Muchacho Polaco

This was no small task and it took much longer than I anticipated – but we really like the finished product (especially when compared to how hideous the original was).

Here’s the original:

We had a lot of fun on our brief little trip to New Mexico a few weeks back. We didn’t do anything special – just went to a fairly remote “town” (population under 100) in the middle of nowhere in the Gilla National Forest.

It was a refreshing break from the 100+ temps at home – we spent most of the week in the mid-60s with lots of rain. We loved it.

The picture below is of the place we stayed. They had all sort of fruit trees on the property. Yun was picking from the mulberry tree in the photo. There was an endless supply of them. They’re not unlike a regular black berry. So good. So free.

We went for long walks on the dirt road near the lodge. The dogs were in paradise. Scout, despite being entirely deaf, avoided wandering off (though he always does push the limits).

About 45 minutes away was a town by the name of Truth or Consequences. There wasn’t much to do there – but it was something to see. Sadly we missed the fiesta advertised below.

That last leg of the trip became a bit sketch. Fortunately I chose not to pass at the moment we came across this little family.

We left Tucson Saturday morning to make our way to Hillaboro, NM for some rest and relaxation. On our way, we stopped for lunch in Silver City. It was a fun place to stop.

Yesterday we had our interview for our fast passes. It’s hard to believe federal employees actually work on the weekends. We had gone through the interview process in probably about 4 minutes each. It’s exciting to think in the near future we will be able to cross effortlessly.

We had a nice time at Noah and Ana’s wedding last night, despite the 108 temperature!

My 47th bday was just over a week ago. That seems really old. I feel old. I’ve never been a big fan of bdays, but I did get a favorite meal out of it – steak and potatoes with Matt and Dana. Dana also stenciled me my favorite load (chiltepin and cheese). So good!

I don’t know what an air-fryer is really. We have friends that have them and love them. Yun has wanted one and found a brand new one on Craigslist for $25. They go for about $100, so it was worth trying. She made fried zucchini (battered with almond flour, so low carbs) and they turned out pretty good.

The hallway to the bedrooms was awful. There were multiple door bells, multiple fire alarms, some mystery box, a sconce light, and an old dated thermostat. I had the walls and ceiling re-textured and painted. The baseboard was finished. And a new smart thermostat added which is a really nice update. We changed the sconce light (a terrible idea for a narrow hallway) for 3 recessed LED lights.

Next month I hope to replace the trim around each of the doors (there are 6 off the hallway) along with updating each of the doors, along with the hinges and hardware.

We had a pretty ugly slate tiled fireplace in the main living room which we really wanted to update. Yun did a spectacular job painting the brick white on the lower portion and this last week our worker removed the bottom slate and tiled it with some tile we thought would make a good match for the house. It’s not yet done, but when our worker returns in a month we have it at the top of the list.