Selling My Home of 40 Years

Talk about change! Well let me tell you that getting into the whole huge process of selling a home that you have had for nearly 40 years is no small thing! It has required many different steps that I have started and have many steps to go as it has not sold yet. As I have mentioned previously, my retirement plans changed over night. I really thought I would live the rest of my life in this wonderful house, nurturing the gardens every year to become more and more fruitful. But change is upon me, so I got on the real estate bandwagon to move onward. First thing I realized is that I wanted to list my home with a real estate agent. In years past it has been easy to buy and sell as an owner for investment or other needs. However, I think the role of agents has become more important in that they really protect us as the laws seem to expand and change and become more and more complicated. So, if you are in this place of buying or selling, it is a good idea to interview some agents until you find the one that you are in sync with. I talked to three different brokers, all very qualified and people I actually had known for years. but I finally chose one of the owner/principle brokers of Ashland Homes. Their website is www.ashland_homes.com and if you go to our site www.oregonretirement.info there are many other real estate companies listed in Ashland Oregon, my home town.

This is just the beginning of this experience, and believe me when I say that the emotions that come up, the frustration, financial concerns, and physical exhaustion are all part of the pie. I will explore more of these things with you in days to come, but right now I need to mop my kitchen floor, because when your house is listed, it must be ready to show it's best at any given moment! Not what I thought I would be doing as a retiree!

Retirement Plans Can Change

I have been retired for 4 years now, and when that final day of my career ended, I thought I had a plan set in stone! Well, things change, and how we deal with those changes can make or break us. I had what I considered a perfect retirement set up. I own a sweet little farm house on a half acre and I couldn't wait to be more than a weekend gardener. I had built a green house, had raised beds full of compost thanks to my chickens, flower beds full of perennials, and all setting in the idyllic town of Ashland, Oregon. I saw myself doing all those things in my community and home that I never had time for when I worked as a social worker at a large hospital. I wanted to join a committee that was working on water issues in our town, become more involved with the local food bank, maybe even teach a few classes as I sharpened my gardening skills. Some of this plan was just getting under way, when this retiree had a real wake up call. I saw my priorities change nearly over night. The defining incident happened this last Christmas holiday. My adult daughter, her boy friend and their two dogs were visiting me from Portland, Oregon where they make their home. After a few days here in Ashland, snowshoeing, eating, enjoying all the beauty of the mountains and lakes, they took off to visit friends in Bend, Oregon. On the way there, they hit black ice and lost control of the car. It was a terrible accident, but gratefully they all survived which was a true miracle. So, what you ask does this have to do with my retirement plans changing? Well log in later this week and I will tell you more about the changes that come in life and how we, who are of a certain age, deal with unexpected change.

Cycling in retirement

As we age our joints don't seem to function quite as smoothly as they used to! Many of us retirees have been physically active our whole lives, and it's frustrating not to be able to run marathons or play several vigorous sets of tennis or make first tracks on the ski slope and be the last one in line at the end of the day.

How to get that endorphin rush, burn lots of calories, and be able to enjoy the great out of doors? One answer is bicycling! Whether you cruise around on local bike paths, or take your gear and ride across the country, cycling is a wonderful activity for mind and body alike. Retirement offers more free time, which is a requirement for long distance cycling. It also saves the planet from fossil fuel emissions if you can run errands on two wheels instead of four.

Oregon is blessed with many beautiful wineries, which make logical locations for cycling destinations. Yesterday my cycling group, The Rogue Recyclers, had a lovely ride in the Applegate Valley near Grants Pass. Check out our post-ride libations at Schmidt Family Winery www.sfvineyards.com, and watch us on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk7E1RSDF5k

For more wineries, please visit www.Oregonretirement.info
(P. S. I didn't really fall into the pool!)

Telemedicine

An interesting new development which is an alternative to traditional doctor’s visits is the specialty of Telemedicine. This is a way for retirees to receive medical information via telephone, the Internet or other networks. Telemedicine may be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone, or as complex as using satellite technology and video-conferencing equipment to conduct a real-time consultation between medical specialists in two different countries. Telemedicine generally involves communications and information technology instead of hands-on medicine. This can be very important to seniors who are homebound.

As a Home Health Physical Therapist, my colleagues (nurses, occupational and speech therapists) often wish there were more of us to provide these important services to homebound seniors. Telemedicine certainly looks promising to fill part of this ever increasing need for seniors to remain at home and as independent as possible.

Basically, Telemedicine allows patients to visit with physicians live over video for immediate care. Whether you live in the center of Los Angeles or deep in the Brazilian Amazon, Telemedicine is an invaluable tool in Healthcare.

Here's an example of how Telemedicine works every day. Say you have a horrible sore throat and visit your healthcare provider who does an examination and is concerned with what he or she sees. Your provider recommends a referral to an ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) specialist for a follow up diagnosis and treatment plan. Well, instead of traveling to the nearest specialist, which could be anywhere from a 45-minute drive to an 18-hour boat ride up the Amazon River, your provider connects you directly to the ENT specialist via Telemedicine.

The advantage of this arrangement is that the specialist actually hears your medical history and current condition directly from you and your provider instead of receiving a dictated note in the mail, which all takes time. Meanwhile you are still suffering!

The specialist can diagnose and recommend treatment immediately. And an additional benefit is the the opportunity for your doctor to ask questions and learn from each and every consultation. This continual education will be an immeasurable benefit to all his or her patients.

Be fit in retirement

One benefit of escaping the 40-hour-per-week grind is having more time to attend to physical fitness. Haven't you often looked at those trim, sprightly people streaming in and out of the gym and wistfully said to yourself, "If only I had more time to work out..." Well, now that you're enjoying retirement, you do have the time!

That's the good news. The bad news is, you're feeling guilty that you are wasting these "golden years" of retirement. Those lengthy aerobic workouts and the washboard abs are not spontaneously just happening.

How do you develop a fitness program that becomes part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth? For most folks, it means joining some kind of health club or spa, like Gold's Gym (www.GoldsGym.com), 24-Hour Fitness (www.24hourfitness.com), or Curves (www.curves.com).

Two very popular clubs who specialize in programs for Ashland, Oregon retirees are Baxter's and the YMCA. Of course, before embarking upon a new exercise program, you should probably check with your physician or physical therapist to screen for any medical conditions that would make an exercise program contraindicated. You might also want to hire a personal trainer to help you set up your program and give your workout a structure.

One advantage of "The Y" is the great variety of programs and classes that cater to seniors. To To name a few: Best-Bones (to help guard against osteoporosis), water exercise, Tai Chi for Better Balance, and Senior Circuit as well as Low Impact Aerobics, spinning (and I don't mean something you do with wool!), and Yoga which can be wonderful for older adults.

In addition to the many benefits a regular exercise program bestows upon our physical bodies, it can also be a social outlet, and a fertile source of new friends. Retirement can mean a new type of social isolation when we no longer have our daily work contacts, so joining an exercise class can meet that need as well. Plus, it's just a lot more fun to work out with other people.

In short, find something that you can do every day, and above all - Have Fun!

Let me know your favorite technique for keeping your exercise routine fresh and fun.