I can haz debt?

I just became the proud owner of the house I have lived in for the past eight years. I know...it seems pretty anticlimactic, doesn't it? I was awarded the house in the divorce settlement. And when I say "awarded the house", I mean legally obliged to make the mortgage payments for my ex until I was able to secure a loan in my own name. I made out like a bandit, didn't I? Due to my incredible naivete when we originally bought the house, my name was on neither the deed nor the mortgage. In hindsight, this was a really dumb move. But, at the time, it never occurred to me to protect my assets for the day when I would be dumped for an old lady. Lesson learned.

So I closed last week and Ryan signed the deed over yesterday. And I feel overwhelming relief. This has been the last divorce thing that had to be settled and I have dreaded the process for years. Suprisingly, getting a mortgage was the easiest part of the whole divorce. It literally took two weeks from application to closing.

I loved my little house when we first looked at it eight years ago. I love my little house today. It's too damn small. The appliances are almost as old as me. Every faucet leaks. Every drain is slow. But I am grateful because in just 30 short years, it will be all mine.