We have a King Tempurpedic. It wasn't cheap - $4000 included mattress, box spring, mattress pad in 2012. Dh wanted it for his back. I am a light sleeper and neither of us are awakened by the tossing and turning of the other now. It helps dh's back. The only negative is that it is heavy so if you want to just lift it to sweep under the bed, it takes 2 people. We hired help for the heavy stuff when we moved.

FWIW, dh is also an introvert. He was not as enthusiastic as I was about moving here, but he is really enjoying being able to bike, swim, and play softball. He is artistic and will eventually try some of the offerings. Best wishes to you. You are a smart cookie. You will figure it out.

How many years until retirement? Dh retired last summer and we downsized to a 55+ community. I am still working (from home) and may be for another 5 years when Medicare will become available to me. We are both enjoying the 55+ community. I go to outdoor water aerobics and another fitness class (in their theater with chairs placed 6 ft apart so you know where your space is). Dh joined the softball league. There are people walking, biking, playing pickleball, tennis, lawn bowling, corn hole. There is wood shop, fiber arts, quilting, jewelry making, pottery, stained glass, model railroad club, etc. There is a community garden. I think you'd like it. Move and be my neighbor. 😃 I'm a little sad for the in-person activities of choir and tax volunteer that have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. I'm deeply grateful for the new opportunities available to me.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to get email notifications anymore. It was fixed a while ago, but then reverted. 😝 I've given up on that one for a while.

I was told "Comcast and email providers with .rr. in them in particular seem to have had issues with this". This describes me. Does it describe you?

I had trouble as well, but the WTM tech fixed it pretty quick. Two thumbs up.

Congratulations, Jann. It sounds like a good move for your with paying cash and lowering expenses, privacy and nearby services for your dd, You are a blessing to your dd and dgs. We just moved last week to a 55+ community about 45min away. We sold our house of 16 years in 2 days as well. One of the best things about moving is the purge. Dh collects more than I do, and he did a great job of cleaning out. There is very low inventory here, and we wound up expanding our search criteria in order to find a new place. We also paid cash which is really, really nice at our ages. This was the first time in my life that I sold and bought at the same time. It was so stressful. I don't know that I would do it again. @kristen0713 - what a blessing to have temporary housing while you continue your search. I like to look and look and hate to make a decision. Having to choose after a day of searching means lots of compromises had to be made. I need to think of a clever name to change to. What do you think of Sunshine State Sue? Doesn't seem clever to me.

I am looking for a small (5 cu ft) chest freezer for my garage. I don't remember the brand I had at my old house, but I had to defrost it often due to ice build-up. Does anyone have a small chest freezer in their garage that doesn't ice up so much? What brand is it? Bonus points if you know where you got it. I'm a terrible shopper.

I have an Android. I have some choir learning CDs that I have managed to stick in the old computer (new one has no CD drive), somehow get on the computer, then somehow copy to my phone. I have a long list of instructions I follow to do that. It won't let me rename anything so it's kind of a guess when I want to listen to one of them as the names they use may or may not be accurate. I use Google Play Music. Of course, now, it says I have to connect to the internet. WTH? Probably never mind. It's not really worth the hassle.

Pretend I am a phone idiot. How do I get Three Fans or something similar on my phone? I know my Sleep Mates will die one day...

I have 2 ancient (25+ year old) Sleep Mates. One in the bedroom and one in my office to block out the sirens, barking dogs next door, screaming children next door.

My brother lives in Brookhaven, and we met at the Flying Biscuit last month on our way through Atlanta. I had blueberry pancakes. Yum.

It doesn't seem silly to me. It seems accurate. I write a number of checks per month. Hairdresser, chiropractor, lawn guy, repairmen, auto mechanic, pest control, church. Some would take credit cards, some don't. I also write down every credit card charge. That way, when I get the bill, the money has already been accounted for in the checkbook. ETA: To be clear, I use Quicken. The paper checkbook register gets entered into Quicken. I balance the checkbook there. So, I use my checkbook more as scrap paper before I enter it into Quicken. I don't want to have to boot up the old laptop and open up Quicken multiple times a day. It's easier to enter amounts into the checkbook and update Quicken once a week or so.

