SPLASH

We did it! We thought hard and long about this, well, actually, I thought long and hard. My husband’s mind was made up years before I met him. He was adamant about this, and I was extremely hesitant. He talked me into a vacation that he hoped would change my mind.

Having relatives in the state of Florida, he’d visited the state several times. I had not set one toe in the state, even for one second, never mind a one-day vacation.

I agreed to a three-week vacation. One week with each sister-in-law, and the third week sight-seeing.

In a way, you could say I was slightly impressed. Not quite ready to take the plunge into house-hunting, but our vacation was enjoyable.

We started this when we were married in 1993 (yes, a second marriage for both of us).

He was ready to house-hunt; I agreed to at least “look” but not “buy.”

In 1995, we, no, let me rephrase that, HE decided he was ready to look for property. He preferred building a new house to buying something someone had already used and possibly abused. Without thinking, I said, “Well, that makes sense.”

Taking one look at his face, I knew I’d made a huge mistake. He took it for granted that I was now ready to leave our comfortable NY home and head for the hot and buggy state of Florida. Yikes, what have I done?

I tried in earnest to keep my big mouth shut after that. It didn’t work. He smiled for the next few hours thinking he’d won the war. In a way, I guess he did. However, we talked it over and eventually came to a compromise. When he retired, we’d move however, in the meantime, we would at least look for property on which to build before the real estate market went any higher

In 1996, we took another three-week vacation and visited his family. One sister lived in Port Charlotte and the other in Punta Gorda. Since my husband wanted to bring our boat to Florida, we chose to look in Punta Gorda for waterfront property.

While Port Charlotte also had waterfront property, we liked Punta Gorda better.

After our initial two weeks with family, we were expecting to drive across the state and visit friends. Naturally, it was thus decided, that we’d dedicate the next two days to hunt for property, however, we kept in mind that we didn’t need to buy anything immediately. That, at least, took some pressure off us. The next day, however, we found the lot we really liked.

Ever get those “bad vibes” about a piece of dirt? There was only one lot we walked upon that didn’t give me chills. I have no explanation why all those other lots affected me in such a way but the one we chose was the only one that seemed to offer me comfort instead of chills. I knew we were home.

Now the fun began. The listing realtor kept giving us the run-around. She gave us the impression that we were wasting her time. We’d be leaving in a few days, so why bother? We tried to insist that we found the lot we wanted to purchase. She still gave us the “don’t bother me right now” attitude.

After leaving her office, we drove around until we came to an almost empty parking lot near where we had just eaten supper. We were leaning against our car, talking about the day’s events when a woman strode out of one of the buildings that shared the area where the restaurant sat.

Seeing our NY license tags, she walked over and asked if we were lost.

She was so friendly and willing, that we told her about our exasperating afternoon, and she offered to help.

After introducing herself, she said, “Come with me and show me what you’re interested in.”

We showed her the map and within minutes we were standing on the lot we hoped to buy.

She said she wasn’t the listing realtor but still thought she could help us. We mentioned we were leaving in less than 48-hours. Sheila said she’d do her best.

She took our cell phone number and advised us to go and enjoy a drink and let her do her get to work. An hour later, we received a call. “Come to my office. We’ll draw up the binder.”

We were astonished and even I was beginning to feel excited about owning a piece of the Sunshine State.

One week later, the property was completely ours. My husband and I agreed that we still would not build a house until he retired. That was our agreement, and I was thrilled that he was determined to stick to it.

Little did either of know that early in 1997, he’d be injured while working and his union would deem him completely disabled. The injury to his neck was significant enough to place him on Social Security Disability.

He looked at me and said, “Time to move. I don’t want to spend another winter in NY where I have to look at snow I can no longer shovel or look at my boat in the back yard on its trailer covered with a tarp. I want to be able to go out on my boat and spend the rest of my life fishing.”

Hey, what? Wait a minute. We were supposed to have about seven more years before retirement. What the heck? I was far from ready. Our daughter and daughter-in-law were pregnant. I wasn’t ready to leave my family yet.

He assured me that building a house would be no easy job and we’d have plenty of time.

The following month, with the ground blanketed in fifteen inches of snow, we headed to Florida to find a builder

We drove back to the area where we met Sheila, the agent who helped us purchase our land, and she recommended a builder and offered his card. “But don’t take my word for it. I work for him. Drive around and look at other models but, take this little cheat sheet. I’ve compiled a list of questions you should ask any builder and use your own judgement regarding their answers.”

Within three days, we decided on the builder she first recommended. The house was exactly what we had in mind. However, I wasn’t totally satisfied with seeing the house during the day. I wanted to see it at night to better judge the outdoor and indoor lighting.

Not a problem, the builder said. He asked if we could meet Sheila at the model that night just before eight. The sky would be dark enough to enjoy the lighting inside and out. We agreed.

As Sheila walked us around the outside of the property, I became more impressed with how the lighting was arranged on the ground and through the trees and bushes. She then, opened the door and flipped the inside lights. I was even more impress but suggested that rather than three huge lights in the guest hallway, we have one. Three made the hallway look like an airport runway. She made her notes on any and all suggestions.

We walked outside to the lanai and pool area. Again, more impressing. The lanai (which is the area that doesn’t include the pool) was large. This was important to us since we have a fairly large family.

Then - - then - - Sheila, flipped on the switch for the underwater pool light. She walked around the pool offering so many wonderful suggestions and her foot slipped!

Over she went!

She wasn’t hurt just embarrassed. “Oops! I did it again.” she said as she climbed out of the pool with her clothes soaking wet, leaving a huge puddle on the pool deck.

She told us that only two weeks ago, the same thing happened as she showed a different model to another couple. The same thing happened a few weeks before that.

Hm. Seemed like a trend, to me.

“I’ve gotten smart. Since your builder has four different models, I keep a change of clothes in each one. If you would be so kind, please go into the master bedroom, look in the closet on your left. You’ll see a blue plastic bag. Can you bring out to me?”

The blue plastic bag contained a set of dry clothes undergarments and a beach towel. She excused herself and walked into the lanai bathroom to change.

After she dried herself and changed, the three of us had a good laugh over her tripping over her own feet. “This clearly isn’t the first time and definitely won’t be the last. Tomorrow, I’ll bring another plastic bag with another change of clothes and put them in the closet again for my next misstep.”

That next morning, we called the builder’s office and made an appointment to sign the contract for him to build our dream home.

His question made us smile. “Do you really like the house that much or did Sheila take another swan dive?”

We told him how impressed we were with the house but also told him about her misstep and the phrase she uttered upon climbing the pool ladder.

He said, “Which is?”

I answered”

“Oops, I did it again!”