Wow! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I've posted!

It's kind of hard to post anything when I'm not feeling great about this place; thus, the gap in posting. I'm getting better, but this place will never come close to Alaska. It's beautiful in a whole new way.... Like the dust storms...40 mile an hour winds filled with white sand and gray dust which infiltrate the house even though all the windows and doors are closed. I'm trying to psyche myself into "loving" to dust. Hmmph! I'm not sure it's going to work. Ü I wiped the kitchen down one afternoon about 2:30 p.m., and by 8:30 p.m. that night, there was a layer of dust you could see on all the black appliances. But on the bright side, the sunsets and mountains are pretty when you can see through the dust.

While I'm complaining, I might as well get it all out. The water here will cause anything you leave in the sink (stainless steel sink, mind you) to rust. Water standing in ceramic mugs, etc. will cause the dish to rust. Needless to say, we don't drink the water. After washing the dishes and running the dishwasher, I have to wipe all the dishes down with vinegar to get the deposits off. They won't come off by just wiping it with a damp towel. You can feel the film on the dishes.

We were lucky to get a house on base the second day we were here. This house (duplex) has the same number of rooms as our Eagle River house (living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a laundry room), except that it's 2/3 the size. So...today Bob is hauling stuff to a storage unit in Alamogordo. The bedrooms are so small that our bed with the headboard unit will not fit in any of the four bedrooms. We had to put our bed in the family room which really looks like it should be the dining room. It's off the kitchen and has sliding glass doors that open out into the backyard. We couldn't put any other bedroom furniture in there though, so we now have a "bedroom" and a "dressing room." We put our dressers and treadmill in the master bedroom. My craft room occupies two of the bedrooms, and then Bob has his playroom in the last bedroom. We don't have a garage; just a carport with a small storage room. It's a "cozy" place, and we'll be able to offer you a nap with dinner now!

On a brighter note, Rango really loves the backyard. It's fenced in and he can roam around, hunting for moles. We were fortunate to get a corner lot that has a white privacy fence around most of the backyard. There is a chainlink fence on the side next to our neighbor. They have a big husky/chow mix dog that's really sweet. Rango is starting to think he can be friends with her. He was barking at her like crazy, acting like he was the bigger one! He's goofy. lol Speaking of goofy, that Rango is a hoot. He jumps through the air like the Alpo dog, all four legs straight out like he's doing the Superman thing. Well, his first evening out in the backyard, he "flew" into the sliding screen door, not once, but twice, thinking is was open. You know there were some birds watching somewhere, laughing their butts...er, tail feathers off! He used to have that cute Havanese nose, but now he looks kind of like a bulldog! lol

We had quite a frustrating first week here. Patty (the nice lady at base housing) gave us the wrong street name (right house number), so our mail forwarding address and phone/internet/satellite tv got all messed up. We finally got internet and phone service about 10 days after moving in, but we're still waiting for satellite tv to be installed. The soonest they could come out is the 27th!!! So, we've been relying on Netflix to give us the occasional movie to watch. However, even that has been a challenge. Out of 7 movies shipped to us so far, 4 have been broken into many pieces. This place is crazy!

Things are starting to get back on track though. We're slowing getting things put away and hung up. I've made contact with the SGI (a Buddhist group) here, and will go to my first meeting on Tuesday. It will feel good to be back practicing full-fledged again. For those of you who don't know, I started practicing Buddhism last year. I've always believed the "Buddhist" way, but just never knew that's what it was until I worked with a girl who is Buddhist and was able to learn a lot from her.

I had a job interview with the Assistant Chief Counsel's Office, Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, in El Paso last Monday. It went really well, and it sounds like they're probably going to offer me the job. The commute will be long, but the wages will be better than unemployment. I've also applied for a job that just opened Monday (and the job announcement closed yesterday) for a legal assistant in Otero (that's our county). It's with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security. I really hope I get that one (or something better!). Please keep me in your prayers!

Hopefully, I'll have pictures to post soon of our quaint little place. I hope now that we live "outside" (as they say in Alaska), we will see you lower-48 folks more often. Please don't let the little digs scare you away from visiting. We will make room for you! You've already got a bedroom/family room/dining room waiting for you! Take care everyone, and we'll chat soon. Love and miss you all!