At Home in the High Desert

We have been in New Mexico for a little more than a month now, and our family is adjusting very well. We found a permanent home in a town called Rio Rancho, and well…I must say that I am pleasantly surprised that I am enjoying the flat desert. I guess when viewing the landscape from far away, everything looks flat until you begin to drive through the terrain. There are many hills and lots of vegetation here. There is beauty here just as there is beauty in seeing the mountains.

I have not had access to the internet for a while now, and I was starting to go nuts! This past Friday the cable guy came and hooked us up. We are now in a small four bedroom house that is in need of a lot of tender loving care. We made the decision to rent this house because the landlord was willing to allow us to do the work necessary to make it safe for Simmi. She is highly sensitive to latex rubber and is allergic to dust mites, so carpet poses a big problem for her skin. The first order of business was to rip all the carpet up, then to clean up the place and paint. It has been a slow process but we are getting a lot done. My kids have been a such a big help and I don’t know if I could have done as much as I have done to this point with out them. They have watched over Simmi as I ran around like a chicken without a head trying to get things done.

It hasn’t been easy for them. They have lost everything they held dear and moved very far away from their dad and friends. When we first got to NM they had a week left of school before the holiday break, but because their school didn’t send their transcripts, we couldn’t register them. It worked out well though, because if we would have been able register them in the school near the temporary house, we would have had to pull them out of there and transfer them to the Rio Rancho school district. We found our new home the end of December but with the landlord going to see relatives in another state, we couldn’t sign the lease for another week. THEN when we signed the lease we had electricity but no water or gas. It’s very hard to work in a house that has no heat or water. We moved in on January 14th with no furniture. I was partially holding my breath half the time wondering if we were going to have to sleep on the concrete. But, as it turns out, I found another very endearing quality about NM…the people here are very generous. People donated beds, a living room set and a table and chairs! All of it in very good condition. Our first night in the house we slept on beds and NOT on concrete. Noah started school this past Thursday and Shoshie started school on Friday. It was an easy adjustment for Noah, but Shoshie found the size of her school a little overwhelming. Simmi is doing wonderful and I am happy to say that she is now eczema free. The lack of carpets cleared up the last of her rashy skin. Unfortunately, because the house is still not finished, the only room that is safe for her to be in right now is the kitchen. I call it “the safe zone.” She definitely doesn’t like being confined to the small kitchen, but it is the only way to keep her clean until the rest of the house is done. Tomorrow I will be finishing the painting and then she will be free to roam our little abode freely.

I am getting stronger every day, and it is so wonderful to feel normal again. In one months time all the pain that had been constant for the last year has left me. I wouldn’t be able to do all that I am doing right now if I was still racked with pain. I am bursting with energy and greet each new day like a child on Christmas morn. In the next few weeks I’ll post pictures of our new home with before and after photos.

Thanks for reading!