I’ve Landed

photo-158Well hello gnocchi no. 9 fans – I’ve missed you!  It’s been a whirlwind as you already know, and it’s still whirling, but not as out of control as it was before we landed back at the Dusty Dog.  I don’t want to make excuses for why I haven’t been happily cooking and documenting recipes for you, but I’m going to anyway.  Within the short span of two months and two days, we did more than seems humanly possible.  It was SO MUCH that the list deserves bullet points:

  • We sold our house and rented it back from the new owner for a couple of weeks.
  • We packed up the house, our garage apartment, and our horrifyingly over-stuffed garage (I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo of that mess).
  • We orchestrated and operated a two day estate sale with the help of awesome friends, tons of laughter, and lots of beer.
  • I had a hysterectomy complete with a two week recovery that didn’t include packing any boxes.
  • A gigantic eighteen wheeler moving truck and four men showed up and hauled our things to a super sized storage unit where our treasures they will stay until the day we can take them to our house in New Orleans, which is being worked on as I type.

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  • After the moving truck pulled out, Rhonda and I became gypsies minus the colorful painted wagon, flouncy shirts and long broom skirts.  In other words, when we left our eccentric old house in East Dallas for the last time, we had several weeks of traveling around facing us.  First, we rented a casita on lots of property just south of Dallas for a week.  It was great because we could have our dogs with us but not so great when Rhonda got poison ivy all over her body.

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  • Then, we spent a week in New Orleans celebrating halloween and meeting with carpenters and electricians about beginning work on our old wooden house.

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  • Then, we went back to the casita on lots of property near Dallas for another week of frolicking in the woods and thankfully Rhonda didn’t get poison ivy the second time around.
  • Finally, on our nine year anniversary, we left the Texas prairies and plains behind and drove to Taos to settle in to our new life.

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Looking back, I can’t believe we accomplished all of this and survived without getting a divorce or without someone getting their eyes clawed out.  I was close to clawing (and kicking and screaming) several times.  I’m still having nightmares about all of that packing and the sheer chaos of it all!

So, here we are at the Dusty Dog surrounded by Rocky Mountain glory and BOXES – I forgot to mention in my bulleted litany that in mid-October, Rhonda drove a U-haul full of stuff up to the cabin.  She was only here for a couple of days and didn’t have time to do anything more than move the boxes into their proper rooms then return to Dallas for the final days of moving madness.  So now, we are unpacking and placing things in an already full space.  How is it possible that we have so much stuff after that two day estate sale extravaganza and all of the things we gave to friends and family?  And what was I thinking when I packed all of these pantry items?

photo-285 Clearly, I wasn’t thinking about my already full Dusty Dog pantry!  How much salt can two people really use?

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In order to accommodate all of our “I just can’t part with this” worldly possessions, we’ve had book shelves built for our office, an entire closet reworked with double hanging rods and shelves, extra shelves built into an oversized armoire, and we’ve ordered a new bed with storage drawers underneath.  I mean between the two of us you should see the clothes we have.  And books.  And a lot of, “I just can part with this” stuff.

If you would have told me last November, or even at the beginning of last summer that I would be living at the Dusty Dog by this time in 2013, I would have told said, “You are CRAZY.”

I mean bat shit CRAZY.  But the idea to sell our Dallas house was spoken setting the whole thing into motion.  The stars lined up, the planets did a little tango and here we are.  I have no idea what this exciting adventure is going to look like, or where this new chapter in our life will lead, but I am holding on for the ride.  There is no doubt it will bring lots of adventures, twists and turns, and definitely a whole lot of cooking.  Stay tuned for a recipe later this week – I promise I’ll make something good!

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About Lisa Orwig

I'm a homegrown cook sharing recipes and other great stuff about food from all over the world.
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10 Responses to I’ve Landed

  1. I thought about you and your gypsy wagon this weekend, when Cara and I went to the McKinney Farmer’s market and the Vintage Trailer Tour in Chestnut Square. Glad you have landed safely at the Dusty Dog and we look forward to seeing you soon. Looking forward to whatever Gnocchi #9 is cooking up for the holidays!

    • Lisa Orwig says:

      Hi Franceanna – I saw that gypsy wagon photo you posted this weekend, and you know I loved it! Missing all of you too. Looking forward to seeing you in December.

  2. Sandi Swales says:

    Best wishes to you and Rhonda on your new and exciting adventures! It’s a wonderful life and we need to enjoy it while we can 🙂 Hoping some day I can come to visit you at the Dusty Dog! Love ya!

  3. Faye Polakoff says:

    I already miss the two of you, but I will look forward to having our precious time together on your visits to Dallas. Kiss all the babies for us, and Howard and I send you so much love and kisses.
    Can’t wait for your new recipes.
    Faye

  4. Dea McAdam says:

    Glad you captured some of that insanity in writing. Hope you rediscover your aliveness on a daily basis after throwing yourselves out of your crowded Dallas nest…

    • Lisa Orwig says:

      Thanks Deidre – I know there’s a world without chaos right here at the cabin – if I can just unpack a few more boxes!

  5. You were dreaming about this a year ago, and thinking it wouldn’t be possible for many more years. So I say, bring on the chaos, and the joy that comes with it. And also, please unpack my room so i can spend a night or two celebrating you guys on my way to go pick up my dog this spring 🙂 Until then, Happy Snowshoeing!

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