More Good News & More Bad News

(This is one of my favorite funny Beatle photos)

Hi Everyone,

Here's a new update for interested readers.

Bad news first: I got a voicemail last week, it said my mother was in the hospital.
It took me awhile to get more info, I called and left a message where she lived because it was too late to get anyone on the phone there.
I finally found out where she was and called the hospital.
They said she was having problems walking, that maybe she hurt her back.
That she was getting breathing treatments because she had trouble breathing.
Part of it was she couldn't smoke, part of it was probably because she does smoke :)
They didn't seem to find out what caused the problem with her legs. Then she had some other stuff wrong.
Part of the good news was one thing they thought was wrong was caused by a shot they gave her, and it was solved the next day.
Now, I called her Friday and she said her heart test showed a tear in a valve. She is getting a more detailed test next week, the doctor said it is too early to tell how serious it is or if it needs anything done to it.
He told her, it could be just something minor that needs to be monitored and could cause no problems at all or it could require heart surgery.
So I was very worried about that. My first thought when I heard she was in the hospital was that she would end up having cancer from smoking, or liver disease from drinking. But I didn't think of any heart problems.
I am hoping that it won't be anything serious, or that if she needs surgery that it will be successful and she will recover without any complications.
I don't know much about heart surgery, I know I've heart that many bypass patients have good surgery but get sick and die from complications after the surgery.

I hope and pray that she will be ok, I live far from her and can't do anything but call her and pray.

Now some good news, my new job is going to switch me to fulltime hours next week.
I still have to find out if it will be temporary or longterm, but I'm happy either way.
I went from poor and going to be homeless, to having a place to live and a low-stress job in a short time.
Each day I wake up and am alive and have a place to live means a lot to me now.
It kind of gives me a better perspective on life in a way. I know so many people have it worse, so much suffering in the world and I'm lucky.

I have to get some new clothes because changing to fulltime I have to go by a different dress code, so I'll be looking for cheap nice clothes tomorrow.
I'm thankful I have some money to look for clothes.

I'm still adjusting to things, sometimes I feel like "where am I, what's going on?" but it is better than before when I was at my apartment thinking "when will I get kicked out, where will I live?"
I'm trying to take it one step at a time, not worry about where I'm supposed to be going in life. I'm thinking, what do I need, get things stable, be able to support yourself, get a phone, get car insurance, get more hours at work etc...

I try to stay positive and be grateful, but still I'm a little lost.

If anyone wants more details about things, or advice on how I've coped with anything just leave a reply and I'll answer you.

I have a lot of things I've learned and advice, but I don't go around telling people what to do or pushing my point of view. I try to just express myself without pushing.

Take Care :)

Good News and Bad News

Hello all readers.

Sorry for not posting for awhile, it's been very hectic and now things are settling down.
I'll share the good news first, I'm staying at a friends house and am renting a room.
I'm very grateful for this, it was a very close call with not having a place to stay.

At the start of December I had a very very dark time, and I did something stupid that I regret. The good thing though is it scared me and I really wanted to try all I could to make things better, I got motivation again.
For awhile I felt like I couldn't work, couldn't face people or pressures.
After I got motivated, I applied at a staffing agency.
I figured, I'll tell them what work I can do and I'll take anything I can get.
I asked for a full-time long-term match, but they called me a couple days after I joined and offered me a temp part-time project.
So I took that, I figured well I can see if I'm prepared to face the world again and that it would be an easier adjustment being part-time. Plus if I freak out and can't handle it I can tell them I don't want that job, and can be matched with something else.
So I started working and things went great, it was a low-stress job and I appreciated working again more than thinking about money.

Now, some of the bad news.
I was so happy about working again, then I realized I had to find a way to pay my rent. It was late after the 2nd day of December, and after 5 days they send an eviction notice.
So I called some agencies, e-mailed friends, applied for a payday loan.
I got turned down for the loan, because the job was too new plus I was only making part-time money.
My friends couldn't help, but one offered 200 dollars which was nice.
Then I got the eviction notice, and had to go to court. I called my apartment management to see if there was anything I could do, explained to them my situation.
Basically they said, if you go to court then it becomes a judgment and you have so many days to pay it. Then if you don't they get an order for eviction, and schedule a constable to deliver a notice to you and make you leave. Once you get the notice you have to leave, and they take possession of the apartment and all your belongings.
You're allowed to have your clothes, and certain papers and things.

Now this was a stupid thing, but I learned from it.
But I answered a classified loan listing online.
I can pass on to you, if anyone sends you a check and it is for more than something they're buying from you or more than your loan then it is a scam.
Also, phone calls and mail from Canada or certain countries are also scams, if they ask you to forward money to someone else it is s scam.
So what happened to me is I got a check, was supposed to forward the extra money to "second person getting a loan". I figured well if I deposit a check I will know if it clears before I'd mail a check to someone else, then they threw in the "wire the money" scam -to wire the money to the second person.
I was lucky because when I deposited the check it had a hold because of the amount, and the bank notified me the check was fake. So I didn't have any money clear to send to anyone.
But the bad thing is I didn't get the money to pay my apartment.
I had told management I was getting that check, and gave them a copy when I got it.
I was so happy to get a loan, I thought it was an answer to a prayer and I didn't question the logic of it at the time.

So, I had to leave my apartment and at the last minute I called a friend that I hadn't thought of before and got the room.
It was very scary going through everything. I had a list of homeless shelters, and had called some to see how they work.
I found a halfway house where you share a room with three people, pay money weekly for food and services.
I also found a YMCA that you could rent a room from, but I think it was short-term.
I was worried because I had my car packed with all I could fit in it, and I also wasn't comfortable with the areas the places were in.
But I accepted that I needed to do whatever I could to survive and carry on.

The first time I was supposed to leave my place I got my stuff ready, and I kept praying to be allowed to stay there. I thought maybe some friends I e-mailed would find some way to lend me the money.
But I learned around that time to appreciate having a place to live, and am much more grateful now.

For some reason I was allowed to stay twice at times I was supposed to leave.
I had to leave most of my furniture there and a lot of stuff, but I'm grateful for what I have and more so for having a friend to stay with.

I did such a good job at work, they are going to switch me to a fulltime position.

So it was a real close call there, I thought my life was over then I thought I'd be homeless and somehow I'm still here.

One of the things that hurt me is my dad lent me $200 for Novembers rent which I was grateful for, but when I realized I had to move out he would not let me stay with him. I even asked if I could stay shortterm until I made enough money at my new job to rent a room, and he still said no to me.
I respect it's his life and he can make whatever decisions he wants, but it hurt to realize that friends were more willing to help me than he was.

I'm trying to learn from what I went through, and get my life back on track.
Little by little I know it will get better.

Thanks for reading, I'm glad that some people were wondering about what happened to me :)