Oh! I know you haven't posted as much as you used to. I'm so glad to hear you are well. Whew!

Change is good. I was talking to DH recently about what kind of lifestyle we want when we are retired, and whether city living would be better for the time we can no longer drive or want to - that kind of exploratory conversation.

I think living in downtown Toronto would be a blast. It's such a vibrant place. You can lock up a condo and just go. And you have your lovely cottage. It all makes perfect sense!

I am also glad to hear you're well. You know, I think it's much smarter to make big changes while you're young enough to manage all the work that comes with downsizing. I think it makes perfect sense too. Be sure to keep us posted on the progress, so we can cheer you on along the way.

WOW!! I for one am so glad everything is ok!!

I remember a conversation I had with Frank about a month before we put our house up for sale. I think we were putting together our wish list at the time and it revolved around all the things I noticed about my Mothers lifestyle and how I wanted a home that would fit our needs as we aged.
I wanted a rancher, a somewhat smaller house with a nice flat yard. A garage, a fenced in yard and central AC.
All things which were non negotiable!!
Its very smart to think about the future!

Now I have never been to Toronto, however being a big fan of HGTV I see a lot of house buying shows are set there and it does look like a fun and lively place!!

The best advice about packing is start today!!
You probably put away all your holiday decor-pack it away!
If you have room at the cottage you can stash things there but since you are moving to Toronto perhaps rent a small storage unit close to where you want to live.
While up for sale keep your house neutral but not bare bones-its still your home!!

I am so excited for you!!
Keep us posted!!

Cheers!
Susie

Sharon, the change might be scary right now but I think you are very lucky to be able to make the change... I felt that way when I moved up here to our cottage and made it my home. Plan B was to buy a place in Fl also, but that was put on hold because we love it here so much.

It will all work out.

Nancy

Sharon, No doubt in my mind that your house will sell quickly.

Ann

Sharon, I'm so proud of you and himself! Living in Downtown Toranto ain't a bad thing! :-) I am glad to hear you are well and making changes in your life.

Now, you and himself need to talk to my DH. We are thinking of putting the house up for sale `sigh` and moving into a Condo or a smaller house. I understand when you say the gardens and house are alot to take care of. DH can't let go of this place just quite yet...maybe in 5 years.

I hope that you guys sell quickly and move on to the next phase. Isn't life good?

Oh Sharon, I'm glad your health is good, what an ordeal !

We did what you are about to do 3 years ago and I never looked back; living downtown and close to everything is exciting; I too was fed up with the upkeep and wanted to simplify our lives , specially for travelling. We now live half the year in Florida, condo also.
Start paring down on your "stuff", that was the hardest part for me, time consuming more than anything. Good luck with the sale !!

Sharon,
I'm so glad to hear that the cancer issue turned out well for you and I hope for your continued improvement.

About the house/condo/city living change......just look on it all as a big adventure. And what is life without an adventure now and then?

Hugs to you,
Teresa

Sharon, good luck to you. What an exciting time in your life. I'm so glad you caught the cancer early on. Continued good health! *hugs*

Change is good! I'm sorry to hear that you had a health challenge, but relieved to hear that you caught it very early. Now that we're in this extensive remodel, I can't think of leaving here very soon, but a condo w/o responsibility sounds really nice! Besides when you want a headache, you've got the cottage! LOL

I agree that change is good, and I also agree that you will need to pare things down a bit, unless you find a condo with as much space as your house. I think that where you are living now, the houses are larger than condos you will be able to find, but will you be closer to your cottage? I've never been to Toronto either, but I do think I would prefer living in a more urban setting than suburban, and right now, I'm not sure where I am. Technically I am in L.A. city limits, as I was in Venice, but it's not a walkable neighborhood. I would love to be able to walk to markets, restaurants, and stores, as I did when I lived in Venice and San Francisco, and I think you will be able to do that in Toronto.

You might have enough money left over from the sale of your house to buy a second condo like Mitch has, or you could use the money for traveling, and that can be a great adventure to look forward to.

Have you thought about moving to Vancouver?

Lars

Sharon I'm wishing you good luck and lots of strength in dealing with the changes in your life.
I guess the hardest part is making the decisions and then putting the plan into action.

I'm sure you will love the new lifestyle.
And I'm so glad to hear you have safely recovered from the cancer.

Keep us posted on how things develop!

SharonCb

Thanks for all your good thoughts. I'm well and thankful for that.

I am looking at this move as a big adventure.....and a chance to change out all my furniture! LOL

Lars, we could never move away from Toronto, this is where our roots are. We won't buy a second, make that third, home elsewhere either.

The condo will be home base, the cottage will be home and the rest of the time we want to travel to different places. Our intent is to travel to a different country each year and stay for 6-8 weeks.

