Pink Walls

First, I want to say we went to Busch Gardens in Tampa over the weekend, and as soon as I learn how to transfer the pictures from my Android to my PC, I want to share that with you. OMG -- a wonderful Park, and the boys said it was even better than Disney and Universal. Now, that's saying a lot.

So, I continue forward. The next chapter of my life is beginning...with pink walls. No, that can't be. My next chapter will begin with basically beige walls.

I arrived in Florida about three weeks before my furniture (boxes) arrived, so I thought I would hire a painter, have the walls painted, buy the big pieces of furniture, and be ready for life to begin. NOT! True, my bed was delivered, and I bought two chairs on line, and folding tables from Walmart. That's what I started with. And a list of painters. Oh, believe me, it's not that easy to hire a painter. Mind you, I came from a town where I had grown up, knew many people, and knew people who knew people. Al was an old steel structure roofer, so he knew people. In other words, I had my list of contacts and knew who to call for what. Here, I knew no one. There were no people to call to ask about who and where do I go. I didn't even know where the hardware store was. And I took my list, my phone, and set about calling and scheduling appointments.

I know what a paint job is going for, and I know when something is cheap and expensive. But, I wasn't prepared for a con job. I received many bids, but the best one was from a "reputable" place where the man started with $5000 for the large living room and small galley kitchen. Then, the longer we talked it went to $4000, then when I told him about Al, it went to $3000, and then when I told him the other projects that were on my list, it went lower. And the lower it got, the more I did not want him. So, I learned everything is negotiable here. A lot. Then there was the man who came, gave me a quote, and then called me every 15 minutes to ask if I had made up my mind. After the 10th call, I told him I had made up my mind and someone else won out. (I was far from finding the right painter). Eventually, though, I did find a painter who I thought I could trust and who gave me a reasonable price --

And I found out that reasonable price has nothing to do with trusting that a job would be completed.

My walls did transform to beige, and the job (on the whole) wasn't that bad. Not perfection, but not bad. It's the other....the paint on the carpet, not showing up to clean up the mess, and his phone that stopped working that turned out bad. So, I cleaned up the mess, licked my wounds, and went on. And I wondered what in the world had I done. I didn't know anyone, was outside of my comfort zone, and I did not see a light at the end of the tunnel. But, I knew I waited enough time to make the move (you should never make a major change within a year of a major crises, the experts warned). My sisters died in 2009, Al died in 2010, and my mother died in 2011, and now the year was 2014. I really needed to move forward, and I was, whether if I was skeptical or not. I moved forward.

For three months I simply readied my house, had walls painted, some floors replaced, bought the furniture, unpacked many boxes and found some pieces missing, some broken, and many in one piece. I was beginning to put together the house. And I ventured out, found the hardware store, the grocery store, the basic of necessities.

I met with my friends who lived in Florida upon occasion, and I traveled to IKEA in Tampa to buy more items for the house. I felt like I was trying to adapt, even though I still wondered what I had done with my life, wondered if I should simply go home, and wait....wait for what, to die. No. I want to fulfill my dreams, my goals. And so I joined the ceramic club, and I met a lady who has gone with me to Barcelona, and now I am meeting more women who want to do things.

Today, I do not think about going back to my old life, but I still have days when I wonder what I am doing. And then I think of my goals, and know that most days I work toward fulfilling those goals. And the other days, I simply piddle. I am a piddler, and love to piddle, but I do not allow myself to have many of these days; otherwise, I would piddle my time away.

Have a great day. Talk with you tomorrow.