Pragmatist
Pragmatist

El Paso - Goodbye
Fri May 02 2003

Our three years in El Paso have passed and it's time to move on. The first year was at Ft Bliss, and the second two were spent raising a baby and my husband earning his BA and teaching credential.

"We" have been accepted to graduate school at the University of Texas in Austin. Also, we have been accepted in student housing, so is move time from one student housing to another student housing.

We had to leave the Mutt behind, but one of the neighbors who had fallen in love with him asked to take him. Gladly! But I did miss him. He was quite a character.

Big difference in the accomodations, though. These were also converted barracks, but they were two-story. Bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. This time we qualified for three bedrooms, so Stan had a room all to himself for his study/den.

We had no furniture to speak of with us. In El Paso we "made do" with orange crates, a trunk, and bedroom and baby furniture. After we went to Austin, Stan's mother sent us our upholstered furniture, and a few other things. So we actually had something that looked like a home. There was also THE PICTURE to hang on the wall. (When did I write about that? Don't remember. If you want to know about it, go on back and read until you find it. If you don't want to, that's ok, too.) The living room wall was painted a gawdawful pink, so I got a gallon of white paint almost immediately to take care of that particular ugliness!

There were four apartments per building, and the building we were in faced a very busy street. There was a small patch of grass between the building and sidewalk, and an even smaller patch between the sidewalk and the curb.

Our neighbors to the left turned out to be a problem. Very noisy. I think there was some spousal abuse going on. Fortunately, they didn't stay very long.

I got acquainted with the women in the apartments on both ends. The one next door was the president of the "faculty wives club." A misnomer, actually, because it was student wives club. Why the name, I never figured out. The other woman ended up being my babysitter when I went to work--but about that later.

Irene and Woody turned out to be our best buddies while we were in Austin. Woody spent a lot of time playing driveway mechanic, and of course, Stan had to join him. Beer was the refreshment of choice. Irene and I did what wives and mothers do. But our choice of refreshment was lemonade.

So, anyway, we're pretty much settled in, classes are starting, and life goes on. More of Austin will follow.

Shalom.

6 Comments
  • From:
    FishCreekBride (Legacy)
    On:
    Fri May 02 2003
    Have you seen Austin lately? It's grown so fast that the streets and highways can't handle the traffic. It's a beautiful city but a beast to motivate...Hugs!
  • From:
    Sezrah (Legacy)
    On:
    Sat May 03 2003
    awww you had to leave the dog behind :(((
    pink, i can't think of a worse colour to paint the inside of a house, don't you wonder why people painted it that colour in the first place??

    sez
  • From:
    Sezrah (Legacy)
    On:
    Sun May 04 2003
    thanks for all your kind words and thoughts
    i hope your weekend has been worthwhile

    sez
  • From:
    JustAnotherBeth (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon May 05 2003
    Were there Kosher Burger King resteraunts in Austin back then?

    Shalom Ema
    Bati
  • From:
    Ozone (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon May 05 2003
    I'm glad that you found a good home for Mutt :)

    RYN: I would adopt Willie but the house rules of the homeowners assn here only allows one dog and one cat per family. Maybe I will get a kitten for Duke. I am not a cat person, but I guess I could get used to one.
  • From:
    CovertOps (Legacy)
    On:
    Mon May 05 2003
    Although I'm glad that you found a good home for your dear doggie, I'm so sad that you had to leave him behind! I would have cried my eyes out!
    This new apartment sounds better than the previous, all except for the pink walls. Ugh. Thank goodness you have some painting skills and could rememdy the situation.
    I've been to Tijuana, San Diego, L.A. , San Francisco and some other places in California but not the South. I'd love to go to the South one day. Austin sounds cosmopolitan, from what I've read and seen on TV!
    Love,
    E.L.