Sharon I still have those books you sent me and the Canary Islands are on the short list!

Thanks for all your good wishes and I'll keep you posted.

So very glad that the health issue is behind you and everything is fine. Sorry you had to go through all that tho!

What a great adventure ahead of you! Sounds like the perfect plan, a condo, a cottage and lots of travel!

Yep, it will be hard to walk away from your home, but think of the new home and all of the feedom you'll have! Yay! I can't wait util you are posting about your ventures abroad! (Just make sure the countries you visit welcome hookers!)

Linda

Sharon, so glad to hear the cancer ordeal is behind you. Congrats on catching that early and beating it.

Selling the house is a big move/decision for sure. Sounds like you two have a plan with the condo downtown though. That should be alot of fun being right there in the city. Your travel plans sound great too....then there is chillin' at the cottage during the summer. I think I'm getting jealous here pal. LOL Best of luck with all of this and do keep us posted.

Curious, what do the kids think about your plans. We moved around all the time so we never really had a home that we got attached to growing up.

David

(Just make sure the countries you visit welcome hookers!)

LOLOLOLOL! Good one Linda!

So exciting! I am certain that your home will sell quickly and you will be off on an adventure in no time.

I'm really thrilled to hear about your good health.

I wish you nothing but good health and joy for 2011 and beyond.

AM

Sharon, I'm so happy for you! Must admit, however, after traveling for a living for 9 years, I don't want to leave home often. Also, living in FL, most of our travel is within the state. Bumps on the log, I guess!

Sharon, I'm so glad to hear that you are well. What an ordeal for you and your family to endure.

I think your plans sound exciting, it will be fun to read about the adventures you and Clive have. I really love to travel too.

AM said it perfectly and I'm adding my wishes for good health and happiness in 2011 and far beyond.

Lee

I think it will be an exciting adventure! Yes, oeaving the house will be difficult, but it is you and your family that make it "home" and that love and caring will be with you wherever you end up.

Best of luck and I am so glad the health issues are behind you.

Alexa

Thanks guys!

David, the kids are very cool with it. Meredith is working now and has a job ( internship) with a PR firm in downtown Toronto.

She is really hating the commute in on the GO train and thinks a condo in the city is very cool. Especially given we won't be there a good amount of the time. LOL

Chris really only lived here 2 years before he was out on his own. When we moved from the house in Mississauga, the house he grew up ion. he had a complete conniption fit.

Both kids are much more attached to the cottage than the house.

Got a call last night , first showing is at 1 today! GULP!

Good luck and best wishes with it all, Sharon! I'm so sorry you went through the illness, but I'm extremely glad to hear you're well now. I guess we've done the opposite and will be retiring to more land rather than less, but I can understand how having less to take care of will be so freeing. Your travel plans sound exciting. Where do you plan to go to first?

Sally

Sharon, I am so jealous. That would be the ideal lifestyle for me - a condo in a cosmopolitan city and a getaway cottage near a lake. I know you will never regret this move. Good luck with your first showing. It would take me six months to get this house ready to be seen by strangers.

I am so happy that your health is good. What a scare. It's a good lesson to keep up with those yearly mammograms and to never ignore a symptom. The nurses at the hospital where I worked always drilled that lesson into us.

Sounds like life is good!

Sharon, I have been following this thread but while I haven't posted, it is haunting me! Not that my house is my dream house, but I have the fear of having to move for whatever reason and the prospect is overwhelming to me. What CdL said is weighing in too.

Already have a showing? Great..I just talked to a friend who put her house on the market (in Sarasota). Her house is unique as it is a large (5/3) log cabin style. I thought "given the market in FL and the limited interest in that kind of home, it's going to be on the market for a loooong time!". She had three buyers within 6 hours of the listing!!

Good luck.

Oh, and I just made an appointment for my annual physical-which I haven't done in 7 years...I know I'm an idiot! Thanks for the motivation.

Sharon, you know that I think it's a great idea. Although I could never live in a city, I liked Toronto and found it very accessible, walked or took the subway all over. And there's that market.....

I intend to put this house up for sale at some point and build out at the farm, and I won't hesitate a minute!

You and I have had a lot of conversations about health care, and although a lot of people are opposed to our new health care law, it's done two things for me. First, it's allowed me to keep Ashley on my insurance, although she's out of school. Working "on-call" to get her foot in the door doesn't provide her any insurance, that's for sure. The second thing it did was require some coverage of preventive care. Yup, now my Blue Cross is required to cover that colonoscopy I've been putting off for five years.

So, I have an appointment for a mammogram and my doc will set up that colonoscopy and I have an appointment with the optometrist on Monday. I think I've having everything checked out!

