[Lil Dancer]

I would suggest she start getting involved socially. Generally, each neighborhood or village has regular get togethers, pass a dish events, ladies luncheons, etc. Her neighborhood might even have a website where activites are listed. Oftentimes they are advertised on posters at the neighborhood post office.

She can get a printout from the rec center of monthly activites as well, such as card games, mah jong, different clubs, reading groups, art, etc. These are all ways to stay busy and also meet people. With the elections coming up she may be interested in joining the monthly meetings of republicans or democrats. For example, we play euchre (a card game) twice a week, and there are quite a few singles that play.

When she tries out the different activities, she will find some she likes, some where the people are friendly, others where they may not be as nice to newcomers but its trial and error, and in time she will find her niche.

Neighbors can be a good resource as far as things she might want to do to the house. Is she buying a new home or a pre-owned? If it was me, I'd probably wait 6 months or so to get "the lay of the land" so to speak. I wouldn't rush into any major purchases. if she likes to garden, there are landscaping clubs that have speakers and give advice.

I like to garden and one of the things I did first was to plant shrubs and trees, so they'd get a headstart on growing. We've been in our house about 2 years now, but our landscpaping looks terrific, and it was low cost because I did it myself, and started with small stuff I bought locally, at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. Some people spend a fortune on landscaping, having someone come in and plant bigger stuff so they have an "immediate impact" type of look, but you get just as good a job if you start small. Things grow pretty quickly in tropical conditions. I did my landscaping the first year we were there, then did my interior design the next year. Kind of backwards, I know, but it worked for us.

If she plays golf, there are lady's days at the various golf courses, where the women sign up ahead of time and are grouped together. Another nice way of meeting people. They do this on the championship courses, and also on the 9 hole executive courses.

Good luck to her, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! P.S. We've lived in The villages for at least 4 years, and we still only have individual surge protectors on our televisions and computers.