of water feature - while I'd love to do something amazing like a 'stone wall with a sheet fountain' we'll likely buy a pre-formed 'fountain' of some kind - for a bit of water sound. Bird baths are also being considered but so far, I haven't found any available that I like. I'm not big on 'traditional' - so I need a modern take on how to give birds a place to drink and hang out.
I think writing this post helped me finalize (in my head) an approach - we'll pick the plants, have them planted, get the DG to be the ground cover in those spaces and see where we're at next Spring. Odds are the plants will fill in beautifully and we'll have plenty of dead-heading, pruning and weeding to keep us busy. We also plan to do some planters (we brought all of our patio pots with us from Tracy - though we sacrificed all the soil that was in them - to add pops of annuals for color at the front door and on the back patio. And maybe in a corner or two of the yard.
Season 3 of "Marcella" is out on Netflix so I have to get back to watching it - it's complex and when I don't follow it closely, I end up torturing J. about 'what just happened?' Poor guy.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Days and Days of Unpacking
I'm approaching the one year anniversary of retirement - what an amazing year it's been. Things clicked along brilliantly Summer 2019 into Fall - house readied to sell, selling relatively quickly.
The transition from working to not working hasn't been that hard but sometimes, especially lately, I've noticed that my anxiety level has actually increased in many ways.
Little things are hard. Silly, ridiculous things challenge me.
At the moment, things feel hard primarily because we are living in a state of flux. Unpacking daily and making decisions of things to keep and things to unload. We've been in that state of paring back for a couple years now - ever since we put the deposit on the lot - so it should feel familiar. But it's exhausting. Thinking so hard about every.little.thing just wears me out.
I say 'I'm tired' all the time. ALL THE TIME. It makes me crazy.
Today, I took a short cat nap and feel rested and somewhat renewed so maybe that's the thing - when feeling tired, give in a bit and rest if you want to.
We trekked to Costco today and I accompanied J. . I joked 'just remember when the total pops up that you wanted me to come with you'. We bought a Roomba for our bowling alley-like great room so that was a pretty large amount - but there were other things, too.
We signed up for Hello Fresh again and last night made an absolutely delicious lemon spaghetti with chicken. It was truly DELICIOUS! We like the variety, appreciate the ease of having everything we need and honestly, it's not much more expensive than what we'd buy for dinners at the grocery store. It's easy to pause a week (to use up other food and/or to make recipes again - every meal comes with a recipe card) - and it reminds us that we have plenty of food here. Keeps us from going out.
I've ventured to Atlantis a couple times - wearing a mask, sanitizing my hands and doing my darnedest to stay away from people - but I still feel worried. So far, all is good. But we/I fully anticipate there will be a spike in Corona Virus cases and we'll end up being on lock-down again. Part of the Costco expense was stocking up on meat which we plan to cook (ground beef) and freeze. Also four small pork roasts that we can use for shredded pork, a pork roast Sunday dinner, etc. .
We have a list of things that need attention around the house - making a punch list. I dread the steady stream of people that will need to enter once the job Sup decides to send repair folks. I look forward to the day when we aren't expecting a steady stream of workers.
Our refrigerator FINALLY arrived - but not without drama. They (unbelievably) delivered the wrong one AGAIN. The issue was very quickly driven up the chain and the drivers (who pick up what they're told to pick up and deliver what they are told to deliver - two of the nicest guys ever) actually went back to Reno to pick up the correct one and came right back. We appreciated that very much.
The first batch of ice is almost done - it has to be thrown out - and then we'll be in business with ice and cold water and tons of space.
Looking forward to using the garage fridge for beverages - and for Vodka adult 'otter pops' - another Costco find! You can tell Summer is coming when the adult otter pops are back in the warehouse!
The transition from working to not working hasn't been that hard but sometimes, especially lately, I've noticed that my anxiety level has actually increased in many ways.
Little things are hard. Silly, ridiculous things challenge me.
