Day 4 In-laws, Ice, and homelessness

I never did get around to writing about day 4 on the right day. I succeeded mostly... slept in late and hung out in my pajamas but I got the bathroom vanity cleaned and folded some laundry. When I did get dressed it was to go outside which was really nice. There isn't much wind in Tennessee in the winter (not compared to California anyway) and without windchill the cold isn't so bad for a short period of time.

Photo from ABC News website of where my mother-in-law lives.

We are having some severe ice problems right now in Tennessee and my husbands mom has no power, so she and her boyfriend came over last night. His birthday was a few days ago so we made him a cake and they spent the night. At least they were safe, some others haven't been so fortunate. The winter related death toll in Tennessee. These stories make me grateful we convinced them to come over because they resisted. It is supposed to get even colder tonight and there are so many people without power right now. There are shelters open and the police will take you to a shelter if you don't have power and need to get someplace warm.

Our family is safe and warm, our power is on and school is out until further notice... actually they might have school tomorrow but I doubt it. 

I did come up with a routine for my goals but given the nature of this post, I'm just gonna put that on the day 5 post which I will be writing later today. 

Stay safe and stay warm and be kind to each other. I had a chance to Skype with my mom yesterday and she told me about her day. She and her girlfriend made 40 sack lunches complete with sandwich, apple, and juice and took them down where the homeless people hang out (under a bridge to shelter themselves from the blizzard). My mom said they ran out. She also said it was very emotional. 

My dad raised me never to donate anything. He is one of those people that just doesn't do that. We were never rich so not giving a dollar wasn't really the same as being cruel because we needed that dollar but as I grew up it made me uncomfortable to have that stance on the subject. I understand my dad's point of view. He wants to make sure his family is taken care of first... but there are some people who don't have anyone looking out for them. And while I know there are bums who will take your money and buy drugs or alcohol with it... being kind is still good for your soul. Give food. Give clothes. Give shower vouchers from local truck stops (because letting a stranger into your home really isn't always safe) but do something. Helping ONE person is better than helping nobody. Help in ways that make you comfortable.

The video below is inspiring... but mostly it just reaffirms that not everyone who is homeless hit rock bottom with addiction. Sometimes life just sucks and there's no way to dig yourself out of some holes. 

Wherever you stand on this issue, I hope you at least watched the video. People claimed it was a hoax but it isn't and even if it really is a "hoax" I'd consider it more of a dramatization to bring awareness to a major problem. Two years ago I had almost backed myself into a similar situation. We had to move out of our house because the landlord was selling it... we got rejected for renting another place because we couldn't pass a credit check. We were running out of time fast, had two weeks to get into a new place. Luckily we had enough money to pay for rent and deposit. If not, I don't know what we would have done. It actually came up that we might have to move into my husband's dad's motor home if we couldn't find a place. 

The situation we were in could have ended a lot differently. Living on the poverty line has a profound effect on planning ahead... it becomes almost impossible to foresee all the little complications. Now, we are on our feet just fine. One advantage of being a polyamorous household is having a two family income.