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@ Golden ,

When DH and I sold the first home that we owned to relocate to another state ,
a young couple bought it . The guy was very excited about the house. They were getting married also . The guy asked if he could bring his parents over to see the house since we weren’t moving out for a few months . We said sure , so the parents came and the young couple . The young future wife was not thrilled about the house . She wanted a bigger house but the prices had sky rocketed that year . While the guy gave his parents a tour of our house , the young bride didn’t even go with them . She sat on the couch with me and admitted to me that the only reason she agreed to buy my house was because it was spotless . She said she couldn’t believe how people lived . She said they looked at a lot of houses and was shocked that people didn’t even bother to try to clean before putting it on the market.
Talk about weird . She was venting to me that she didn’t like my house that she was buying .
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I had to smile over the 'moving not mine' comments regarding former homes. Slightly different situation here. First house, dearly loved, trying to get everything out and here comes new owner with paint bucket in hand....sooooo eager. I felt like kicking the can over, but didn't. Can't you give me 30 minutes to finish up before you barge in here?? The lovely garden spot we had - soon covered over with gravel. (yes I know, not mine, don't go down that road). Sister's house - oh my, Alzheimer's, so you can imagine. Cleared it out best I could, all the while thinking I'd love to clear up a bit more but have to move on. Somewhat relieved to learn new owners are actually fixing it up quite nicely. And then parents' home - researched stacks of papers to give the new owners everything I could remember about it - blueprints, major changes, major updates, etc., had plumbing and elec systems serviced and gave them the detailed reports., and even list of the landscape plants so they know what they had - then their choice to keep or change. Introduced them to neighbors. Close to one neighbor so I would occasionally stop by to visit with her but cannot do that now and it hurts - new owners have trashed the place. So sad, and that decreases property value of those next door.
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We closed on my parents home two weeks ago. A lovely family bought it, new immigrants I think from India. They were shocked to learn my parents owned the house since 1962. I left all the appliance manuals. We had the gardener come in to mow the BBQ lawn and clean up dead leaves to make it look nice.

The wife asked for a picture of my sisters and me with her after the closing. I thought that was very sweet. I hope they are as happy in that house as my parents were.

Im hoping they have a decent relationship with the neighbors. The lady next door has three adult sons and one of them continually blocks the driveway. He is a real piece of work. But that’s no longer my problem.
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Hello Anche
So good to hear from you. I am not in Florida but thanking you for thinking of those who are. Wishing you well there in Italy.
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Thinking about former homes I have sold.
One home on Zillow valued at over a million dollars in today's market, after new owners have remodeled.

Factoid:
That has absolutely nothing to do with me.
Nothing to do with the value of my current home.

So many neighbors move in and attempt to gain some kind of social status by saying how much they had b e f o r e ....

OK, that's it! I am not going to go there. Cannot look at photos of the inside of my Condo I owned online/not for sale, but double the value of when I sold it.
Not a good feeling at all. Brings up memories of living alone.

Things are better now.

You cannot, and don't need to go back to the past. imo.
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Anche: Good to see you posting.
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I'm sorry my brain is drawing a blank, these names are hard for me to remember, but someones husband was really sick a few days ago, have we heard back from her?

So sorry I can't remember her name.
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Golden:
My bro's San Francisco two flat with cottage in back was purchased in 1960 for 74,000.00. Today it is valued at 4.5MILLION. So this happens. Especially in San Francisco. Just saw a home like my parents, bought for under 5,000 in 1942, and it has not quite appreciated that much, but is 400,000.00 so not nothing. I love to watch real estate stuff. My brother's last little home was in a historic trailer park In Palm Springs with wonderful redone trailers from the 60s and 70s for the most part. He purchased for 30,000 and put in about 15,000 in 2018. Sold for 100,000 in 2019.
Real estate is a fascination. It is my personal opinion that without buying real estate we really cannot appreciably save over the course of our lives. I guess some folks are good at stocks. I never personally was. I mean we SHORTED Starbuck if you need an example. Back to real estate, it DOES appreciate. I remember our buying our home, a two flat in SF, back about 35 years ago. What it has done in appreciation (yes with a lot of work put in as well) is amazing; SF is perhaps a outlier in terms of how things work (or don't) but I think real estate is the answer. Now......what was the question?
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Nacy: I believe that was Evamar.
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Lama, Yes it was , thank you, hate when I can't remember something, and it's right there on the tip of my tongue, but won't come out.
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Eva thinking of you, hoping everything is going ok, and you are getting some answers. 😔🙏
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Yes, Nacy, it is Evamar who was in the ER for days with hubby in an awful lot of pain. About three or four days we haven't heard from her which makes me worry. I hope things are OK for her, and am thinking of her.
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Thanks everybody.
Hubby still in hospital, less or no pain after all the painkillers.
Few tests done, all good.
Frustrated as it seems to me they are not willing to investigate further what causes all of this.
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Eva - thinking of you and praying for you and DH. Let us know how you both are when you can.

Alva - I believe it was send who wrote about real estate appreciating.

Send - not going there is a good idea.

Hi Anche. Hope you are doing OK.

Hothouse - sounds like you have good new owners for your parents' place. I too hope the new owners get along well with the neighbours we knew. They are a nice older couple.

jlynn - sounds like the good, the bad and the ugly. For me I really don't want to know about the changes that will be made.

