I like where I'm sitting

Evenin' all! Just got done with a lovely 1 hr. massage, gifted to me by Hegazelle's parents for Christmas.
And, of course, Christmas was great. We spent the morning quite lazy at home, ate breakfast burritos and enjoyed a nice fire on a no-burn day. (I figured it was a fine worth paying ...the jerks...what kind of power hungry air quality official makes Christmas day a no-burn day?!) My family came over around noon. We exchanged gifts, made Christmas cookies, played games and then made dinner. One gift in particular that I was glad to receive was a new envelope system! My old envelopes had been taped a few times over and we're a bit tattered. Anyway, we enjoyed a Honeybaked Ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, greenbean casserole, and rolls that took all day to rise (I guess it wasn't very warm in the kitchen!)
This week I'm reflecting a bit on the past year. Things certainly have changed, mostly for the better. At this time last year we were searching diligently for a new vehicle. We sold our lifted F150 in October and drove a borrowed Mercury Cougar while we went through the process of finding the right car. After nearly 4 months of looking, we found our Volvo S60 in a town about 1.5 hours north of us. It was a very exciting day when we brought it home, and the car has been a delight to drive. Of course at that point we had no idea we were a month away from a Total Money Makeover, and the car was financed through our credit union. To date, we've paid off over half of the loan on the car. We would be much farther ahead in the game, but vehicle maintenance and a couple replaced parts took up some of our funds.
Needless to say, I'm optimistic about 2008. We have financial goals and plans with completion dates in our sights. I'm certainly looking forward to not having a car payment EVER AGAIN. The opportunity for that Hawaii vacation with friends is growing closer. And with foreclosures all around, I still own my house.
I'm not NEARLY as well off as some folks, but I like where I'm sitting right now. It's a very comfortable place that I start 2008 in.