We found the power cord for the xbox...

Rainy days

It's actually shockingly nice to wake up to a rainy, stormy day. At least, when the rain doesn't settle in for 2 months at a time like it did in Cincy... We've loved watching the clouds roll in on the mountains Today. It changed every 3 minutes.

Fwd: Rajas Poblanos

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> Ok - totally one ofthe best thing about finally having a house is having a kitchen again. And cooking real food, rather than boxed, or fast food. Tonight's meal is going back to our Spanish loves... Rajas Poblanos, which is roasted poblano peppers, onions, garlic, steak, and creamy goodness (cause I'm all about healthy, it's low fat Greek yogurt and cream cheese). As a side, arroz amarillo (yellow rice) with peas. Yum!
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More rain columns

This is shot looking over one of the parks here - the butterflies and flowers are big sun shades. The parks here are really nice - Vegas could teach a lot of cities about how to plan nice communities

Sun beams and rain shafts

This was my run this morning, and I nearly clobbered myself numerous times, being too busy watching the sun and the rain on the mountains and not the path in front of me. It only sprinkled on me a little, but it felt marvelous. I had to giggle listening to everyone complain about the wretched humidity... It actually hit 20% today. It ain't got nuttin on KY or PR in August! I thought it felt pretty darned good. And, it was the first time I finished a 90 degree run with a damp shirt; usually, the sweat evaporates before my clothes get wet. Efficient!!

Sunrise

I woke up this morning to the smell of jasmine. Steve had picked this little bouquet and left it beside my pillow. I married a fabulous man :-)

Sunset

This was last night's sunset from the casita window. It was so pretty! Funky angles compliments of iphone's inability to set any kind of exposure lock...

There's the dive!

I love the fingertip bubbles!!

And steve perfects his dive

(though he's actually just trying to beat me in getting to our keep-away football...)

Still surfin in Vegas

So, we worked all morning, and for our afternoon break, I decided I would start figuring out how to use Steve's longboard as a SUP board. I figure, if I can get to where I can stand up in still water on THiS board, paddle boards will be a piece of cake!

In the mean time, it's a heck of a lot of fun trying! :-)

Running

So, this was my run yesterday morning. If you look really closely in the background, you can see a group of horseback riders in front of the mountains. This one one of those moments where I though, huh. I really live out west. And perhaps in a bit of a spaghetti western.

I can't decide whether I love google maps or hate them for this run... I had decided to make it an "easy run" kind of morning - planning on doing 5 miles or less. I decided to head out across this stretch of desert cause the maps showed about 4 roads that would allow me to cut through and get back on roads that led me home. What the maps didn't show was that all the roads were inside a gated community, so I conldn't get to them. I figure by the time I was done, I'd run close to 10 miles, some of which involved breaking into a state park and decidedly going the long way home. The up side is that I got to watch lots of rabbits, baby bunnies, ground squirrels, and even my first quail cross in front of me. And, I felt fabulous (if a little cooked and thirsty) when I was done.

So good, in fact, that Steve and I went back over half the same trail later that afternoon on bikes... To find the gate key I apparently dropped. Crap. At 2:00, it was just HOT :-) Made the pool feel pretty splendid afterwards though!

It's really amazing to have this kind of openness all around you. I miss the beach something fierce, but if I can't live there, this doesn't suck. I'm ok with the fact that our neighborhood has horse trails through it, and these mountains and desert are our back yard, too.

Non stop

So seriously, how in the world do you EVER live through a move when you are working full-time and/or have kids? I've got about 16 hours a day to devote to this, and it's been over 2 weeks now, and it's still enough of a disaster that this is the only picture you're getting for now.

Here was today: return antenna that didn't work. Pick up another antenna that was guaranteed to work. When it didn't, wait on hold with manufacturer to be told it really wouldn't work. Package it up to go back. Return coffee bought last night that we were QUADRUPLE charged for. Go to pool store to find someone who will come fix our leaking (spraying! Geysering!) pool pump. Find out it's covered under home warranty (yay!) and make new appointment with approved pool fixers. Cancel old appt. Buy pool shock to compensate for reduced pump running hours. Put up 19 million cleaning products purchased yesterday. That took so much time, I couldn't use them, mind you. Washed and folded 4 loads of laundry. Started weather stripping doors. Steve fixed leaking toilet, as well as broken stove exhaust (hence, the picture) and hopefully, before the night is done, hang thermal curtains.

Shew.

Yet another "only in Vegas"

Take a look at what you can get at the Hookah Shop: body jewelry, detox, and cigarettes. I'm thinking, go for the navel ring, and ditch the other 2 and just call it a wash.

