House Stuff

House stuff is still pretty much dominating my world right now. Yesterday, I sent in the final paperwork on the New Mexico house, and also had a phone report from the inspector. We both really wish we had been able to be there while the inspector was there, but that just wasn't possible -- us being 17 hours away. He was a nice man, seemed awfully thorough, left both of us wondering how much of these repairs we should ask the seller to do before our closing. We drank some wine and went to bed. I think both of us needed the wine just to clear out the whirl in our heads.

Now, this morning floor installers are coming here to put in new flooring in the foyer, the master bathroom, and the guest bath. These were things I had lined out before we left on the trip to NM. I'm sort of wishing I had waited, but who knew we would find a place there we wanted to buy? The floors in this house have been the biggest bane to me anyway. The woman who lived here when it was built had hideous taste -- or maybe it was the man. I shouldn't assume anything. But everything in the house was pink, right down to the toilets, tubs, and shower stall. That's the only thing about buying someone else's house and trying to make it your own. We have slowly, over the last two years, tried to undo all the "pinkness." That's what this latest project has been about. Especially in the master bathroom.

We had a leak. Some of the Sheetrock was affected. I scrubbed the shower stall, replaced the caulking, and that seemed to take care of the leak. Then I had a new shower door installed, a clear one that might end up being a pain to keep clean, but it certainly looks nicer. The old one was improperly installed to begin with and had become lime-spotted and scaled. While we were gone on the trip, Daddy came over and fixed the broken Sheetrock. I noticed it after we were home. He hadn't said anything. He did a great job, now it just needs paint. Also, at some point, I suspect the last people who owned this house, replaced the original toilet seat with a white one, which makes the toilet look even worse, having a rose pink base and that ugly white lid. So before we left for NM, I had ordered a new, matching toilet seat in wild Irish rose -- that's the color of the pink toilet. But it will look much better once we put it on -- something we will do this evening after the new floor has been installed. We had a new light fixture put in when we moved here, so after today, that bathroom will be completely updated, or anyway, as much as I'm willing to update it at this point. I really should be using the jacuzzi in there more often, if for no other reason than to keep it running.

Aahhhh! Big breath. What I really want to be doing is working on the house in NM. Our closing date can't come soon enough for either of us. It's like being in limbo. One thing, though, we are having very nice weather in Texas. Cool mornings, low humidity. It's been Fall-ish all week. I went out late yesterday evening and sprayed Round-up up and down the driveway. Because of all the rain, little weed shoots were starting to come up through the new gravel. I also sprayed down the garden area, which my SO had already mowed earlier this week. I used 3 gallons of the herbicide and could've used 3 more. My back and shoulders were aching form lugging around the backpack sprayer, so I got a rub-down last night -- much needed. He's actually quite good at that. I told him he might have missed his calling. I also put out a ton of fire ant bait. They have taken over, and it's hard to do much outside without running into a few. They make big blisters on me!

Mosquitoes are horrible out there right now, too. Ten inches of rain will do that. I've gone around emptying any vessel holding stale water -- sorry birds, but your baths will have to happen elsewhere -- but I can't do anything about the stock tank across the fence. It's full -- the fullest I've seen it since we've lived here. I enjoy working outside, but only when I don't have other things pressing me, which I have had all week. Then it become drudgery. And let's face it, neither of us is getting younger. The time will come, and very soon, when the upkeep on this place will be more work than we want to do. We're almost there already.

And yet, I do still love it here. We are nicely isolated, in our own little enclave, but for some reason, I don't seem to get any writing work done here. I think there are too many things to distract me from it, and I do suddenly want to write again. I guess just that should be a good thing, I haven't felt that way in such a long time. I simply have to find a way to work it in. What  I need are a few 36-hour days.

Onward ....

Luck, and Finding a Place in the Mountains

Guess my last post was pretty cryptic, and I've been too busy since we've been home to explain. Lots of phoning, researching of bank rates, etc. Well, here it is: we've bought a house in the mountains. I suppose it's safe to say that in the past tense. We made an offer before we left NE New Mexico, the owner countered our offer once we were home, and we accepted the counter, have our financing lined out, and we're just waiting now for the loan to be processed. It's all gone so smoothly that I'm reeling.

When we left on this trip back before Labor Day, we knew once the trade show in Denver was over, that we would be going back to the area we stayed in last July. We made an offer on a house back then, a sort of impulsive, what-a-great-deal kind of offer, that left both of us nervous and testy. Nevertheless, I was heartbroken when that deal fell through, more so than I wanted to admit at the time. The owners were really not ready to part with their vacation home, and we really were not ready to commit ourselves to buying just yet. The time between then and now served us well. We have pored over listings on the Internet, subscribed to a local newspaper, and just generally familiarized ourselves with that part of New Mexico. By the time we got there this trip, and set up the trailer in the same RV park we stayed in with our friends in July, we had a game plan lined out. We spent five days looking at real estate. We saw eleven houses/cabins, some that had appealed to us online, others that were new. We met with three different real estate agents. We kept going back to a little house we had seen on the first day.

