Bill, I know what you mean about down-and-up-and-down repairs. I was doing some minor outdoor cleanup the other day that required bending and lifting and getting down on my knees, and the next day was not fun. But, I'm glad I could still do it.

It helps to have a "this is the last time" mindset.

Many CCRC places now have some kind of partial refund of the entrance fee under certain circumstances. This makes them slightly more appealing I guess, but still not something we are interested in.

Our current challenge is the downsizing. The apartment we're moving to has only two-thirds the space we have now! Even less, if you consider everything that we have stored in our shed. The stuff in the shed will go, of course--it's mostly yard tools, but also kitchen stuff that's used less often. And odds and ends. But we know we are not going to have room for everything that we've just allowed to accumulate over the years we've lived here. And that means letting go of a lot...

Dagmar, I don't think I'll be trying the Asian Squat anytime soon! I'm glad you have the strength, flexibility, and the relatively low weight to do it.

We aren't thinking about "long term care"--that is something entirely different. I hope we never get there!

DH and I made some firm decision about retirement. And then he reversed himself. I was really stressed and anxious for about a week - time change and waking up at 2:30 a.m. every morning mostly - and my weight went up with anxiety eating.

Now I'm going to accept that the "retirement plan" will change every few days for DH. I will soldier on and continue getting rid of stuff.

Eating more is not the answer. I'll keep repeating that to myself.

Dagmar

I'm doing much better at not eating to cope with anxiety. I am now having panic attacks in the middle of the night. Funny how I don't want to run down to the kitchen and eat when those happen.

Change is hard. Retirement is going to be the biggest change I've ever made in my life and I'm not looking forward to it. But I will soldier through. That's what I do.

The "silver lining" is that I no longer have any desire for alcohol or other numbing drugs. That's good.

Dagmar

Continue to send supportive thoughts for the major changes in your lives when you retire, Dagmar, especially since you plan to move at the same time. I do hope you can find sufficient canine companionship to keep that part of you happy without all of your dog walks.

I was amazed at how many events and opportunities existed that I hadn't noticed when I didn't have the time to consider them.

Thank you. I think Holly will keep me busy and provide all the canine companionship I want or need.

My major concern with moving is that we have to move to a small (for me) place so that we can afford a house and have enough money left to live. I have never lived anywhere except Toronto and it's the biggest, busiest city in Canada. I love it here and I know the place we are moving to will not have much selection of anything in the way of art and culture, restaurants, special events, festivals, etc.

I thought we could stay close enough to Toronto so that I could take the bus in for day visits but it looks like we've been priced out of all of southern Ontario. The north only has 2 cities and we are looking at the smaller one as some of DH's relatives live there.

We will probably have a small social circle and I plan to do a lot of volunteer work. Other than that I don't know how I'll fill the time but I'll learn I guess.

DH lived in much smaller places growing up so it won't be such an adjustment for him. I feel, right now, like I'm going into exile. I envision it being somewhat like the COVID lockdown. I hope I'm wrong and will try my best to adjust with minimum whining and overeating.

Dagmar

Hi, Bill and Dagmar,
Dagmar, is there no way you can stay in the house you have now? Sorry if I missed an earlier explanation. I do wish you weren't feeling that the move will isolate you. Maybe you'll find more to love in the northern towns than you expect.
What are DH's objections? Does he want to stay while he keeps working?
Sorry about the panic attacks. I think it's good to be reminded that right now, nothing has changed. We've had to bring that to mind a lot recently or we're in a constant uproar.
I hope all the Americans had a good Thanksgiving. We did.

I'm glad you had a good Thanksgiving JayEll.

We have to move from our current house because the money we get from it is our retirement plan. Neither of us has ever made a large income and COVID wiped out a lot of what we did manage to save. We also have paid the minimum into the government pension plan and neither of us has any sort of private pension so we will barely cover our food and utilities with what we get. We also have no medical or dental coverage after DH finishes at his current job.

I was expecting to move and stay in the south but now we have been priced out. If we pay more and stay we lose a couple of years of life, as we will not have the money to sustain ourselves. DH is hoping to find a bit of work after we move but I am pretty much physically wiped out after 27 years of daily dogwalking.

So our outcome is a very frugal modest lifestyle. I can live with that but I was really hoping to maintain some sort of relationship with the few relatives I have and to also visit Toronto once a year. Now that is not going to happen.

That makes me sad.

Dagmar

It's crazy here with trying to figure out our move. We are clearing out tons of stuff and yet there is more! Also, we will need a few items for the new place, and prices are crazy. I'm glad we don't usually do much for Christmas, because there's no way we could do that on top of moving!

We are getting to feel a wide range of emotions about all this--excited by the new living situation, but sad to be leaving our old home of 15 years.

Sorry to hear about your "forced move," Dagmar. Maybe the housing market will calm down?

JayEll,

Good news that you're making progress. Ouch for discovering how much "stuff" you own. Of all the things about going forward in life, facing the "stuff" is my most dreaded.

The "stuff" is a hard one Bill. I am already giving things away and chucking stuff out and I may not be moving for at least 18 months. DH is keeping everything - he always does. No use arguing with him. He just puts all his stuff into big plastic bins and moves those from place to place. Works for him and no packing of his stuff for me. I'm learning to settle for the compromise.

Good luck with the move JayEll!

Dagmar

I also have too much stuff. And stuff I can't find when I need it. Maybe fixing this can be my New Year's resolution. Is a year enough time to get everything sorted and organized?

Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy Other Holiday if you celebrate a different one!!

Merry Christmas to you Alice and to everyone else who celebrates, whatever you celebrate.

Dagmar

I hope you all had good holidays! And that you're looking forward to a good new year.

Howlin', a year is plenty of time to get organized. We have a matter of weeks. It's no fun around here right now. But we did talk with a Realtor yesterday and things are looking very hopeful for selling our current home.

The hard part for me is paper. Some of it has to be shredded because of identifiers. I swear, I will never let paper records pile up again after this! I must say, though, that I'm glad for what I did save, because I needed certain invoices and receipts to prove that work on the house had been done and when. (Of course, had I been better at organizing, all those receipts would have been in one place instead of scattered among many folders.)

Best wishes to everyone!

Oh--went to my dentist for tooth pain this morning, and am going for a root canal this afternoon.
When it rains it pours.

Big Ouch for the tooth pain, JayEll, hard to think when it hurts so close to the brain. Good news that selling your place looks hopeful.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. We're in slow motion around here after having the two (adult) kids, spouses, and granddaughters for Christmas Eve dinner. The Christmas spirit was elevated by the (2.5 yo) DFGD going circles around the house on her new micro-scooter wearing her new Super Girl cape (pink and purple with a big heart).