Big Changes on the Way

You can avoid having ulcers by adapting to the situation:  If you fall in the mud puddle, check your pockets for fish. --Author Unknown

Big changes on the way, and  right now it all hasn't sunk in yet.  As you all know, my place of employment will be moving to a new building.  I'm not too keen on that change.  Then, on Friday, when I arrived  home from work, I found out that the old man upstairs passed away.  I've mentioned him before, how he told  me to keep the garbage in my refrigerator.  He's always been a pest, but  one I've learned to deal with, and now  I am feeling so bad about the loss.  I really grew to like that man, and despite his trying to drive us out in the beginning, I know that in the end, he really liked us.

I know this is going to sound uncaring on my part, but it's not meant to be.  I'm just being realistic. There is nothing holding them  back from selling the house, and if that's what they decide to do, and than means, I would have to move.  I always  knew the one day this would come, and although I have not been happy here for a few years, I'm not prepared to take a big step like this...emotionally or financially.  I've been here for twelve years; it was our first apartment together after living in a studio for so many years.  And forget the rents here in the city.  Just the other day a co-worker was went to see a small studio apartment, and it was going for $900 a month.  That's a heck of a lot of money for something I consider  one large room.  I'm paying $1,200 for 5 rooms and a backyard.  I have been blessed in that sense, and this is why I stay.  We do all the repairs in the household, and the rent is only minimally raised every other year.   

I know, it doesn't do much good to sit and stew about the 'what if's' and the 'whens'.  At this point, the best thing I can do is start saving as much as possible so I will be better prepared....and just continue living my life.  What else can I do?  Worry will only make me sick.... 

...because no matter how one looks at it, change is the one certainty there is in life, because no matter what, change is going to happen. It may be a small change, like altering the  decor of one's house or a larger change such as changing one's abode altogether.  Hey, I always knew this would never be a permanent residence, but my plans were to hold onto it until I retire, and then I would move back to the country.  That's just not feasible for me right now.  I've three years to go before I can retire with my full social security amount, and, by golly, I do not plan on doing it early and letting the government have my money.

In closing, I'd just like to say, let me be a lesson to all you.  Make sure you put away for a rainy day.  I've always tried to do that, but have never been able to accumulate much.  For a good many years, before hubby was well enough to work, it was only me holding down the fort, and then when his health began to improve, and he was well enough to go back to work, something would always happen that prevented me from saving or, worse yet, caused me to reach in and spend my savings.   Please, don't every allow yourself to get into my predicament. Find a way, no matter what, even if it is only a dollar a week.  But save.  Don't let yourself get caught out there.

Nothing that is can pause or stay;
The moon will wax, the moon will wane,
The mist and cloud will turn to rain,
The rain to mist and cloud again,
Tomorrow be today.

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow--