Thinking of that song title really has me wondering just that. How did my simple idea get so complicated? I was going to fix up my house, put it up for rent, and live happily ever after. Of course, it hasn’t worked that way. All I can think about anymore is when is the next major project is going to be done, how do I deal with the next disaster, and how in the world am I going to pay for it all?

I had a long conversation with a friend who’s currently living in Alaska. She plans on returning to Florida and needs a place to stay. I was talking to her about possibly being my roommate for a while, and we talked for hours. One simple detail killed the whole thing. It just seems like every time I think there’s a path in sight, everything just gets more complicated, hence my song title. Right when I think the house projects are coming to a close, more issues come up. I was ready to pack up and move out, but now I’m starting to like life a little more here and not too anxious to start all over again.

One factor came up in that long conversation that trumps everything else though – family. In this case, my nephews in particular. My long term plan is to move to the Carolinas once the house is ready to rent out again. I want to look for a rental property where they plan on going to college. While they’re going to school there, that will provide them with a place to live. Once they’re done and out of school, I can just keep renting the place out to students.

The more I think about this while I write, I guess I am just making things more complicated than they need to be. Part of the fact of the matter is that I’m just tired of moving. Thinking of the big picture, what if the Carolinas become my final spot to hang my hat? As much as I’ve moved around, it’s honestly been tough to think of any one place where I want to stay and say I’m never going anywhere else. I don’t think I’ll ever stop traveling as much as I’ve done it so far, but I really am tired of moving all my stuff around from place to place. It’s time to come up with a central hub location, at least for now. So the question is, are things getting more complicated due to complications, or because I’m making it more complicated?

I tend to use long distance driving as therapy. As I drive for miles and miles, the mental gears in my head turn and turn. Then, somewhere along the way, I get a solution. In a few weeks, I’ll be driving from Florida to the Carolinas to Connecticut and back. I’m hoping that next big solution comes up along all the twists and turns on the road I have ahead of me.