They just don't sell these at the Lowes in Erlanger

The new pet

Well, for the 45 seconds it took us to catch it and stomp it...

Dear god, they grow them big out here.

Just to put it in perspective, this spider is in the bubble pack for an apple. An APPLE. Steve already sprayed the perimeter of the house once, producing about 4780 belly-up roaches the following morning ( why the heck do they flip upside down when they die?) but this guy either missed the juice... or perhaps thrived on it.

I swear, we even fed them...

So, we fed the Puerto Rican Packers crew. We bought them their favorite drinks. We gave them air conditioning. And, they gave me THIS. &&@¥|%*^]#

Mamma and baby peacock

Well that was a shocker...

So, yesterday morning, I decided it was way past time to get back into the running schedule. I laced up my shoes, and decided to go exploring the new 'hood with the sunrise. Actually had a great run, and meandered my way over to the state park which is in our back yard. I was halfway down the long drive to the park, when I heard a child shrieking. I revved it into high gear, trying to get to whoever was in trouble. I expected to find a kid thrashing in the lake after falling in, or a dog bite.... What I didn't expect was to find the actual source was, yes, peacocks. Everywhere. No kidding. I actually turned around a full 360 degrees trying to orient myself... Cause I was pretty sure I started this run in the desert. At any rate, there I was. Surrounded by about 25 big, flamboyant squawkers.

This was the "amazing" of the move...

This is one on those flickering, battery operated candles. We unwrapped it, and it was just flickering it's little heart out; glowing like ET's finger in the box. Bear in mind that this got packed in January. That means the battery has kept it twinkling in the dark for over 7 months!!

Really? Did they play soccer with it?

Yes, those are barbells...

Packed loose in the same box as clay pots. Needless to say, the results weren't pretty.

So, just to give you some idea of how the move went...

Here's to the last night...

Of sleeping in sleeping bags! Tomorrow, all our crap comes, which means tomorrow's gonna be pretty much like being in the 10th Circle, but at least we'll have our own bed again!

Casita painted

Just finished the second coat of paint in the casita. Nice, cool grey with sage undertones. I'm kind of amazed that after 8 days of painting from sunup to sundown, we've only managed the master and master bath, and the 2 rooms of the casita. Everything took 2 coats, the ceilings are bloody tall, and masking and caulking takes so much more time than you ever think. Ah well. Still making progress!

Nature's fireworks

Lighting in the picture didn't come out quite right, but there's a good thunderstorm rumbling off to the east. Steve and I had a picnic with our feet in the pool and listened to it rumble. Love it!!

Puerto Rican rigging

So, there is NO WAY to reach the top of the walls above the tub with a normal ladder. That brought us to this ridiculous setup of Steve on a step stool, perched with 3 legs on the edge of the tub while I held the fourth leg for him. All we needed was some pouring rain, live electric wires, and one cone to stop traffic, and we would look just like a typical Puerto Rican work crew.

Happy to report no broken bones as of yet.

New kitchen faucet

Both the faucet and the disposal in the house leaked like a sieve. Now, it looks much better, and I don't flood the kitchen (cause I never could remember NOT to use the sink)

Handiest man there is :-)

Shiny red washer and dryer

And fresh fluffy towels again!

We have appliances!

28 cu ft fridge, new microwave, and shiny toaster. And cold drinks again!!

Living room

Starting to come together!

Think we've finally settled on a tentative living room furniture arrangement... For now.

This still leaves a full-length sofa bench to go either in the casita or our bedroom...

First dive in!

We took a ton of fun underwater pictures, but can't upload a single one until we get Internet service. So. Phone camera pics it is.

Yes we are pirates, a few hundred years too late...

So, today was mondo productive. Finished painting the bedroom, including trim, and the master bath is fully taped. We measured (twice) for blinds downstairs, bought them, and had them cut. Fixed the leaking disposal. Replaced the broken kitchen faucet. Fixed the new washer hose hookup (old one had rusted in place and required a torch to get it free). Cooked our first meal on the grill. And decided that the next chore HAD to be getting the gravel out of the cleaner heads in the pool. Yay!! So, even though we'd both been in the pool, this was our first official swim. Not a bad way to break up the day's chores :-)

We might have a bit of a problem...

So, I fished one dead black widow out of the pool skimmer. Killed another small one last night. And tonight, steve came in proclaiming that we "might have a small black widow problem" This female was right outside of the patio door, and she is HUGE; about the size of a 50 cent piece. There just happens to be another medium one 6 inches away.