How We Doing?

We’re now into our second week in the new house, and things are well, either settling in nicely or running as efficiently as a pig on stilts.

We’ve figured out a few quirks with the heating system – not necessarily in a way that’s going to save us money on our electric bill, but in a way that’s keeping us somewhat warm as we occupy various parts of the house throughout the day and night. Still very interested in having natural gas heat put in. We had Intermountain Gas come in and mark where they’d put their meter, and have some contractors coming later this week to give us some bids. Not really looking forward to all that, but you know how it goes. It has to be done. Curious to see what people can do for us without costing us an arm or a leg. Whatever the cost, though it’ll be nice to be warm.

We’re almost done moving all of our stuff from Iona to Ammon. Probably one more trip would do it, and that could happen this weekend if – and that’s a big if – I can get the garage and shed pulled together in a manner that would allow us to bring more stuff over. The bikes, for example, are going in the shed, but I have to get the shed organized so they’ll fit – and I’ve got to get a padlock for the shed as well. Don’t want it left open to, you know, Ammonite thieves and such. And the part of the garage where I would park my truck is still comically crammed with all sorts of different stuff, from a massive pile of flattened cardboard boxes destined for the recyclers to some furniture we haven’t yet brought into the house and my workbench stuff, which also has to find a home somewhere.

The good news is that last night I got all of the garage stuff moved out of the house into the garage, and a lot of the shed stuff hauled out to the shed, so we’re in better fettle at least with fewer piles of stuff lying around. But I’m going to have to go into shelf-building mode here before too long, because there’s nary a shelf in the house for books or knick-knacks and such. Plus we’ve got to get the camper hauled over here and all the black bags inside it emptied out before we can officially say we’re settled.

But we are getting there. Had our first Sunday in the Ammon 11th Ward this week. It’s always a bit weird trying to settle into a new ward – same program, same meetings, but you have to figure out your place in the ward, who the regulars are, who the Ward Weirdo is, and such. Maybe it’s my turn to be the Ward Weirdo this time around. Could be a pleasant change. Lexie, bless her heart, nearly asked the bishop if we were going to have to speak in the ward because we’re new, but I managed to shush her before the words came out. But it’s probably too late to avoid all that anyway.