As you all know, mom passsed away months ago and it left Tony and I somewhat adrift in LA. His family, like mine, is small and we don't talk to them very much. With the real estate market coming back somewhat, and interest in our neighborhood (and especially the huge back yard we have!), we decided to sell the house and move out of the Los Angeles area for good. Both of us have worked continuously since college, and both of us have amassed a nest egg. Tony paid off his house and so did I, so we sold his house too.
We looked around, and we decided to move to Provence, and we bought a very small house on the outskirts of a beautiful little town called L'Isle sur la Sorgue, which looks like someone took Venice and a small village in Provence, threw them in a blender and served. It's really charming, and we can both continue to work part-time. I will continue to be a senior partner in my ad firm, and Tony will continue to consult (I think they call it "of counsel" in law) for his firm and will retain his partnership interest.
With everyone gone and with LA going down the shitter, it was time to get out and enjoy life. We are both in our late 40s/early 50s, and we didn't want to waste time with another two decades of busting our asses just for an almighty buck. We have plenty, and we will massively downscale our life to be simpler and less confusing.
LA fucking sucks, and this rat race has taken its toll on us physically and emotionally. We are moving on July 1st, and I don't need to tell everyone how damned excited we are to finally leave the weirdness of Granolafornia.
Will keep you all updated.