I'm still here!

I didn't post much in 2017 or 2018 -- unorganized, unmotivated, and overwhelmed. And yes, for 2 years straight! While I'm still dealing with my overwhelming to-do list (getting better) and my fatigue due to a chronic illness (also improving) and burnout issues (hope to retire from my stressful job in late 2019), my spouse passed away suddenly in April 2018 and I have been trying to adjust to the 'new normal'.

The unexpected shock (apparent heart failure--he was passed out on the bedroom floor when I came home from an appointment) and natural grief from the loss has me a little off kilter (still). The good news is that I'm doing ok -- or at least I'm doing the best I can do -- and have a lot of family and friend and church support and also attended several grief counseling sessions.

I'm grateful that I had a lot of honest talks with him several months before he died. I was prompted to 'heal' and he was prompted to respond accordingly, so I feel blessed that we were able to clear the air on a number of things that had been constantly misunderstand.

Financially things have changed. Insurance policies were helpful in paying for the funeral costs and for debt he didn't discuss with me (about $12,000 in credit card debt). Because of his cerebral palsy, he was not approved for any large policies, but I'm thankful for what we had in place. Neither of us had a will -- I FINALLY got a will and trust in place after this happened. That, plus the counsel on estate matters after his death, cost about $2,100. It's sad that a tragedy like this, seemed the only thing that could get me to accomplish the will thing, but sometimes a shock is what it takes. I've been procrastinating about it for at least 10 years, if not longer.

My parents are visiting this Christmas week until mid January. It's good to have family around. I'm grateful. Merry Christmas to me!

And Merry Christmas to you, my saving advice friends! Happy saving!