I wonder if it's *age*... this awakening in the wee hours of the morning? Sleeping has never been a problem for me. I like to sleep... always have. I fall asleep early and usually sleep until 7, sometimes 8 am.
But occasionally (like tonight) I awake around 3 or 4 - generally with thoughts of things that need doing, or were done, or will need doing at some time, etc. running through my head. Most of the time I can side step these thoughts and go back to sleep, but not always.
At these times, I get up and fix myself a cup of tea... and visit with the cats. They love it when I show up in the kitchen unexpectedly. Sometimes I finish putting away the supper dishes or watch an old movie, etc. But eventually I will return to bed a hour or so later and sleep until 8.
If DH discovers that I'm missing from the bed, he will come looking for me. But I send him back to bed with the promise that I will return soon.
This morning I'm thinking about all the things my daughter mentioned when we were there this past weekend. She wants us to think about down-sizing - selling our 4 bedroom, 2 story home and freeing up some capital in order to do more things like traveling, etc. They have considered us moving in with them or around them, or both of us selling and consolidating, etc. It's something to think about... but the time is not right.
We are fine where we are at the moment. We like our house and our neighborhood. It's convenient and comfortable. Our friends are here. Our doctors are here, etc. And our 2 boys and their families live close by, it would be hard to leave them.
Yes, it would be nice to live in the Hill Country... and be closer to my daughter and her family. But as much as I love visiting there, I don't know if it would feel as comfortable as home here feels. Does that make sense? Perhaps it would... in time. It seems that the older one gets, the more one values familiarity.
I do like to try new things... and I definitely enjoy being around family, but there's something so comforting about home that it frightens me a bit to give it up for good (now we have lived in this house for 30 years, so perhaps that's part of it).
Some bloggers that I read are also facing this same dilemma... trying to decide whether to down-size or move somewhere in their retirement years. The problem is that sometimes you both may not have the same *retirement dream*. One may want to travel or move to a specific location... and one may not. What do you do then?
Compromise is probably the answer. Maybe spending some time there, but not moving... would work? Maybe down-sizing in the same location (or close) would work? I just don't know. But for the moment, I'm pretty sure that we aren't going to do anything. Hopefully we have lots of time to mull it over....
and now I'm going back to bed.
Thanks for listening to me ruminate. If you have any advice or suggestions, I would love to hear it.
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| lovely thought... |