At the moment, things feel hard primarily because we are living in a state of flux. Unpacking daily and making decisions of things to keep and things to unload. We've been in that state of paring back for a couple years now - ever since we put the deposit on the lot - so it should feel familiar. But it's exhausting. Thinking so hard about every.little.thing just wears me out.
I say 'I'm tired' all the time. ALL THE TIME. It makes me crazy.
Today, I took a short cat nap and feel rested and somewhat renewed so maybe that's the thing - when feeling tired, give in a bit and rest if you want to.
We trekked to Costco today and I accompanied J. . I joked 'just remember when the total pops up that you wanted me to come with you'. We bought a Roomba for our bowling alley-like great room so that was a pretty large amount - but there were other things, too.
We signed up for Hello Fresh again and last night made an absolutely delicious lemon spaghetti with chicken. It was truly DELICIOUS! We like the variety, appreciate the ease of having everything we need and honestly, it's not much more expensive than what we'd buy for dinners at the grocery store. It's easy to pause a week (to use up other food and/or to make recipes again - every meal comes with a recipe card) - and it reminds us that we have plenty of food here. Keeps us from going out.
I've ventured to Atlantis a couple times - wearing a mask, sanitizing my hands and doing my darnedest to stay away from people - but I still feel worried. So far, all is good. But we/I fully anticipate there will be a spike in Corona Virus cases and we'll end up being on lock-down again. Part of the Costco expense was stocking up on meat which we plan to cook (ground beef) and freeze. Also four small pork roasts that we can use for shredded pork, a pork roast Sunday dinner, etc. .
We have a list of things that need attention around the house - making a punch list. I dread the steady stream of people that will need to enter once the job Sup decides to send repair folks. I look forward to the day when we aren't expecting a steady stream of workers.
Our refrigerator FINALLY arrived - but not without drama. They (unbelievably) delivered the wrong one AGAIN. The issue was very quickly driven up the chain and the drivers (who pick up what they're told to pick up and deliver what they are told to deliver - two of the nicest guys ever) actually went back to Reno to pick up the correct one and came right back. We appreciated that very much.
The first batch of ice is almost done - it has to be thrown out - and then we'll be in business with ice and cold water and tons of space.
Looking forward to using the garage fridge for beverages - and for Vodka adult 'otter pops' - another Costco find! You can tell Summer is coming when the adult otter pops are back in the warehouse!
Monday, June 01, 2020
Finally HOME!
We're approaching the two week mark of our official move-in date of May 20th. Last night was our 13th night in the house - a whirlwind of days full of tons of 'stuff'.
The move went very well - movers were excellent. Hourly rate, they kept careful track of all breaks and we were only charged for actual time worked. They emptied the condo in one day (4 hours) and then did both storage units the next day (4.5 hours). Our three car garage is stuffed to the gills with all the storage stuff and the temptation to just 'let it all go' was very strong. Stuff we've stored for a year or more seems like stuff we shouldn't even consider adding back to the new house - but we are thrifty and frugal and if we let stuff go, it will be to a charity. We need the write-off.
The house is gorgeous! Truly, we are madly in love with it. It's spacious but still feels cozy. We've had a steady stream of workmen here (and more still to come) for some minor things that need finishing up - a little tile work, cabinetry work, a cracked window and a punch list of cosmetic things that need attention.
OH - and we still await the delivery of our refrigerator - it was delivered last week but as they were sliding it into the space, I noticed a HUGE dent on the side of the door - if it had been something that would be hidden by the cabinets around the fridge, I would have asked for a dent credit and accepted it - but it was on the outer edge of the left door - very visible and very noticeable. So I refused delivery (J. was golfing). They'd already loaded the refrigerator that was here (wrong refrigerator - not what we ordered) and since we have a garage fridge here (the refrigerator we had to buy for the rental), we are fine. Though the garage fridge is pretty small and we are looking forward to the new, huge unit to arrive any day. We hope.
