Into the Quiet

The day I graduated from college, I grabbed James Mitchner's Centennial, plopped myself down on the couch and only moved when absolutely necessary. It took about three weeks to completely decompress, with me only coming up for air to answer the incessant phone calls from a friend of mine who was trying to set me up with a guy "who had a great personality."

Those weeks of decompression were quiet. I cleared out the years of intense projects, papers and college life. I rested, void of distractions, allowing myself to relax and ease into the new season of my life I was entering.

Lately, I have been living that quiet time again. I am entering a different season.

We closed our property management division of our accidental business, which focused all my time and energy for the past 10 years. We still have challenges in Alabama. However, one main lesson I learned from managing homes is the time goes by anyway. No matter if Kirby or Mario are dealing with painters or if I am, the painters will still take the same amount of time. Me being anxious about it (because I am managing the day to day activities), doesn't make these people work any faster, nor does it change the outcome.

I feel like I have written the same story over and over again. The names and homes have changed. In fact, as I am writing this--and I swear I am not making this up--I just got a call from from the brother of a neighbor of my home at ________________ and there is a ______________ problem going on there right now. I don't know exactly how he got my number, because I don't even know who this neighbor is. Did he want to help me, or was he looking for easy money? I now have boots on the ground over there. I gave him Kirby's number and told him to call.

There are other things that I haven't written about, that are still unresolved. Attorney Jon caused a legal nightmare for me that is ongoing. He was a great, wonderful man, but very disorganized. And now I am looking at having to get another attorney to resolve this mess.

Legal Eagle blew me off last year. She said she couldn't meet with me for an hour during my visit to Birmingham because three weeks later she would be going on vacation. Jack left me a mess too, though we parted friends. I haven't heard from him, and after what I saw with the house he and I owned and he was managing, I don't really feel the need to contact him either. I think both of those relationships came to an end because of Attorney Jon's death and subsequent legal mess I have to deal with.

Then there is the woman I never met and never will. She disappeared, leaving behind a toddler my tenant was granted custody of. There are many unanswered questions related to this, including, what is that grave-shaped spot in the back yard of one of my homes that every one is ignoring? It is still being ignored. I am finally ok with that. I hope they find this woman somewhere else. Preferably alive.

I am tired. I need quiet. I need to change, grow and not be involved in Alabama. The quiet I have felt in the past few months has been cathartic. A welcome change from the drama of the every day Mrs. Landlord calls.

In keeping with my quiet, I have been noodling what to do about this blog. I am so grateful I have had an outlet to channel some of the craziness I experienced. And, I am even more grateful that I have had a few friends who came along for the ride. Thank you all.

Regarding this blog, do I take a break as I change seasons? Do I change my focus (a pretty narrow scope if you think about it: managing properties, fixing our undercapitalized issues and baseball)? Do I start a new blog? Or do I just let it slip away into the quiet as well? I don't have an answer right now. But I am thinking at this point, I may just set it aside and see where this new season takes me.

--SW

Oh, what happened to the guy my friend was hell-bent on me dating? I married him a few years later and we started our own adventures.