Another Chapter

I struggled with a title for this post.  Several things came to mind -- "A New Beginning," or "It's Been Real and It's Been Interesting, But Not Real Interesting," or the proverbial "First Day of the Rest of My Life."  I was so tired last night that I went to bed at 9:00.  Of course, I'm up now at 4:00 -- so maybe that's contributing to the struggle.

I think I'm one of the most fortunate people I know.  I'm 52 years old, and while I may never be really rich, barring some unforeseen circumstance, I may not ever have to work another day in my life.  Despite my good fortune, the past nine months have been a test of my patience, which I admittedly have very little of.

Those who know me well know that I have been planning to move to Florida for a very long time.  For as long as I can remember, I've had a serious dislike for the weather in Ohio.  And while most people think my desire to move to Florida has everything to do with my attraction to Walt Disney World, I'd have to say that snow and ice was really the driving force.

I've mentioned before that we bought a house in the Florida panhandle when Jamie took a job down here.  That was a little over five years ago.  Like so many others have experienced, the job didn't work out, but we at least had somewhere to live down here until the other pieces of the plan came together.  I arrived here about nine months ago.

So -- where is "here?"  I haven't said a whole lot about day-to-day life.  There's not really much to say.  I live in a little town -- DeFuniak Springs, which is about 30 miles north of Destin beach.  We're about an hour east of Pensacola and a few hours west of Tallahassee.  I'm not exactly sure how to describe this place -- somewhere I DO NOT want to be.  That's a start.  There's a Wal-mart and a Lowes here.  Shopping anyone?  Seriously...there's a Wal-mart and a Lowes here.  That's basically it.  With the exception of a trip to Orlando last November, I've been out of my house maybe 30 times in the last nine months.  (And you wonder why I'm on Facebook all the time.  Well, wonder no more.)  It's been a real test of my patience and to say that I'm ready to start a new chapter in life would be a huge understatement.

I'm happy to say that the new chapter starts today.  In about 10 minutes, I'm going to wake Jamie up so he can drive to Crestview to pick up a moving truck.  He has to drive 30 miles to pick up a moving truck because, so far at least, Wal-mart is not in the business of renting moving trucks.  Nor is Lowes.  ha!  Today is "load the truck" day, and when that's done, we're going to try to get a few hours of sleep so we can get the hell out of here bright and early tomorrow morning.  Orlando, here we come!

I have to thank my mother and my girls for keeping me company via telephone for the past nine months.  I don't know what I would have done without their love and conversation.  Thanks also to my friend Becky who chats with me on Facebook all the time.  Thank you to so many of my Facebook friends who have hung in there with me.  Thanks also to Vicki and Carol who have offered their wishes for happiness.  And, a special thanks to my other mother, Judy -- my "Disney Mother" -- whose love and support means the world to me.

Okay -- gotta go!