Three Exciting Deliveries

I was trying to figure out what to name this post and settled on "Three Exciting Deliveries".  It seemed fitting.  We've had the delivery of the house.  The delivery of our household items from Italy.  And the 'delivery' of another heeler.  I guess you can even say we've recently celebrated the delivery of yours truly!  It's been a busy couple months.  So now to the blog post.

I recently celebrated my birthday, and I have firmly arrived in middle life.  At 45 I am exactly halfway through my 40s and halfway towards my 50s.

The morning of my birthday Tom and I sat at our newly-acquired dining room table drinking coffee and sketching out plans for our garage and courtyard.  As we were talking, Tom asked me if I "felt" old, wondering if my increasing age was bothering me.  I told him that "I'm old" are words he will probably never hear me say.  At least not for another twenty or thirty years.  I might cop to "I'm getting older" but I don't plan on saying "I'm old" any time soon.  While there are certainly signs that the years are adding up -- Tom and I will be celebrating 19 years of marriage next month, Maxwell recently turned 31, and high school friends have children starting college -- I don't "feel" old.

Probably starting in my 30s, I've been inspired by people who remain creative, curious and interested in life well into middle age and beyond.  People like Julia Child who was turning 40 when Mastering the Art of French Cooking was coming out and still cooking on TV into her 70s.  Authors like Louise Penny, who published her first of 17 Inspector Gamache books in her 40s.  Or Delia Owens, who was in her 70s when she published her first fiction book, Where the Crawdads Sing.  Or Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the wildly popular Yellowstone TV show, who quit acting to become a screenwriter in his 40s.  I'm frankly feeling very good about the rest of my forties and what's ahead.    

Last month I got my journal out and I wrote a list of everything that we've done the past four months.  The list was THREE pages long.  Two of my most recent blog posts covered some of the highlights from the first two months.  We packed up our home in Italy.  Shipped our car.  Sold our other one.  Closed on our house.  Had final farewell events.  Got Henry home.  Got Colt home.  Started our new jobs within days of getting home to Arizona.  Found out the house we were expecting the summer of 2023 was actually coming THIS summer.  Received our household items that had been in long-term storage for five years.  Bought a used truck for Tom.  Picked up our car in San Diego.  Got Tom's Jeep out of storage and serviced.

Since then we FINALLY received our household goods from Italy after nearly FOUR months.  I'm happy to report that the wine is here and safely tucked away in one of our guest bedrooms.  The three house sections arrived on the property and the house has been 'married' together.  They've poured the footers, done the block wall around the house, and begun utility connections.  We've picked out the flooring and done the utility trenching that we're responsible for.  

We also fostered two blue heelers from the local shelter for a month, as if we didn't have enough going on already!  We found a great home for the brother, who we had named Dillon but has since been named Hank, and we decided to keep the sister, whom we've named Daisy.  So we're now a three heeler household.  

It's been a whirlwind!  It's been stressful.  There have been anxious and tense moments but we've gotten through it and we're really looking forward to what's ahead.  

I can't deny that I am getting "older" but I feel like Tom and I are entering a really exciting, next chapter.

So here are some photos from the past two months.  Just to catch you up on the Dalrymples. 

THE HOUSE

Day one of the house delivery

The excavated pit

The first two sections

The third and final arrived the next day

The house being 'married'

It's been so green here from the monsoons

Looking up (north) towards the house

Colt surveying the land

Block delivered and a beautiful view

Block placed

OUR STUFF

Day One

Day Two

Setting up house temporarily

The wine is here!

HEELERS

Meeting the foster kids for the first time.

Busting them out days later

Tom in heeler heaven

Daisy learning from the master

She LOVES being on the property

Dillon getting some one-on-one truck / Tom time

Last night with Dillon

Life now

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with the Dalrymples.  

If you're inspired by someone who is living life to the fullest and kicking butt in middle age and beyond, I hope you'll leave a comment and tell me who they are.  I'm looking for all the inspiration I can get as I start this next circle around the sun.