I've had a great deal of luck these days, and I don't know with what to attribute it. Coincidence? Divine intervention? The Force? Who knows, but it's been pretty awesome how things have been fitting into place.

On January 5th, I had the remaining 3 molars extracted. If you remember my past dealings with the dentist, you'll know about what I've had to go through. The last three were just as easily extracted as the previous two, and the dentist didn't have to do anything extra for it. I've had zero pain since the day after the extractions, and I've even gone in for a cleaning at my regular dentist. We talked about my ordeals with Aspen Dental, and they were glad I stuck with them. I am too! The hygienist even told me that I had good hygiene, and that my cavities look like they developed a couple years ago during my teen years. I took this as a compliment towards my efforts to keep my teeth in better condition these days, as well as a compliment to my age, seems as I'm 29 and my teen years are nearly a decade in the past. The next few visits will be to plan out restoring my remaining teeth, a root canal or two, but things are looking real good there.

I don't think I mentioned this before, but several months ago I got a small chip on my windshield. It scared me when it happened, and I don't know what or where the foriegn object came from, but it made a tiny, half-inch chip just above the bottom edge of my windshield. I didn't know what to do about it, so I ignored it. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago- the extreme-cold weather we were experiencing had a fertile effect on the chip. From day to day, I watched it grow from a half-inch to an inch, to two inches, and then to three inches. Finally, in the bitterest of the bitter cold(3?F) two weeks ago, the windshield popped, and that three inch crack exploded into a three foot crack. Again, the popping noise made me jump while driving down the road. This is where my luck came in- I had just gotten an alignment done on the car, as well as replaced the two front tires. The guy who did the work told me that most insurance cover glass and that I should call and find out. Sure enough, the entire repair was covered with no deductible. They did a wonderful job and I have not found any signs that the windshield was ever replaced.

And on the note of car trouble, I also had my brake light pop on too. took it to Lockport Tire where they found out the emergency brake was stuck, and it was a simple matter of unjamming it. Brake light didn't come back on.

Now comes the matter of money. I've done very well this month, and have stuck to my budget most of the way. There were a few hiccups, but on the whole I've managed to keep my books straight. I'm so proud of myself, it makes me feel optimistic about my financial restoration, I almost want to celebrate! But that will come later. I'm still building up for that emergency fund, I plan on having that ready once my tax return has come in. After that I should have a healthy amount saved up and I can start paying back on my debt.

Things are looking up for me right now, and I'm excited. I hope to keep that level of optimism going indefinitely.