I found my Australia costs. We spent somewhere between $4500 and $5000.

The Northern Lights are on my bucket list too.

We saw more wildlife in Banff than I have ever seen anywhere. Well, except for the Galapagos Islands. We stayed at some cabins 1/2 way between Banff and Lake Louise on 1A. Every evening at dusk driving back to the cabin, we would keep our eyes peeled for critters or cars pulled over on the side of the road. Absolutely amazing.

Dh and I traveled to Australia for our 25th anniversary 3 years ago. I don't remember how much it cost, but it was plenty. OTOH, we stayed with a friend for a week, and we were only there for 2 weeks, so it could have been even more expensive if we had only listened to the number of people who told us we had to stay longer and go to New Zealand while we were in that neck of the woods. No one offered to foot the bill, though. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef is one of the few things on my bucket list that I was so happy to be able to do. We had a fabulous time. We planned for the trip and did not exceed what we wanted to spend or could afford. Best of luck. I don't know where in Canada you want to go, but there are some great places there: Banff is my favorite. Also been to Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver. All terrific. 20 years is a good long time to stay together. Good for you for making the anniversary special.

Wow! I have never seen anything like that. Quite fascinating, especially the ones who were banging both sides of the drum with one hand towards the end. I am so amazed at young (especially) women who travel/live overseas. I would never have had the courage. Thanks for sharing.

I have 1 friend who I've known for 30+ years who keeps in touch with me just as much as I keep in touch with her. We haven't lived near each other in 25+ years. She lives in Australia now. I live in the US. Some years, she would write at Christmas, and I would write back, and that would be it for the year. Her mom winters in south Florida and I would drive down for the weekend if she was ever visiting. For dh and I 25th anniversary, we visited Australia and stayed with her and her husband for a week. Since the pandemic started, we began skype'ing every 3 weeks. It's been nice. She says (and I agree) that one way to battle depression, sadness, loneliness is to "tend and befriend". I know so few people who do that. ((Regentrude)) I'm sorry you are hurting. I sometimes feel the same way. I may PM you. My username makes me more visible than I like these days, but I haven't come up with a clever replacement yet. ((Hugs)) to you.

www.fatfreevegan.com

Canadian $$ that needs to be converted to US $$.

We get a Canadian check and our credit union can't handle it. I have asked over the 20+ years we've gotten it. I'd love to get rid of the bank account. If anyone knows another way to handle a Canadian check in the US, I'm all ears.

So you use an attorney in addition to a real estate agent or instead of a a real estate agent? Does the real estate attorney show you houses? Why especially for a cash sale?

Sorry, this confuses me. I am asking for advice on how to find a reputable real estate agent. Maybe you are answering a different question? FWIW, my intention is to pay cash for this house. Does that affect your advice? When you say most people rely on the bank's attorney, will there be a bank involved if I have no mortgage? Or are you saying that I need a RE attorney to (not sure of the verb? look over? scrutinize?) the purchase and sales agreement? I would be happy to hear about your experience using a real estate attorney, including how you found them, how much they cost, how they were able to create a purchase and sales agreement that favored you rather than the seller, and how they saved you money in the long run. I know you are trying to be helpful. Thank you.

In 1993 when we bought our 1st house, we used a buyer's agent and it was a fantastic experience. He did not work with people to sell houses, only worked with people to buy houses. In 2004, when we bought our 2nd house, we used someone from dh's place of business. This realtor had many years of experience, but she did not have our best interests at heart. We are looking to downsize now in a different area. What was called a buyer's agent in 1994 is now called an exclusive buyer's agent, and there are none in the area we are moving to. There are realtors who call themselves buyer's agents, but it's not what it used to be. So, any advice on finding a realtor who will have our best interests at heart rather than the seller's (who will pay their commission) best interest?