I’m back!

I’m back from our eclipse-viewing vacation! I’ll write more about that soon. I’ve just spent the last 3 days catching up on the most critical of the work I missed while gone (those first couple of days right after a trip are always so brutal). So now I’m going to inundate you with backlogged blog posts 😝

But first let me briefly catch you up on the progress of all the projects.

The rentals: all rented, yay! And we’ve pretty much gotten all the initial repairs and maintenance done. And we’ve put each of them into an LLC. And my spreadsheets are (for the most part) in order. Rent is due in a couple of days – let’s see how they all do! I am not tolerant of late rent.

The remodel: oh god. I really hope I will eventually like that house. Logically, it’s a really nice house. I’m just not feeling it. Like really not feeling it! At the moment I’d rather live in any of our 3 rentals, even though they (logically) aren’t as nice. I really hope that my current distaste for that house is just temporary due to the difficulties of the remodel, and not predictive of how I’ll feel after the remodel is done. Because right now it’s a disaster, and maybe I just lack imagination.

The interior is a disaster zone. And the dark paint on the exterior depresses me. I think that repainting the exterior will help a lot. I sure hope I like the house when it’s done! Because if not, then what?

It’s actually better now that the non-value-added contractor is out of the picture. I’m working directly with the guys doing the work and am a lot more aware of what’s going on, and we’re getting higher quality work now.

Job applications and interviewing: Prior to leaving on vacation I applied for 3 jobs at New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), got called to interview for 2 of them, which I did right before leaving. Then I applied for 2 more with NMED yesterday. I have one more with NMED that I need to apply to within the next few days. I also applied for one at LANL awhile back, and they just called today to arrange an interview for next week.

Coaching clients: all good as usual!! I’ve got them all moved to the evenings, to make room for a potential new job. Also I am chomping on the bit to do a little more advertising (I haven’t advertised in months), but I still feel like I’m a bit too busy. Fielding calls and emails from potential clients is a lot more time consuming than just working with my regular clients. I offer free 20 minute intro sessions for people considering signing up. 20 minutes doesn’t sound like a lot, but it usually takes several emails to get them scheduled, and then half the time they don’t show up (call) because they’re not invested yet. I don’t really like that part. I just like working with my established clients ☺️

The mess in Houston: John’s relatives are all fine! 😊

Oh and – new haircut! I forgot to mention I got a new haircut. I’m really bad at taking selfies, but you get the idea. I took this photo in the morning right after getting out of bed, because I was amazed how good the cut looked without even being styled! I wish the rest of me aged as well as my hair (sigh). I can’t believe I’m posting a photo of me taken when I first woke up. Definitely too old for that.

I had gotten lazy and hadn’t cut it the whole time I’ve been back in New Mexico. So it grew for almost a year. But I knew I’d be interviewing, and also camping. Both good reasons for a short cut.