It was the second house we looked at on the first day we were there. It's in the same development as the house we made the offer on in July. It doesn't have the view we wanted. It is much older, built in 1966, and out of date. But it has possibilities. It has a forest of trees around it. It has over an acre of land that go with it. It has a terrific deck and a high beamed ceiling, a fireplace, and two baths. Best of all, we can afford it. We took lots of pictures.

After we got home, I spent the first few days doing nothing but contacting lenders, insurance providers, taxing entities, and then fielded telephone calls that came back from all of them. In the end, I went with my old lender but found a new insurance company. I may change the insurance on the Texas house eventually, too. I've never been convinced I was getting the best rates here anyway. My SO basically left all the "high-finance" to me. Now and then, he would put in a comment, but he feels I'm better at negotiating than he is, and oddly, after years of deferring this job, I find that he's right. I am good at it. No one is more surprised by that than me.

So now we're in the waiting stage. We will go back to New Mexico to close on the house on October 29. I have promised to try to keep from going berserk with excitement, to reign in my desire to shout it to the world, a promise I'm sort of breaking right here, but who reads this thing anyway? I have told my son and my aunt, but not some of the other people who are important to us, like Daddy for one, or my SO's son and daughter-in-law. They have their own preoccupations at the moment, being transferred to NYC, selling their house, relocating to such a different kind of life than they have lead up to now. I'm dreading what Daddy will say. He is pretty dependent on me at this time in his life, but we're not planning to go live there just yet, or even to stay there more than a few weeks at a time right now. I hope he'll be happy for us.

OK, here's the thing: I'm lucky. I suppose that's the whole point of this blog today. I feel lucky. I've always felt lucky. Don't get me wrong, I have had some bad things happen to me in my life, even some tragedies, but I've always managed to bounce back, or my luck has always bounced back. What is luck anyway? It's really not winning at the blackjack table. It's not stumbling on a pot of gold. It's not stumbling on anything really. I think it's more about optimism, believing that a thing is possible, and recognizing the gems that life scatters along your pathway. I got a good start by being born in a great country, into a family that, no matter how imperfect, loved me. I've been blessed with good health, reasonable good looks and intelligence. But I've also always been able to -- finally -- look on the bright side. I choose to be happy. I believe that we make our own luck, our own happiness. It's a decision, luck is. And happiness.

Now, I feel compelled to mention that I am still working on the novel. It's been a little hard to quiet my mind enough to focus, but it helps that I'm home now and back with all my notes, research, chapter cuts, and the rest. I'm glad I don't throw things out like some of my writer friends do. A lot of this novel is done, nearly all of it, in fact. It just needs to be pieced together -- like making a quilt. I've always contended that writing a novel has more to do with architecture.

Onward ....

Jiggity Jig

Home again, home again.

We're in San Angelo, which has become a regular stop-off on our RV trips. In about an hour we will get back in the Suburban and make the long trek home. We've been gone this time for 17 days, and I think all of us are ready for things to get back to normal. It's been an eventful trip and I will blog more about it once I have more time.

The cat has become a good traveler. He has hardly squawked in the car, and once we're settled in a park, he's been much quicker to adjust and come out from behind the sofa. We do still have to stuff a pillow in there on mornings we're going to get on the road, so he won't go behind there and stay. Breaking camp noises, or if we june around too much in the mornings, he will get back there to feel secure. Now, I've learned to push in the pillow to block his hole, and set the carrier out and open. He will go in there on his own when the hitching up sounds start.

The dog is also ready to be home. She laid on the console nearly the whole way here yesterday -- a sign that she's restless and bored. I'm saddle sore myself. Back aching and just generally stiff from all the long hours in the car. But we did have two stops this trip that lasted for over 5 days each. One was work for my SO, the other was for grins -- which is the part I will fill in once we're home.

So that's it for now. I've got pictures. I've got news. I've got lots of observations.

Onward ....

Writing on the Road, and Leaving Colorado

A good thing that has happened on this trip is I've discovered I really can work on the road. I had a really good writing day on Saturday, felt myself melting back into the story, and it reminded me about the wonderful part of writing, when it takes hold of you and you lose track of everything else around you. I'm now sort of thinking that the idea of leaving home, leaving the phone interruptions, the plants that need watering, the floors that need vacuuming, the meals that need preparing, has been helpful in an odd way, at least as far as focus is concerned. And this after all these years of thinking I had to be at home, had to have my desk, my files, my surroundings.

That said, I will admit I have some things at home I wish I had brought here with me, or I wish at least, that I had taken the time to take a better inventory before I left. Now, that I've finished reading what is actually in the manuscript, I'm seeing more clearly things that should be there but aren't, and in several cases, these things are parts and pieces, and whole chapters, that were cut out and should go back in. Writing is such a process, so much more than most people who have never written understand. I was telling my SO yesterday that my last two books took an entire case of 24 reams of paper, with all the rewriting that I do. I am admittedly a compulsive re-writer, but for me, it's what works. Someone said recently that anybody can act, but only a few can act well. I think the same can be said of writers. Anybody can write, but only a few can write well. I want to be part of the few, and for me that means many MANY rewrites.