I've done my usual 'drafting posts' in the wee hours of the night/morning - but my computer is also majorly on the fritz so I haven't been posting at all because booting it up and praying it stays on is a constant thing. A new computer has been ordered - and that's a good thing because in addition to the zillions of issues I'm having with it, it's now also has an inoperative 'p' key. Takes a lot of force to type anything with a 'p' in it.
A couple nights ago as I was walking towards the kitchen heading to bed, I witnessed Muf launch a couple feet in the air and bolt far away from the window. I was startled, too, when I heard noise against the window - no idea what it was. There had been a party at a neighbor's (graduation) and there were 'kids' on the tee earlier that evening so I wasn't sure if they were up to something - turned out the maintenance folks had adjusted sprinklers earlier that day and they were now hitting our house and windows. LOUD.
Thankfully, the greens-keeper arrived first thing the next morning (J. had left a message at the pro shop) and said he had turned them off for now. The sprinkler system on this part of the course is 25 years old (or more) and he was pretty sure they would need to do replacement of heads and/or other updates to the system - since the arc and radius of the spray are not adjustable.
I've added 'clean (very) water spotted windows' to the ongoing, never ending list of things to do around here.
In other news, the casinos are reopening on June 4th - my 60th birthday! I plan to be there most of the day and decided to also get a room so I have a place to hang out if the casino gets too crazy. I've saved a huge amount of fun money over the past 10 weeks so I know I will have a lot of fun playing.
We have a landscaper coming tomorrow to get going on something resembling a yard - we have empty lots (in process) on either side of us and the level of dust is astounding - so anything to help cut down on the free-blowing dirt will be a good thing.
The shutters we selected for window coverings were installed yesterday - they are beautiful! It was very nice of the installers to offer to work on Sunday - we were scheduled originally for Thursday but appreciated not having to wait - though (I'm so relieved) to say I've never felt uncomfortable with no window coverings. Other than the first night (before we put brown paper over my bedroom window) when the lights from the freeway kept me awake a lot, we haven't noticed any issue with having the windows completely exposed. Privacy and light filtering is a great addition - and the shutters are really pretty - add a nice finished look.
It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks - but we are so happy to be 'at home' officially. We're also out of the rental unit - and awaiting return of the various deposits. I'm sure we will get charged for cleaning but we had to focus our energy on getting settled in the new house vs. cleaning the old. Once I realized that we could clean for days and still end up being charged - seems likely we would miss something - we just said 'forget it - we'll pay to have it cleaned'. I did wipe counters, bathrooms were cleaned, carpets were cleaned (and gave a copy of the receipt for that cleaning to the property management company so they had proof we had them done) - and we turned in the keys and happily walked away. Very grateful for that temporary home that provided such a nice space for our first six months of residency in Carson City.
But also super happy to be officially in our brand new, custom, golf-course home. We enjoy an (almost nightly) visit from "Jack" - a jackrabbit who comes by to watch us through the windows and eat the weeds on the golf course. The cats enjoy constant bird watching, golfer watching and generally making themselves at home wherever they feel like. Stand by for a pic of what they are doing to the linen closet daily. They are nuts. And fun. And funny. And we sort of adore them. Most of the time.
Life is good. In spite of all the issues we face in our world and our country, we're just reminding ourselves how blessed we are. We really are so fortunate and we never take that for granted. Ever.
The move went very well - movers were excellent. Hourly rate, they kept careful track of all breaks and we were only charged for actual time worked. They emptied the condo in one day (4 hours) and then did both storage units the next day (4.5 hours). Our three car garage is stuffed to the gills with all the storage stuff and the temptation to just 'let it all go' was very strong. Stuff we've stored for a year or more seems like stuff we shouldn't even consider adding back to the new house - but we are thrifty and frugal and if we let stuff go, it will be to a charity. We need the write-off.
The house is gorgeous! Truly, we are madly in love with it. It's spacious but still feels cozy. We've had a steady stream of workmen here (and more still to come) for some minor things that need finishing up - a little tile work, cabinetry work, a cracked window and a punch list of cosmetic things that need attention.
