Non-rp related post - What's going on

Update (12/21): Thanks to help from family, we will be able to stay where we're at through December. We're not out of the woods, but we're not homeless! :)

So, to recap what most of you already know, right after Thanksgiving, we moved out of our two bedroom apartment to an extended stay motel to reduce our cost of living expenses and close out our utility bills which were severely overdue, letting our deposits cover the outstanding late payments.

The move was supposed to be helpful. It put us five minutes away from Mike's job, and with the car acting up and money tight, it guaranteed that even if he couldn't drive to work, he could walk there. Our son is leaving for basic training in the Air Force on January 6th, so he moved in with my parents earlier in the month so that they could take care of him until he leaves.

Then, of course, everything went wrong. A week after we moved, Mike got fired, and my parents kicked my son out on the same day. Mike has managed to get a lower paying job that, ironically, is closer to our old apartment than here. It wouldn't be enough to really do more than continue to pay for our stay here (not including food or gas), but it would be something. My son moved in with us into our tiny little room, and we have spent the last couple of weeks adjusting and getting as much help as family could manage to give.

And now, today. Today, Mike's old boss was supposed to give him his last week's pay plus vacation pay. It would have helped us get through to his first paycheck from the new job, which pays bi-weekly but holds back the first check for a delay. Mike's old boss got together with his CPA and managed to whittle what should have been an 800 dollar paycheck down to less than 400. Basically, what this boils down to is that the money that was supposed to get us food and at least one more week's rent here will do one, but not the other, and that doesn't even take into consideration gas money for the car if we can continue to limp it along without the repairs it needs. (If any of you knows a good mechanic, you know that the one car that is always breaking down on him is his own, because God has a sense of humor.)

Mike and I have no idea what we'll do. We're flying by the seat of our pants here, folks, and our pants are unraveling or...ripping...or...whatever works for that metaphor.

I'm fighting anxiety symptoms and panic attacks, and emotionally, I'm all over the place. I haven't been on meds in the two years since my Baker Act emergency hospital thing, and there are moments when it shows, and I apologize for that if it affects you somehow.

RP and writing are a huge coping mechanism for me, so I'll be trying to immerse myself in those things to try to keep the crazy mental health demons at bay.

Now, I'm not going to waste whatever time you and I have for RP or hanging out in game to discuss this. You know I don't like to do that. If I'm directing you here, it's because you've asked what's wrong. This is my IRL these days. Send a positive thought out or a prayer or whatever you do on my behalf, give me a virtual hug, and just get in character with me, please.