What a Surprise!!!  An absolute Surprise!  Unexpected and beyond my plan...

A lot has happened since my last writing and with all of that, I'm jumping to the now of it all. The IT is I'm moving May 1st out of my present place into the above half of a duplex. It's amazing to me.

I was in the midst of relinquishing my present apartment for 2 weeks while the new owner renovated my apartment,when things went down a different road than I expected in the process. I decided I needed to find another place to live so I started the search online as well as contacting realtors I know personally to be on the look out for a rental house not an apartment.

I got lots and lots of feed back and toured a couple of places when a particular senior complex came into view. As I looked at and considered house living and the cost and care, one of my realtor friends was pointing me towards a condo and suggesting other options other than a house. So, when the senior complex came to my attention I went out to look at it and toured one of the units. Turns out many of the units were a duplex that looked like two little cottages connected. Each having a pitched roof over the front porch with the porch looking like the porch of the house I spent the first 12 years of my life in.

So many things to consider in this whole process, and what I was looking for I thought, was a two bedroom, one bath house with a fenced yard and a carport or garage would be nice but not a deal breaker.  The duplex that I toured had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an attached garage with a door into the living area, a dishwasher, builtin microwave and connections for a washer and dryer.  I applied!

A consideration, a big consideration is that I'm low income and I have a choice voucher from the city housing authority which will pay a large portion of my rent so everything has to pass through them. I applied anyway. I just knew it was right. This morning I got the final approval and I move in on May 1st. Of course I know what was on my want list but...BUT when I was approved for a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a garage I was blown away.

The voucher reads 1 bdrm/1 bath. The apartment manager called the housing authority to clarify that and found that I am eligible for this apartment even though I'm a single person. I was and am astounded that I'm getting such a cute little place in a really nice complex, I have a yard I don't have to mow. I can have flowers outside as long as they are in containers, (because the mowers will mow over everything) and personalize the front and back porches. The kicker was the garage is included and I will be paying less by just a couple of dollars than I am currently.

The way I see it, it's all God's provision and He answered my request by giving me more than I actually asked for and my living expenses will not be as much as living in a house would have been.  I am not bragging as in "look and see what I'm gonna be moving to." I am saying look what God has done for me with his unmerited favor.  I haven't earned it, and it's not about me, It's about Him and His character.

I've struggled to make ends meet since my husband passed away 17 plus years ago and I see this as a gift from Father God just because he wanted to. So, I'm making all the necessary arrangements to move with packing and finding a mover I can afford and scrambling to work my budget so that I can pay all the deposits, and there are many, to get into the apartment on May 1st and it's coming together.

I don't have a picture of the outside of the building so that's why I posted the floor plan and hopefully next post I'll have a picture of how cute these little duplexes really are. The roads that lead to each of the duplexes is narrow and winding throughout, the complex and just adds to the "neighborhood" look of it.

That's it for this post. I've a lot of packing to do but I have time and I am gonna have some help as I go along. Thanks for reading. Please, take just a moment and leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. I've had just a few comments and they aren't from strangers and that's who I want to hear from.

I mean it folks, I truly would like to read what you say so find that place that says "comment" and just do it. And thank you very very much if you do.

Let me say this before I go. After reading this it sounds so simple and maybe even easy but not so. I've had to learn these last 17 years how to live on one paycheck. I was 60 when my husband passed away. We were living on my paycheck, his paycheck as a realtor, his military retirement check and doing pretty well. We had a 3 bedroom house in a nice area with a home owners association, a park and a pool in our housing development which was maybe 20 years old. 

After my husband died, I tried to continue as a new realtor in taking over my husbands clients but I couldn't get my head together and I soon quit. I then tried working with a temp agency but couldn't seem to stay, and there were a couple of good jobs that I just walked off of. As life continued I finally gave up trying to work because for the first time in my life I couldn't hold a job, so after a couple of years I gave up and was down to just a Social Security check. I became low income, but I've done okay,  it's not been an easy thing to do. I've struggled learning how to live within my means,

 aware that I am getting below poverty level income and status.  Today I'm a bit above the poverty income numbers.

I do know now from experience what so very many seniors have and are experiencing as aging starts really messing in your life and when you loose the ability to earn a paycheck, what a life changer it is. I'm one among many seniors that have and are in the same category since not being in a position to work a job and bring in a paycheck. It's not an easy transition, especially if you didn't plan for it, living in the moment. I'm exceedingly thankful as I write this post.

It's me, Judy and this time I'm sitting up in bed writing with Milo in his crate at the foot of the bed, in a place where I can see him. His door is open so he can choose to get in my bed if he decides he wants too. At 12:15 pm I'm saying goodnight and God Bless....Judy and Milo too!