New House

We finally got the internet connected today, hurray! It also occurred to me as I was glancing over the posts that I had written in the middle of my 12 hour overnight shifts at the ranch, that I never actually wrote about the resolution to our housing problem. Not that it was anything dramatic or inspiring. We just got lucky that a block of houses on base just got finished and approved for residency. There was, of course, no lack of squealing and jumping up and down when we got the call.

So, new house! Brand new house! We are officially the first residents which is at the same time awesome and daunting. I was putting the dish with baked spaghetti in the oven tonight and noticing how incredibly shiny the inside of the oven was... shinier than any I'd ever seen. Now I'm scared to death of messing it up. Oh well, do our best to keep it looking nice, especially since we'll have to pay for every little nick in the moldings!

Overall, life is good and the house is amazing. There have been a few snaffus, but nothing that isn't easy to deal with. We were warned that the foundation might still be settling, and to watch out for cracks along the walls for that reason. With our luck, of course, there were. As we were beginning to move our stuff into the house out of the garage, where we unloaded the moving truck to, we got a knock on our door from the maintenance guys. Apparently someone had been by for a last-minute inspection and noticed cracks in the downstairs bathroom. They guys were really nice (and loved the dogs). They got the cracks patched up (found another one on the stairs and in the kitchen, boo!) and everything is good as new. We just have to keep an eye out for more cracks appearing so they can fix them before they become an issue.

The other small issue is the yard... lack of yard, rather. Due to the flood, there have been strict watering bans in place for a while as the city tries to conserve clean water. Because of this, the landscaping around the new units is a little behind schedule. So we don't have a lawn. We have dirt. And, as of yesterday, a few shrubs out front. The only real problem with this (other than it looks kind of ugly and I don't get to feel the soft grass between my toes while hanging out outside with the dogs) is that we have to wait until the lawn has grown enough for the root system to be established before they'll give us control and responsibility of it. Which means we can't put up a fence yet. There are really strict pet restrictions on base, so if I put my dogs out on their tethers, I have to sit out there with them. It makes it harder to let them outside to potty while I'm getting ready for work in the morning, but it just means I'll have to be up a few minutes earlier. Oh well. I'm sure I can live. The important thing is that we should be able to have a fence up by winter before it starts to snow. I'll be really sad if I have to sit out there with them during a blizzard...

The advantage is that I've gotten to take them on some nice long walks since we moved in, exploring the neighborhood. Had to put them back in their gentle-leaders, as apparently coming to a new place means that they no longer remember any of the training from before, but they're remembering quickly with the head-collars back on.

So life is good. Moving forward Trying not to dwell on what we can't control. Unpacking is tedious, but we're working on it, slowly and steadily. Learning the new way of life that comes with living on a military base. Overall, things are looking up again. Which is a nice change of pace, certainly.