I spent my whole childhood wishing I was older. Now that I'm older, this crap sucks. But not really.

Sometimes being the grown-up sucks. It involves making hard decisions while your inner child is screaming "I want it and I want it now!" Sometimes it means giving up something that you want, in favor of something that is better for you and your family.

At a street fair in Germany, I fell in love with Coke Bottle Top Basket. Through some strange twist of circumstances, I didn't buy it. The next day, on the way home from getting GF pizza, we were going to stop by the fair so I could pick one up. Halfway there, I got sick. I could have possibly made it to the fair and then back to the apartment before I was too sick, but that was one of those times that I had to make the grown up decision and head home without my basket. With my stomach issues, I get sick without warning and how could I potentially ask my kids to stop what they are doing and head home if I am unwilling to do the same?

A friend in real life recently had to sell a vehicle because their tenants stopped paying rent. Her family had made the commitment years ago to remain debt free, and keeping the vehicle would have required that they go in to debt to cover the money the tenants weren't paying. Was the decision easy? Knowing them, probably yes and no. No because giving up something you have and need because of the irresponsibility of others sucks. Yes, because they are willing to do whatever is best for their family. I am so proud of them.

Sometimes I feel like this debt free journey will never end, but then I have to remember that we took it slow. We kept cable through most of it. We all had cell phones. I joined Weight Watchers. We vacationed. Hell, we spent three months in Europe. If someone needed something, they got it. We didn't do without. We made a lot of adjustments, but we didn't do without.

We took it slow for what I am sure many will think is a stupid reason. Long story short, Marty and I both grew up poor, and often did without. We wanted to make sure that our boys had all of the things they needed and some of the things they wanted.

We are finally at a point where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it feels good. We are starting to talk about all of the things we will do with the money we are not paying to debt. The boys have decided that they are ready to get gazelle and get it over with. The cable is gone. We are using a much slower but much cheaper internet. The Sprint contract is gone and we are using a flat rate unlimited plan for me and pay as you go for the boys. We are considering a homemade/thrift Christmas, or as Christian suggested, a puppy Christmas.

Life is good. So very good.