Way - that must have been a pretty unpleasant experience. I am glad I was able to be out of the house while it was being sold.
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Hi Eva - so good to hear from you. Glad the painkillers are working for your hubby but sorry to hear that they are not willing to look further into the causes of the pain. Hope you are getting some rest and breaks for yourself. Any idea when he will be going back home?
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Oh, Eva, thanks for the update. Thinking of you so much.
I can't imagine how frustrating this all is.
What answers ARE they giving you? They have to be saying SOMETHING here?
I am so sorry this is still but to be honest it is good they are keeping him in this long; they must be concerned as well because no one gets to stay in hospital anymore.
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Alva and Golden,
Basically they have no answers. Total mystery.
Drs are busy, shortages etc, so spent five minutes talking to her this week and as this is long weekend not much will be done.
I am guessing they will decide on Tuesday what to do?
I am lost and really have no idea.
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Eva, thanks for getting back to us, I hope they figure this out soon! I'm glad the pain meds are working.

Take care of yourself, eat and sleep, so you can deal with the medical professionals with a clear head.
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Thanks Nacy!
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Oh Eva. This must be so hard on you and hubby. I expect you are right that the long weekend is not a time you will get any answers. Do look after you. (((((hugs)))) and prayers.
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Thanks Golden!
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Nacy: You're welcome.
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Eva; So relieved to hear from you. Prayers for you and your DH.
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What do people do all day after retirement? It's probably just the season but I've hit a low point, my days are too long and my life too much a hamster wheel of mindlessness - get up, check the internet, eat breakfast, play a game or two on the computer, do some exercise, more coffee, go outside, more internet, lunch, more internet and games, maybe more walking and exercise, maybe another coffee, think about supper, eat, more time online, give a sigh of relief that it's almost time I can put my PJ's on and crawl into bed to read, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Occasionally throw in some cleaning, cooking, shopping or other necessary tasks. I've read all those blogs telling you to travel! volunteer! or the best one - find your passion! (oh please 🙄).
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Hi cwillie, kind of funny you post that today. I'm 60 not retirement age, but I don't work because my husband likes me home, and I think both of us stay healthier with me not working, now that I don't feel so mentally indebted to be moms everything, sometimes I feel like I want to work, but I know hubby likes me home. I'm very lucky to be in the position I am in. But there absolutely are days that I think I should be working.

Passions honestly do help me. Gardening, cooking, filling up my freezer, is something I enjoy and more of a hobby. But that is all coming to an end, for this year, and I'm feeling a little antsy. My passion has been since I don't work, to be the healthiest me I can be, and to keep hubby there to.

And I'm 100 percent sure me not working has kept mom much healthier, getting her out and socializing, even though she is no longer my , main priority.

I wonder if I do end up getting a job if I'd be like, now I want to be home. So honestly, I don't think there is a good answer to my issue.

Being excited about something, having goals, really does help, and is important.

When I went to my uncle's funeral, the things he did with his life between 60 and 90 were incredible, I left his funeral feeling very inspired, that I can do just about anything I want to do if I put my mind to it

I to think it's the time of year, I'm in a bit of a funk myself also
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Eva, very so I forgot your name last week, my working memory, doesn't always work that well. And the names on here always get to me.

Keep us posted, you are in are thoughts and prayers
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Cwillie and Nacy: Before a guy destroyed my auto on 7/30, I enjoyed going to the local food pantries daily. Good luck.
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cwillie, I’ve been retired for 20 years. I can honestly say I haven’t been bored for a minute. I took classes through the community college, parks and rec., the local hospital (interior design, landscape design, yoga). I took garden tours; volunteered at the library; made friends and walked, hiked, cooked, ate and drank wine and coffee with them; laughed and cried and sat in hospitals with them. I cleaned (and cleaned and cleaned); gardened, tried photography, acrylic painting, collage, pine needle baskets, bee’s wax candles, hypertufa, wrapped wire jewelry; loved on my grand daughter; painted dozens of walls; moved hundreds of boulders; studied bees and birds and banana slugs. Moved and made a bunch of new friends!
But as I said, I’ve been at it for 20 years and have had a lot of practice. I’d say start slow. Maybe sign up for a class in something you’re interested in. The most important components of my retirement (besides DH and our families) have been my dear and diverse girlfriends. Many of them are neighbors and women I’ve met in the classes I’ve taken. Sharing interests has led to sharing lives.
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Cwillie, I have your ‘lonely’ problem after ‘retiring’ to a completely new small city 1500 kms away, where I knew no-one and hadn’t much in common with the people in DH’s car club. If going out to ‘make friends’ involves breaking into groups of people who have known each other for years, it doesn’t work very well.

I’m finding that joining two seniors classes has been particularly good, one exercise and the other aqua-aerobics. It helps if the person running the class knows and accepts that part of ‘good for you’ is the social stuff, because seniors can get very isolated – like you when a partner dies. Volunteering can be good, as long as you aren't sitting at a counter by yourself. At a regular weekly class you get to know the other people with no pressure or expectations, and can gradually have more to talk about, perhaps a coffee afterwards. Then if you run into them shopping, or at the library, you can stop and chat for a few minutes. It’s like an old shampoo ad, “It WON’T happen overnight, but it WILL happen”.
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Peasuep, well done for organising such a full life, and it’s good that you feel so happy about it. For many reasons, some of us started later and haven’t done quite so well. I hope that you manage to spare a smile and a word for some of us ‘strays’.
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