My story is a little different. We moved away from our grown children. I went back to college in my mid 40's. However when I graduated there were no local jobs in my field. After giving it a year, I took a job a 4 hour drive away. After renting an apartment and maintaining our home for 6 months, we decided to relocate permanently to the new community. At that time we had 1 grandson who was 2 years old. We now have 8 grandchildren. Do we miss them? Yes. Do we visit often? Yes. Are we close to them? Yes, I feel we are. One grandson keeps telling us he is going to come live with us when he goes to college (he's only 10 now) A granddaughter has decided that she and I are penpals and writes me a letter every week. And I had better write back or I get a call wondering if I have mailed a letter back yet. (she is 9). Just last week my son emailed a video of our 2 youngest singing happy birthday to "nana". No, we aren't able to attend most school activities or ball games or spring concerts, but as I work full time, I might not be able to do that even if I lived closer. We have talked about moving "back home" after we retire, but that decision has not been made yet. After all, we would then have time to visit whenever we pleased. Do I wish we lived closer like we used to? Many times. But life does not always give us easy choices. For now, we know that our decision was the right one for that time. Not sure yet what the future holds. When and if you do have grandchildren, make the time you spend with them "quality" time. Just this spring we gave 2 of our grandsons 3 choices for their birthday presents. One choice involved spending a day with us having a picnic and going fishing. The other 2 choices were more "fun" type things like amusement park, etc. Both boys picked a day spent quietly with us going fishing and a picnic. When we asked a different grandson one year what he wanted most for Christmas, he said "time with grandpa and nana". So we took him for a long weekend of special one-on-one quality time with us. The best suggestion I can give is to take it a day/week/month at a time. Find hobbies you used to enjoy or develop new ones. Find things that both you and your DH enjoy doing together.

Lydia, please don't think your post about your sisters and the instinct of many American women to cocoon was a damp squib. I read with great interest, smiling and nodding my head in agreement. Although I should have acknowledged it, I didn't think I had anything pertinent to add; thus I completely forgot to say anything! I figure it's the same with most readers -- and I'm sure that there are a lot more lurkers than contributors! It's a natural progression of most threads, I think, to go hot and heavy for a while (usually only when they're new). But when the novelty wears off, they dwindle until they just stop. It's not the last poster's fault! Sometimes threads are dormant for a spell, only to wake up and have another short burst or two of activity. Most likely, though, the same topics will be recycled in different threads. So, Lydia, just stick around and you can read multiple retellings of my stories -- unfortunately I only have so many in my repertoire. As for why I spell it chile: force of habit, probably. I have lived in and have strong associations with the American southwest where that is the preferred spelling for certain Capsicum. Being as they are native to Mexico and Central America, the Spanish form seems appropriate. It also distinguishes the peppers themselves from the meat stew, chili con carne, that is usually shortened now to just 'chili'. Herr Gebhardt who first peddled his concoction of the typical Mexican and mestizo spice combinations in San Antonio, Texas was likely a bit fuzzy about the distinction between 'chile' and 'chili' -- so it's chili powder for chili. Anyway, the usual rendering of the Nahuatl word for the same Capsicum is 'chilli'. So take your pick as to how you want to spell it, but be warned that Mexicans and American southwesterners observe the distinctions! :-)

Thanks for all the help and suggestions, but as it turned out, Sony decided not to send anyone to Toronto and is going to let the staff in Toronto work it out on their own without a director. I guess that is one way for them to save money. So I will wait for warmer weather before I visit Toronto, and Kevin will not be there, unless he goes with me. Last week a friend asked me to go to Brazil with him some time next year after April. He has to settle an estate there, and he knew that I could take the time off. We'll see if that materializes. I would like to visit Brazil, but I've been afraid to go because I do not speak Portuguese, but my friend does, and that would make me feel more comfortable. He will be mainly going to Rio de Janeiro, but would be making side trips to Petrópolis and other places.

Yesterday I filled out my visa application on-line (as required by the Consulate), and it took about an hour. They require you to scan and upload a 2"x2" passport type photo (and I had to get a new one made) that is less than 6 months old, and this must be uploaded to the application, along with a scanned signature, plus a scan of your passport and airline ticket. The last two are optional, but I included them anyway. I had to reinstall my scanner in order to do this, and it took me a while to get it working properly. They also ask for all of your names and names of your parents. My birth certificate name is different from my passport name, and so I had to include both. Next I will have to make an appointment with the Consulate in Beverly Hills, and they are open only two hours a day. I also have to glue a copy of the 2"x2" photo to my application, and we are going to get some rubber cement for that, which we currently do not have. We also have to get U.S. postal money orders for $160 for each application - no other type of payment is accepted. The reason for this price is retribution for the price that the U.S. charges Brazilian citizens. I think there will also be an exit fee when we try to leave Brazil, like the $20 we had to pay to leave Costa Rica, and I will need to find out what that will be ahead of time. We're going in the "off" season, and so I haven't made hotel reservations yet, but there should be plenty of options. However, some hotels are closed in June, due to lack of activity.