Blessed

I'm feeling incredibly blessed today.
I found out that yet another one of my friend's lives has been affected by the economic downturn. Another home has been taken by another bank.
I'm so lucky. When David and I were purchasing this house, the loan officers tried to get us to "negotiate a better interest rate" and we said no. I remembered what I learned in my Economics classes... and I would have no talk of balloon payments, adjustable interest rates, or any of that. I wanted to know that I could depend on the same payment every month... no hedging bets... no adding on to the mortgage to make improvements.
There are so many I know who got caught in one of those traps... I can't tell you how saddened I am for them.
No, I'm still not working... but I was lucky there, too... I took the package from IGT... and I know so many who didn't... who were given nothing when they were laid off.
The money from the package is gone, but my hope is not.
This incredible turn of events has been a spiritual awakening for me as much as anything else... and I'm grateful for that.
While my children have come back home, and we are now juggling space with the combined households, it's been an adventure in personal development.

Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride...