In the area where we sold the properties, many real estate transactions were done for people long-distance, so that was not a big deal at all. Sometimes they emailed me documents, and then I signed and scanned them back and popped the original into the mail. Sometimes they sent the documents to a signing agent who came to my house. And one time I signed live with a webcam and then sent the documents via Fedex. My attorney told me that he never did meet about a 1/3 of his past clients face-to-face. We did plan a trip there eventually, and I had lunch with him and the bank officer.

My are commuter students, but it seems to be going well so far. My kid with the double major is taking two capstone courses and two electives, so it probably is going to be pretty rough as the semester goes on. My younger one snagged a plum part-time job related to her major. She's in a training seminar now, and then will be working after Spring Break. Very cool!

Locally, I've noticed that a lot of people who go this way seem to either get a general-purpose undergraduate degree while being involved in ministry and then do seminary online or in-person part-time. Some were able to get full-time ministry-type jobs, and some are just working in business or education while doing the part-time seminary degree. Most pastors and missionaries seem to have a master's degree in most denominations in my area. I know some taking classes locally from a branch of Dallas Theological Seminary, and it is about $1600/course from what they've told me. There are a few schools like Moody who charge less, but keep in mind that they are also very competitive to get into.

Are you working with an attorney or bank there? I had to sell multiple properties long-distance in an estate situation, and we had outstanding realtors in each transaction that were largely recommended by the main attorney and bank officer. One in particular really stood out for her attention to detail on a property that I thought was going to be really hard to sell even though the location was outstanding. She was amazing!

Yes, social conventions and family. As a young person, I was completely oblivious. As a senior citizen now, I don't care. There are ugly women at every stage of life. Certain family members no longer have anything to do with me, and in retrospect, it was inevitable because they never liked people different than them. I am different. And there are people I was once closer to that I am no longer close to. And I have newer friends that I'm already very close to even though we've only known each other for a few years. I'm going to dinner with some of them tonight. Showing my age, aren't I?

I have several friends who waited until they felt like it right for them, and one that got used to it and never did. The one who never did bought a more expensive set-up (not sure what to call it) and left it that way. Other than knowing as her friend, you would never think that she wasn't natural.

Yes, Kasper or Calvin Klein at Macy's. There are some styles that are less "constructed" that fit a variety of body types. I wear Kasper jackets and Tommy Hilfiger pants when I have to dress professionally. I mix-and-match.

My dad always did. My Army son always does under his uniforms. But it's not very common in this climate, even by those who wear suits and ties in a professional capacity. It gets too hot and humid.

I was gf/df for several years and never noticed any improvement. I used to take one in the morning and one before dinner, and got down to just one in the morning for quite awhile. Then my weight went up after an injury, and I haven't been able to kick it yet. I do eat a yogurt after dinner, and that helps.

The thread linked above is a good one. Going to Linux may be a steep learning curve for you. Keep in mind that your applications may be an issue as well. I've run Linux on my main machine with a virtual machine, but I took it off because I didn't have the time to relearn all of the system stuff. I was fine on basic operations because I used UNIX for a decade, but I couldn't use some of my applications and had some issues with getting a printer running. Then I needed more disk space, and off it went. Not worth it. I actually like Windows 10. We upgraded fairly soon after it came out, and I've found it to be much more stable.

YMMV. I had a really tough situation some years back that confused Turbo Tax and all of their help resources available at the time. I ended up going to an EA. She didn't charge me the full rate because I had already done most of the work in Turbo Tax, but she immediately knew what to do and found another deduction that paid for her fee and more. Now Turbo Tax offers CPA/EA's for a fee, and I probably could get that particular situation resolved.

There are communities like that in my area, and they are very strict about it. I'm aware of several similar situations, and there is a time limit on how long younger people can stay. The one I'm most familiar with says no more than six months for someone under 18, and is fine with anyone over 18 long-term as long as at least one resident is over 55. I've considered that sort of thing myself, not because of the children aspect, but because it's almost the only way to get a single-level house around here.

LOL, our area has humidity and some cold in the winter, but nothing like what I had growing up and going to school in the Rockies. Oh, the blizzards! And my youngest complains all the time about how cold it is waiting for the commuter bus and going between buildings. I guess it's all relative.

I got mine a dozen roses. The next time I did that was when she graduated from high school, and she still talks about both events as being special because of that.

LOL. I've watched some of this from the sidelines, and uh...no. Many seem to do the online route and get involved too quickly, IMHO. A friend of mine has been divorced for seven years, and she told me once that she's not sure that she'll ever date again. She said that if she ever dates, it will be someone she already knows well. She does a lot of volunteer work and maybe someone through that? That sounds better to me.

