Credit

Yesterday, CapitalOne saw it fit to bestow upon me a credit card, my first in nearly 7 years. Previous to yesterday, I applied for a number of cards online over the course of nearly a decade with little more to show for my efforts than a slew of rejection emails. I truly deserved my debt since I spent recklessly with no intention of repaying my plastic advance. Actually, I knew I'd one day repay my debt. What I could not foresee was the never-ending letters from collections and lawyers threatening legal action for nonpayment. That a credit company, after all that, didn't take a chance on me is no great mystery.

When you gain some stability in life, financial or otherwise, you start to reassess your goals because they're no longer just a pipe dream. Today, I can actually entertain the thought of going back to school without becoming interminably depressed. Haley may go back to school, too, and she truly deserves that opportunity. Her initial attempts at higher education were derailed by an overbearing parent who caused school to be become for her an anxiety-laden endeavor. Now, we've begun to forge our own path and are in a better place to start doing things on our own terms.

Of course, Baby Owen complicates any ambitions to pursue academic opportunities, but not in a bad way. He's our pride and joy, and we put him before anyone and anything else. It's just nice to know that whatever we do to better ourselves (college, new job, etc.), we'll be giving Owen a better life in return.

It's nice to feel a sense of independence again.