OH - and we still await the delivery of our refrigerator - it was delivered last week but as they were sliding it into the space, I noticed a HUGE dent on the side of the door - if it had been something that would be hidden by the cabinets around the fridge, I would have asked for a dent credit and accepted it - but it was on the outer edge of the left door - very visible and very noticeable. So I refused delivery (J. was golfing). They'd already loaded the refrigerator that was here (wrong refrigerator - not what we ordered) and since we have a garage fridge here (the refrigerator we had to buy for the rental), we are fine. Though the garage fridge is pretty small and we are looking forward to the new, huge unit to arrive any day. We hope.
I've done my usual 'drafting posts' in the wee hours of the night/morning - but my computer is also majorly on the fritz so I haven't been posting at all because booting it up and praying it stays on is a constant thing. A new computer has been ordered - and that's a good thing because in addition to the zillions of issues I'm having with it, it's now also has an inoperative 'p' key. Takes a lot of force to type anything with a 'p' in it.
A couple nights ago as I was walking towards the kitchen heading to bed, I witnessed Muf launch a couple feet in the air and bolt far away from the window. I was startled, too, when I heard noise against the window - no idea what it was. There had been a party at a neighbor's (graduation) and there were 'kids' on the tee earlier that evening so I wasn't sure if they were up to something - turned out the maintenance folks had adjusted sprinklers earlier that day and they were now hitting our house and windows. LOUD.
Thankfully, the greens-keeper arrived first thing the next morning (J. had left a message at the pro shop) and said he had turned them off for now. The sprinkler system on this part of the course is 25 years old (or more) and he was pretty sure they would need to do replacement of heads and/or other updates to the system - since the arc and radius of the spray are not adjustable.
I've added 'clean (very) water spotted windows' to the ongoing, never ending list of things to do around here.
In other news, the casinos are reopening on June 4th - my 60th birthday! I plan to be there most of the day and decided to also get a room so I have a place to hang out if the casino gets too crazy. I've saved a huge amount of fun money over the past 10 weeks so I know I will have a lot of fun playing.
We have a landscaper coming tomorrow to get going on something resembling a yard - we have empty lots (in process) on either side of us and the level of dust is astounding - so anything to help cut down on the free-blowing dirt will be a good thing.
The shutters we selected for window coverings were installed yesterday - they are beautiful! It was very nice of the installers to offer to work on Sunday - we were scheduled originally for Thursday but appreciated not having to wait - though (I'm so relieved) to say I've never felt uncomfortable with no window coverings. Other than the first night (before we put brown paper over my bedroom window) when the lights from the freeway kept me awake a lot, we haven't noticed any issue with having the windows completely exposed. Privacy and light filtering is a great addition - and the shutters are really pretty - add a nice finished look.
It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks - but we are so happy to be 'at home' officially. We're also out of the rental unit - and awaiting return of the various deposits. I'm sure we will get charged for cleaning but we had to focus our energy on getting settled in the new house vs. cleaning the old. Once I realized that we could clean for days and still end up being charged - seems likely we would miss something - we just said 'forget it - we'll pay to have it cleaned'. I did wipe counters, bathrooms were cleaned, carpets were cleaned (and gave a copy of the receipt for that cleaning to the property management company so they had proof we had them done) - and we turned in the keys and happily walked away. Very grateful for that temporary home that provided such a nice space for our first six months of residency in Carson City.
But also super happy to be officially in our brand new, custom, golf-course home. We enjoy an (almost nightly) visit from "Jack" - a jackrabbit who comes by to watch us through the windows and eat the weeds on the golf course. The cats enjoy constant bird watching, golfer watching and generally making themselves at home wherever they feel like. Stand by for a pic of what they are doing to the linen closet daily. They are nuts. And fun. And funny. And we sort of adore them. Most of the time.
Life is good. In spite of all the issues we face in our world and our country, we're just reminding ourselves how blessed we are. We really are so fortunate and we never take that for granted. Ever.
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Tales of Helpers
Our cleaning lady D. is here today - she wears earbuds and chats on the phone while she works. She is the third cleaning 'person(s)'...