My kids are both high achievers and started at the local community college. With my older one, he had many other options, but he felt unsure and unsteady. Our future finances were also very uncertain then, so I said GO. A lot of people questioned that, but I was convinced that it was the right choice, as was he (more important). He went under guaranteed admit after that to a top-20 program at a state school as a commuter student. He's a double major and has been able to narrow his focus to exactly what he wants because it's a large state school with many options. By the time my younger one was ready for college, we had no doubt that community college was the way to go. She also went guaranteed admit. Her major is also nationally-ranked for what she wants to do, and she just interviewed for a wonderful job in her department and was invited to join the honors program. Her department has been exactly want she needed -- very interested in their students with smaller upper division classes. She's gotten to know her professors and is having a ball. Both will graduate with no debt and many opportunities. It was a win for us. For what they want to do, a college degree is a must. Of course we know quite a few of their friends who borrowed and borrowed, and a few who graduated and are doing minimum wage jobs with those loans looming over them. I'm not against loans, but I think you need to minimize them and view your prospects for paying them back reasonably and what your commitment to college is. I teach at the community college level, and more than a few take out the loans and don't have the commitment and/or ability to keep up with their college studies. So then they have a mess on their hands without successfully getting the credits and still having the bill to pay.

Several thoughts: In my area, the person receiving the money pays for and initiates the QDRO/Court Orders. Some financial institutions have their own procedures which require more of the owner's involvement. Look at healthcare.gov and medical share programs for insurance as well as any professional associations or insurance companies you already do business with. The company I get my car insurance through offers healthcare, as does the company I get my professional liability policy through. Some of those sources even offer dental and vision. Don't feel ANY pressure to date. People who push that are either naive about your experience, or they feel uncomfortable that you are "uncoupled," as sad as that is. There are plenty of divorced and widowed women out there who choose to remain single for perfectly good reasons. A therapist friend of mine tells her clients at least a year if not two before thinking about that. Refuse to be set up on dates if you don't want that.

My son is an MP in the Army National Guard, and I know what he does to keep his skills sharp because he may have to use them one day. I know moms in my area who do and who have had very, very little training and practice. It scares me. So if I ever do, it would be with a commitment to getting full trained and practiced on an ongoing basis.

I teach web development and multimedia at one of the largest community colleges in the U.S., and I can't help but critique websites at times. At the college level, I think it happens when there isn't a strong central authority defining how things are done. The college I work for has that, and their website shows it. There is consistent branding, good search coverage, and rare (if any) dead links. Some faculty members complain about how controlling they are in general, but there are certain efficiencies to how they do things. In contrast, I suspect that the 4-year where mine attend has been loosey-goosey for years because there's little consistency, searching doesn't help at times, and there are dead links all over. I was looking at the website for a professional in a larger organization that I hired to do some work for me, and they have scads of dead links and filler text. It doesn't give a good impression. But like many organizations like that, it's being managed externally because I found the link to the company that is doing that. I may mention that at some point.

Yes, I hear you. I thought that the process at the community college was a bit frustrating given that they are pretty much open admission. Some of it was online, and some paper. Ultimately we had to go in because I couldn't see if everything was in or not. I had no idea. The four-year my kids attend now is like what you describe. So many systems with zero coordination. Very limited guidance on how to get things done and where to ask questions. I've told this story before, but one of my kids actually didn't get admitted on a guaranteed admission agreement to a selective program because of a zero balance in the business office. We were very tied up with a family issue, and it suddenly occurred to me that we hadn't heard from them. This was after they had made all of their decisions and with registration well underway. Thankfully my son took it on and got himself admitted and registered. My kids now handle these things themselves, but it's an ongoing issue. All kinds of headaches with registration, transportation, books, etc. that we never had at the community college. When my younger one went for orientation, I sent the older one along instead of me because I figured that he knew better how to work the system. And sure enough, several things came up where he knew exactly what to do to get everything set up.

Both of mine were very strong in high school and both went to community college while the naysayers screamed that I was squelching their potential. But community college was what they needed. And you know what? Best choice, hands down. They built up their confidence that way, figured out their majors, and did it with no debt. Both are commuter students to a 4-year that has unique programs that fit them both. Meanwhile, I have friends whose kids have gone all kinds of wrong because the parent's dreams weren't their dreams and because they didn't have a chance to figure it out for themselves. As long as there are goals and structure, and I say go for it!

It was great. We did Christmas with friends for two years, but did this one ourselves. Very low key. I bought family pajamas and matching ones for the dog, so we took pictures. Mine are in college, and I finally did that -- LOL! Like last year, I didn't have a whole lot under the tree, but everyone got some of the things they wanted and few surprises. I got smoked turkey from a BBQ place for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner, and just made rolls and sides. I made orange break for breakfast, and then my younger one made a charcuterie platter for lunch..

I use mine all the time, and actually decided to replace with a Ninja Foodi Grill/Fryer this Christmas because mine is rusting out. I make roasted potatoes, chicken including "fried" chicken, and hamburgers in it. The layout of our rental is such that grilling outside is difficult, so that's my replacement. I also like that I don't have to heat up the oven.

I'm in. I'm going to go eclectic, but one of my goals is to read a book a week in 2020. I run about that anyway.

I have a very dear friend in her 70's who doesn't own a cell phone. They have a home business and use their home phone and an email address for that. When I email her, it goes to her business address because they only have one email address. I don't email anything I'm not OK with her husband seeing because he sometimes looks at the email before she does. And you know, I'm fine with that. She's made a choice that works for her. But that's an adult, and at least they check their email (LOL).