We are just about done with Colorado. Yippee! Strange to me that so many people I know hold Colorado in such high regard. I admit that some of the mountain places are lovely, but this part where everybody lives, the Denver area, to me is just as bad as Houston. The air is bad. The traffic is hideous. The roads are in deplorable condition. The mountains, the Front Range, as they call them, have been defaced by microwave towers and other distractions. I don't find the people to be especially friendly. And I also don't consider their so-called artsy, liberal, creative attractions to be authentic like it is, say, in New York. At least the people in New Mexico are honest in their tunnel vision. I'm not sure that makes perfect sense, but to me there is just something phony about this whole area, and I guess it's the authenticity that I miss whenever I'm here. So I'm happy to be saying goodbye to it until January.

Onward .... (and not soon enough!)

Dreaming of a Cabin in the Mountains

The home search continues. We have appointments next week with two real estate agents to look at some of these places we've found online, plus anything they might think would interest us. We've widened our search into three counties now. Might not be copacetic to use two different agents, but what the hell. We're impatient and want to throw out the widest net possible. One of the agents is the one who had the listing we made the offer on -- the one the seller backed out on. I have contacted the seller myself and know that they are still thinking about relisting, but in the meantime, we might just find something we like as well or better. Fingers crossed.

We have had an interesting week getting to Colorado. The cat has traveled exceptionally well this time, and both animals are getting along together in tight confines quite well, too. I wish this travel trailer was larger, but then we would need a bigger towing vehicle, yada yada, and that all seems like money we don't need to spend right now when we're looking to buy a summer house. I have an idea we won't be using the travel trailer all that much once we find our dream place anyway.

Both of us are up here just basically enduring the Market, willing it to be over quickly so we can get to New Mexico and start house searching. Every night after we're back from the show, we peruse through listings on the internet, marking down ones that seem interesting. We are still a bit apart on what we're each looking for in a place. My SO's taste is much simpler than mine is, and he is just generally more patient. He would prefer to buy a less expensive place with potential, and fix it the way we want it, which probably makes more sense. Me, I have a tendency to hold everything up to the house we made the offer on, and so far, nothing in our price range comes anywhere close to that house. I knew it was a fabulous deal at the time. Which is why I rushed to jump on it the way I did. And I guess I am still holding my breath a little for the possibility of the owners relisting it soon.

The RV Park we are in here is exceptional. We have a lighted mountain right behind us. The dog and I have climbed over the top of that mountain twice. The first time, I kept stopping, looking back at the fantastic view, and also catching my breath. The dog, of course, pulled me onward. She is such a little adventurer. Today we made the trek again, and both of us were worn out afterwards. She is snoring under the table as I write this -- snoring loudly. Sounds like bellows!

We both really do enjoy having these animals around us. I'm so happy to have found a kindred spirit in that regard. They give us lots of laughs, are both clowns, but loyal. The cat likes the fact that he gets to sleep with us when we're on these trips. The dog is joyful at having new sites, sounds, and smells. We have little cottontails living in this park, dozens of them, and she is just focused on finding them when we go on our walks. They're pretty fearless, being used to all the dogs these RVers have, and that is something I have come to realize -- RV travelers like taking their pets. In fact, it could be, like with us, one of the reasons they have taken to traveling via RVs. Anyway, the bunnies just sit quietly and watch all the dogs pass by, like they know the dogs are leashed and can't chase them far.

I'll try to post more while we're on this trip. It's hard to work it all in. I'm still trying to give the novel at least two hours a day, also helping my SO at the Market, tending to the animals, suppers, and keeping the trailer clean. My days on this trip just fly by.

Onward ....

On the Road -- AGAIN!

We went through the Capulin volcanic region today on our way to Raton where we had reservations at the KOA campground. The Capulin area is eerily beautiful, and you have the feeling the old dead volcanoes could speak to you. They have left remnants of their stories all over the valley and basin that surrounds them, in the form of lava rocks piles. Today a norther was blowing up dust and it hung like mist at the base of the mountains, adding to the surreal feeling of the place. New Mexico has an awful lot of intriguing geography. Not all of it is beautiful, but it's always interesting.

We're headed to Denver once again for my SO's market. He comes up here twice a year, and I know it has to get tiresome making the same trek year after year. I've just been coming with him for three years, and I'm already wishing they could move the show to some other place besides Denver. I've seen enough of Denver, between these markets and my times here with Women Writing the West, and promoting my own books, to last me a lifetime. But I'm not as enchanted with Colorado as a lot of people are, except for the mid-section, which isn't as populated. I tend to gravitate to the more sparsely populated places always.

We have the dog and the cat again, and they're both doing pretty well. The cat is getting to be a better traveler, although he get sort of catatonic in the car. For the first hour or so after we've set up camp, he hides behind the sofa, but then comes out to join the family. And he really loves sleeping in the bed with us.

Bought a new bed for the camper. Sure does sleep better. We've almost got this place decked out like a Cadillac. Cooked supper in it last night, and had everything I needed this time, unlike when we took it out in July. I'm learning. There sure are pluses to dragging your hotel room around with you. Also minuses, but I'll get into that in another post.

Two days without looking at the manuscript. Not good. I must learn to work on the fly.

Onward....