It's a Changing Day

Every morning, I watch the Dr. Phil Show, not because I particularly love Dr. Phil, although I do agree with him about 99% of the time.  Mainly, I watch it because it keeps me occupied while I’m doing my walking and exercise videos.  To me, exercise is BORING!  Not for my Buff Honey.  He loves it.  Not only does he do his morning calisthenics and his 40 minute run, but he routinely walks at night.  Why?  Because he loves walking.  I’m not kidding.  Loves, loves, loves it!

What amazes me about Dr. Phil are the people who are willing to go on TV and share their craziness with the world.  Whether it’s a controlling spouse, a butt-insky mother-in-law, or all about me diva, they are perfectly happy to share their bizarro world.  Of course, Dr. Phil’s guests are sane compared to Dr. Judy or Jerry Springer.

My favorite line from Dr. Phil is in the show’s introduction:  “This’ll be a changing day.”  I like to think I’m all about change.  I’ve always believed change is healthy….it keeps us on our toes, stretches us, thrusts us out of our comfort zones, makes life more challenging.  What is life without growth?

The truth about me is that often I dread change.  For years, my medium told me I was going to move.  NOOOOOO!  I don’t want to move.  I love my home.  I’ve lived in that community for over 25 years.  I raised my children there; my best career years were right there in Columbia, Maryland.  I couldn’t visualize not living there.

And, now, not only do I not live in Columbia, but I live a schizophrenic existence between Venice, Florida and Olney, Maryland.  I love my Florida home but dread being away from my children and grandchildren.  I’m not enamored of my Olney home but love sharing the lives of our families.  So, it’s a trade-off.  Okay, I can’t have it all.  That’s my reality.  And, yet, I’m deliriously happy both places.

This past winter in Maryland was like living in Buffalo, New York.  HORRIBLE!  Florida was my respite, yet I still had my Columbia house on the market and the winter was not kind to me.  It’s not easy to get your house shown when ice covers the walkway and plumbing issues take it off the market for weeks.  I found out the hard way how busy plumbers are during the worst of all winters!

The truth is I was so done with this house.  When my real estate agent’s number showed up on my phone, I wouldn’t even answer it.  I just let her leave her inevitable bad message and called back when I was in a better state of mind.

The third week in March, I finally got the message I had waited so long for.  “I have a contract on your house.”  YES!  At this point, I didn’t even care about the sales price as long as I didn’t have to bring money to the table.  Okay, that’s an exaggeration but I was definitely willing to settle for a fair deal, to get through the home inspection, to do whatever it took to get to the settlement table.

There were a couple of sleepless nights when I had to hire a structural engineer because the home inspector couldn’t certify that it was structurally sound.  That about put me on drugs.  But, it turned out to be the best $300 I ever spent.

We ended up going to settlement a week early.  Thanks to the tech age we live in, I didn’t have to show up…just fed-exec my signed documents and they wired the money to my bank account.

April 17th.  That’s the day the bleeding stopped.  I’ve paid off everybody I owe.  What a feeling of absolute freedom!

So, what am I doing to celebrate?!  Well, I’m not going to Disney World.  I’m going to Denmark.  Yep, Denmark.  I have never been to Europe.  I’ve never traveled anywhere except Canada and the Caribbean.  Seven of my Danish cousins and I are going to Copenhagen to walk where our grandfather walked.

Of course, I dread the flight and I’m worried about all the unknowns, but I know I’ll be fine once I get there.  It’s a ‘changing day!’