And she writes! Finally.

Well, it’s about time I got my write-on and created a post. The Missus here. Garret is at work, and I just returned from this great teahouse on Canyon Rd. (the art gallery district of Santa Fe) where I graded up a storm. I still have more to do. I’ve found that grading truly is—as I’ve heard all along—the lowest of teaching lows. Outside, the neighbor girls are laughing and playing with their dogs Oink and Telulah. Great dog names.

We are adjusting to life here. It has been a lonely week, though. The newness (but not the novelty) of Santa Fe has worn off a bit, and we find ourselves deeply missing friends and family. The highlight of the week was a brief visit with Keith and Matt Hendron, who made an over-night stop in Santa Fe on Tuesday night. They were finishing up a 4-week-ish motorcycle trip around the country. We had a great visit. It was wonderful to see familiar faces. No one had entered our casita since my parents left (after moving our belongings and me out here). That was almost two months ago; as most of you know, our place in San Luis Obispo saw the faces of friends almost daily, so this lack of friends’ presence in our little home has been weird and lonely. I know that we will build relationships here, but the waiting is foreign and causes me to feel restless.

In the mean time, we busy ourselves with work and exploration. We have done some fun stuff out here so far. Last weekend, we went to an alpaca farm. That was great. They are the cutest animals ever, and I can’t wait to own a few someday. And goats and chickens, of course. Three weeks ago, I found a black widow in my school bag… reached right into the web to pull out a book. Eek! We’ve been to some great little restaurants, explored the neighboring towns of Pecos, Lamy, Tesuque and Eldorado. The Peanut Gallery (the art gallery where Garret works) had a successful opening last weekend. And, we joined NetFlix (finally), so we’ve seen some good movies, too.

Following are some pics of Cerrillos Rd. It’s the part of Santa Fe that some snobby locals pretend doesn’t exist. So we like to visit. It’s comparable to LA on a not-so-crazy day. Lots of cars and strip malls and traffic and stop lights. It’s not beautiful, but the “beauty” of Cerrillos is that it’s where normal people are and go. The whole Santa Fe Plaza scene is lovely, rich, & historic, but it’s not real life. Cerrillos is. Enjoy! And please write and call us because we’re (I should speak for myself now) very sad and lonely sometimes!