We are a retired couple so having the laundry open from our walk-in is ideal. Yeah, the connection between the closet and the laundry is one of the plan's good points. But I would adjust the doorway so it's farther down ... this allows you a huge linen closet across from the shower (just where you want to store your towels) ... a large vanity for your sink ... and then the door in a more logical spot / a spot that means you can walk through the edge of the room, not to the middle of the room to enter the bathroom. It greatly reduces the "walking through the bathroom to get somewhere problem"; rather, you're just skirting the edge of the bathroom -- much more practical. Now that I look at it again, I note that -- alternately -- you could more than double the size of the shower by bringing it across the back of the room. Since you're a retired couple, I'd lose that toilet-in-a-closet; you're limiting yourself to the size of a public toilet stall, and if you need a walker or other mobility device, the toilet will be inaccessible to you. Alternately, you could place the toilet in the back of the room (near a window) so it'd be a bit "hidden" by the tub /shower, yet still accessible. And quite frankly we decided that if we have all four of our kids down, and they eventually have kids, it would still be cheaper to pay for them to stay in a local hotel for a few days when they visit us, than pay a mortgage for rooms we mostly won't use. We fully furnished five of eight bedrooms for the kids and grandkids when they come and we make sure the bedrooms are better equipped than most fine hotels. PineBaron, It's not an all-or-nothing proposition. Not many families will fill FIVE guest rooms on any given weekend. It makes sense to me to prepare two nice guest rooms ... and occasionally when more than two rooms are needed, then add in hotel rooms. Let 'em take turns being the ones to have rooms at your house vs. the hotel. Alternately, consider making one of the rooms more of a "bunk room" -- that lets you fit a whole bunch of people in one room. If you go with double down /single up bunks, you could get a bunch of people in one room, and -- done well -- it could be very appealing to grandchildren. I can't see keeping FIVE bedrooms "at the ready" all the time. Building, maintenance, heating and cooling, insurance. It's a very expensive proposition. Incidentally, one of my grandfathers ran a hotel (and lived in a one-bedroom apartment in that hotel). When we stayed with him, each family had a room of its own -- I remember LOVING that, and I still have a bit of the furniture from his hotel today.

When I got my undergrad (1973) we used slide rules. When I got my masters (1980) we used scientific calculators and had access to computer terminals. Those linked to a mainframe computer in a distant building on campus. When the first Macintosh came out I got one. Spreadsheets had been invented as had word processing software. A couple years later laser printers became affordable and portable computing really took off. The Internet had been invented but the World Wide Web was not quite there. Once that happened...oh my! I simply cannot imagine what it would be like to study engineering using spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are my right arm all day every day. Before the WWW I used to spend hours and hours in book stores and libraries. Up until 2004 our only phone was hanging on the wall in the kitchen (and our monthly phone bill, including limited long distance, was $33).

For me, the "for myself" aspect of Christmas started long ago. I realized that there was no "right" way to decorate or celebrate Christmas. And so I started jettisoning things I didn't enjoy but did just because I thought that was what I had to do or that Christmas had to be the time for doing it. I sort of went that way with my entertaining too, I have scaled back how elaborate I do it, and realize I don't have to both entertain and show off my mad cooking or pastry-making skills all at the same time. For example, I had a party once where I heated up some store bought sangria flavored wine with a few spices thrown in and everyone RAVED about it. So pooof, there went my days of making my own sangria or mulled wine . . . . and I've never looked back. I stopped hand grating my potatoes for latkes, making my own grahman cracker crusts, etc., etc. Not that I won't do it, but I would rather buy some things than be too exhausted to enjoy the guests . . . I am the queen of "semi home made." That said, hubs and I really enjoyed our days of having a decorated tree. It was just for us. We lost all the decorations in a house fire and don't have money this year to replace. But as I mentioned, we're finding other alternatives. If being alone on the holiday makes you reflect more on what it means for you personally, so much the better. The grief of some of my pandemic losses is exhausting, so I find "keeping it simple" works best some days. If I get three squares and can manage a whole night's sleep I consider it a win.

No, but my parents, and two sets of grandparents did, from Michigan to Florida, some years ago. I also lived there myself for four years (back while I was single) when both GP’s were still living there. I have both good and negative thoughts about their personal experiences, as well as what I saw from other Snowbirds lives, my parents’, my GPs, and all their many friends that I got to know, as well as through my patients that I got to know while working there. Positive: A much more active, healthy, fun lifestyle living in sunny, warm Florida . . . for a while, as long as you’re living in an active community! AND, while you’re still mobile enough. Negatives: A lot of Florida retirees that I knew fell into the very common there “Happy Hour” drinking routine that, many times, led to problems with alcohol abuse after a while. One of my own GPs developed such a problem due to this. Many of their friends I knew through them did, as well. Florida and points south are a great place to vacation, they think, for their adult kids and grandkids to come and visit, and they are . . . BUT, holidays, grandkids’ school schedules, and participating in school team sports, etc. do interfere big time! In reality, they REALLY can cut down on family visits to Grandma and Gramps! And, let’s face it, most retirement homes have 1-2 bedrooms max. So as your children’s families grow, they will be needing more bedrooms. Or more $$$ to stay in nearby hotels. Another headache for all to deal with. So, you can visit them!? When? Where will you stay and for how long so as not to interfere with their daily schedules in a negative way? If you have a second home nearby, that does make it somewhat easier. But then you have those dual expenses and worries of upkeep. Major holidays, though, can add some big extra issues to deal with. Another problem I saw over and over again is, as you age, traveling back and forth presents a whole new set of things to deal with: being exposed to colds, flu, stomach bugs, and now Covid - while traveling AND via grandkids, etc. I saw firsthand (tragically, and so many, many times) the growing reluctance to expose themselves to these illnesses, as their own aging bodies took so much longer to get over them. And so, they grew more isolated - and lonely- down in Florida as they aged. And, although it is just the reality of aging, living in Florida amongst all of your also-aging friends, you are constantly experiencing them getting sick, getting cancer, dementia, dying. There, you tend to be surrounded by at least 95% other aging retirees. It’s life, but it honestly can become very sad and depressing. So, I realize that I’ve painted a pretty negative view of retirement in Florida or the general South. And, yes, it can totally not be that negative, but I honestly did personally see this reality I describe too many times to count. My one set of GPs moved back to Michigan and family in their eighties to be cared for by family. My parents had a Winter home in Florida, saw family during the Summer months, but ended up getting very lonely the rest of the year and ultimately also needed to move back when cancer, etc, caused them to need family help. Let me tell you, it was a packing nightmare to put them on a plane and then pack up their Florida Winter home! My other GPs: she passed unexpectedly. Gramp’s friends were passing quickly; he was so incredibly lonely down there, it broke my heart! He passed away while on his only trip back to family in Michigan that year, being too worried about catching “something from the grandkids” to come more often. So, would I personally retire to someplace warm but away from my own kids? Not a chance, but that’s just my one opinion!