Number 1 - July 7, 2013 - by Stan Paregien Sr - Bradenton, Florida

NOTE: The Paradise Report is a free publication in which Stan Paregien, Sr reportson life in Paradise -- i.e., the Gulf coast of Florida. Stan and Peggy moved from Edmond,

Oklahoma to Bradenton, Florida on June 24, 2013. So The ParadiseReport covers their adventures and misadventures in their new state, with lotsof photos and other information as well. It is posted on or about the 10th and

the 25th of each month at www.issuu.com/cowboystan/docs

Hello to each of you:

This has been a very difficult move for us. Maybe it is just the age factor, I don'tknow. But we have been working our tails off every day for the last 45 days doingthings related to packing-distributing-or giving away--many of our belongings, thenbeing displaced from our home (and the internet and . . . gasp . . . TV) prior to andduring the estate sale, and then the actual move using a U-Haul truck and then theunloading the boxes and the unpacking of same. Not to mention the difficulties wehave experienced at every turn with trying to get our Florida drivers licenses and ourcar tags. Just this morning I counted and we still have 50 boxes to unpack. And, loand behold, Peggy even said to Harry (our handy, dandy fix-it/remodeler), "Maybewe brought too much." Hmmmm.

We just got our land line, our cable TV and our internet hooked up last night (tookthe guy from 6 pm to 8:30 pm).

PLEASE NOTE: We still have our cell phones, but we have added a land-line.Our new land-land number is: 941-251-4765.

He never could get our Wi-Fi correct. Our two computers hook up with the internetokay by Wi-Fi; but they would not communicate with our computer until a computerguru came out a couple of hours ago and cured that problem (It was related to thefirewall for our "Viper" anti-virus program as well was to several other negativethings. So he deleted Viper and installed Microsoft Essentials.).

Peggy and I have also spent many hours shopping for this and that which we needed(and maybe had somewhere in all our boxes, but could not find at the time).

So we are double-tired and frustrated to boot, and feel like we are living in FredSanford's house (old TV show, "Sanford & Son") with so much in disarray.

Oh, did I mention it has rained for at least an hour or so every day except one sincewe arrived. But, hey, it is that time of the year in Florida. It is a beautiful place . . .and we have been here exactly one week, doing a lot of work outside, and have yet toget my first Florida mosquito bite. Thank you, Lord, for small miracles.

We have informally met several of our neighbors here in the Plantation Grove MobileHome Park in Bradenton, FL. They have all been friendly and informative andhelpful. Saturday morning we have a "community" coffee at 8 am so we are lookingforward to meeting more of our neighbors.

Before I forget it, Peggy and I want to thank Fred and Barbara McGinn and the othermembers of our home "Connections" group from church who treated us to dinner anda generous "money tree."

And a big hug goes to James and Glenda Cotton for letting us spend several nightswith them at their house when we were displaced from our home. They personify theterm, "Christian hospitality."

Our long-time (i.e., old-time) friends Darrell and Martha Russell went way abovethe call of friendship and duty. Darrell, a former truck driver, volunteered to help medrive that loaded-to-the-gills 17-foot U-Haul (with our car behind it on an dolly)truck the 1,300 miles from Edmond, Oklahoma to Bradenton. Fact is, Darrel did morethan his fair share of diving. Then Martha was able to shift her work schedule aroundso she could ride with Peggy in our van and help with the driving. Then they flewover to the Fort Lauderdale area to visit their daughter, son-in-law and newgrandbaby. You two were a great encouragement to us when we were under a greatdeal of stress.

I won't even begin to name the wonderful friends from Edmond to Tulsa to Stratfordwho took us out to eat and/or took time to visit before we left . . . or came over andhelped clean our house after the estate sale, etc. and etc.

Oh, two more people: our realtor in Edmond, Brent Carter, was an easy guy to workwith and sold our house in about three weeks. We highly recommend him. And ourrealtor here in Bradenton, Mrs. Earle (Gerry) Eads, helped us through some roughspots and was a constant encourager.

Well, as you can see, there are still a lot of caring, giving folks in this ol' world . . .and a lot of them blessed us big-time the last few weeks.

Peggy and I hope to create some order out of pure, Grade A chaos in the next coupleof weeks. Then we will hang out the "Y'all Come on Down" sign. Our son and hiswife and son will probably come visit in the last half of August. After that, the"Paregien Bed & Breakfast" will be open for business. Really, we hope some of youwill come down and let us show off our newly adopted state.

Best wishes,Stan & Peggy Paregien