Hugs to you, Elery and I still plan on coming to the cottage to party!

Annie

Annie, Cathy and others,

So glad to hear you are having those incredibly important tests done.

Early detection is the answer in absence of a cure. Mine was caught through a routine mamo at a very early stage, so early they really weren't sure of what they were seeing and did a 6 month follow up mamo and then a cautionary biopsy...bingo!

The tumor was less than 7 ml with no spread to the lymphs or surrounding tissue. I did have radiation but all is clear.

Please ladies and gents get your routine checks done, they will save your life.

Hear, hear. Sharon. I have an early detection soapbox and I know how to stand on it. I'm glad to hear it's going well. It sounds like we had about the same regimen.

It does make you think. Good luck in your new adventure!

OMG Sharon! I am reading this to Dave and Chance right now!! Condo in Toronto! Last time we talked it was maybe towards Peterboro/Oshawa area. If you guys are in Toronto we can visit you much more often when we are there. I hope your process is smooth as silk, you do have a lovely home.

Take care and talk to you later this spring.

Janet

Sharon, hoping the showing went well!

We sold our home this past July and have been renting while we house hunted. Like Susie, we wanted a smallish ranch. We found one a few weeks ago and (hopefully) will be closing in a couple of weeks.

I would have loved a condo in the city, walking distance to great restaurants, fabulous shopping, museums, galleries....what's not to like? lol

Best wishes for a quick and painless sale and have fun shopping for a new home!!!

Sharon, I am glad everything went well for you healthwise.
Enjoy your new adventure and I wish you all the luck in the world with house-selling and condo-hunting.
I have only one complaint about the healthcare system here and that is that I can't get my first mammo until I am 50 unless there is breast cancer in my family. That is the one cancer that isn't in the family.
Good luck.
Lisa

(I still need my screening colonoscopy.....bad girl...but I get my mammos yearly.)

Good luck on the move, and glad the medical issue is dealt with and hopefully behind you. Keep current on the check ups, but I know I don't have to tell you that.

Sharon, so glad to hear you are doing well. You reminded me that my mammo is just a little overdue. Thank you!

I hope all goes well with your buying and selling. Remember if you aren't happy in the condo you can buy another house. Sure it won't be the one you had, but there are lots to choose from. I think you will be happy in the condo especially since you have the cottage too.

I'm living in my second condo and there is much to be said against them, but also much more to be said for the upkeep on a large house and yard.

Beverly

Oh, Sharon, that must have been scary! You've convinced me not to put off getting a mammogram any longer.
Your new plans do sound exciting, especially the idea of spending a couple of months in another country. Especially if it's the winter months, in a warm country!

Thanks again for the kind words everyone. House has been listed for two weeks, tons of showings and a few nibbles. One couple have been back 3 times but no offers : (

My personal opinion is the agent has it priced too high, but they are the pros and similar properties, in the neighbourhood, have sold for the price they listed at.

Actually I'm ready to drop the price by a ton just so I don't have to keep everything so spotless! Ugh!

OK ladies it's been over a week. All those mammos booked!! It's bad enough hearing "you have stage 1 breast cancer but it is fully treatable" but way worse to hear "you have stage 4 breast cancer we'll do what we can..."

Chase, good luck with the sale of your house. Sounds like a lot of work, but sounds like you have great plans. It will all be worth it!

Congrats on your successful breast cancer treatment and recovery. My sister was diagnosed with breast and lung cancer in April. She had a single mastectomy, half a lung removed, chemo and radiation. She's doing great!! I'm very close to her, and so happy to see how well she is doing. There's much reason for optimisim when it comes to cancer treatment these days.

Thanks for sharing your story and good news. Best wishes as you move forward with your exciting new plans!

Sharon, mine isn't until the middle of February. Now wait, before you lecture me.....

The small town hospital I go to here is getting a brand spanking new state of the art digital mammogram machine and my doc wants me to wait until that's up and running. He figures that's the middle of February, so I'll call then and make my appointment. I'm still waiting for the surgeon to review my records and schedule the colonoscopy.

Heck, I might even get my bum knees looked at before I retire, get the most out of my insurance while I still have it!

Annie

Sharon, I am so glad everything turned out well for you. My cancer was found on a routine mammogram, 4 years ago, stage 1, and I chose to have a double mastectomy. Didn't have to , just my choice. I have a DIL who had surgery the first time when she was 30, the next one, she was 40. She'll be 66 in July of this year. Yea!!!!! BTW she found her first one through self-exam.

Very, very important to get those mammograms!

jude

Sharon, good luck with your "changes". I am so glad you are well, and will keep you in my prayers. Good things ahead for you!
K