Yuppie Pioneer Mountain Woman

Translate that as me, a California girl moved to northern New Mexico--where I have seen for myself the visual that matches the lyric, "purple mountain majesty"; and I have had my garage door freeze shut making me late for work.

Can you spell S N O W? C O L D?  And in particular, I C E? Yikes.
This California girl didn't know you had to shovel the snow away before it hardens and turns to ice to defy the tread of your worn out UGG boots knock-offs.

Don't get me wrong. I am loving it here.  The winter weather seems to make me feel more alive. The stillness of a snowfall is almost indescribable. And the people here in the city are fantastic, fun and very arts-oriented.

It's just that it does take more time and energy to function here. One has to allow more time to get appropriately dressed (think Randy in the movie, "A Christmas Story" as his mother's bundles him up to walk to school) without looking like an alien Michelin man.  One has to leave earlier than usual to get to a chosen destination and hope that one can see the lines in the road to know how to drive if it is snowing (especially at night).

The pioneer part of my title has to do with the fact that after the actual move to Santa Fe, Don went back to Chico and I am living here by myself with my beloved cat, Beauregard.

That means that all the unpacking is mine to do. Along with having to call on a friend to help out when the boxes are too high or too heavy to access.

It means numerous trips to Lowe's to get necessities like a snow shovel (I found one that is junior size) and jugs of salt that I can pour on the walkway to help melt the ice. I mean that because I cannot lift the economical 40 lb. bag of salt, I have to buy the wussy size containers of the salt so I can lift and pour without strain.  The good news  is that when Don gets here and he buys the giant size bag, we can pour some into my petite size container for my use, too.

It means learning how to cook on an electric stove which is no small feat as I do not know how to cook on a gas stove.

It means not letting the thrice fallen shower rod defeat me. A very helpful guy at Lowe's gave me some inside tips on installing a new one and after closing the door so that Beau wouldn't get underfoot, I stood on my little step-stool and put up my new rod with my new curtain and new shower hooks.

It means ignoring the Mercury in retrograde that has been toying with me with already by taking my beloved KatieKeurig coffee machine with an untimely exit.  Anyone who knows me, knows that coffee and I are synonymous.  My KatieKeurig (so named because it is alliterative and she is red) has been with me for over 5 years at my office in Chico. I brought her with me here to Santa Fe to use at home till Don got here and brought our home Keurig.  Whether it is the colder clime here or just a luxury for the first two weeks here, I would have two cups of coffee in the morning.  On Sunday, KK went phffffft. On new year's eve, I ordered a new batch of K-cups and a Descaling kit because I had noticed she was getting a little inconsistent.  The kit didn't arrive in time. Katie stopped working on Sunday after giving me one last, partial cup of coffee before starting my new job. Bless her.

Fortunately, several people have told me that my shortness of breath, appetite and fatigue are part of the acclimatizing my body needs to do to adjust to the 7,000 foot altitude while I build additional red blood cells. So I am hunkering down and taking care of business as they say. You see, I was raised an only child which meant I was fiercely independent, stubborn and resourceful.  I now understand that part of the value in the separation from Don is that I am returning to being that self-reliant, born of Irish stock, MacGyver kinda gal that I am.

What say I next try building a fire in that kiva?