End of a decade

Hayley started a tradition a few years back of us writing relatively lengthy Facebook posts on New Years Eve summing up how the past year had gone. They're a really good way to reflect on what's happened, to focus on the good bits and acknowledge the bad bits. As 2019 ends, though, there's the added extra bit about there being a whole decade ending with it. So here goes...

The 2010's have been by far the most full decade of my life so far, and that's expected with it being the first full decade of being an adult. As 2010 started I was a 23 year old who was pretty 'lost'. I was getting to the middle of my 20s showing no signs of fulfilling any potential anyone had said I might have. Drinking even more that I do now, yoyo-ing in and out of a toxic relationship, failing professionally, I was stuck in some pretty good first world problems.I'm definitely not going to write out an essay about each of the things that have happened from there, but there's some that are pretty pivotal. In sort of chronological order:

1. Started a business.
   You can't get fired if you own the company, so that's how I stopped getting fired. Ended up building something that verged on successful relatively often, started the careers of a few people who'd started at the agency. Could've been so much more if I'd done better at building a partner, and not been so naive over the accounts side.
2. (Re-)Met Hayley.
   I am forever indebted to whatever bug caused Hayley's phone to like a picture on my Facebook. Yea, I don't believe her either, but that's the story so we'll go with it. That moment, the following dates and relationship, are responsible for every other positive moment since. Everything else on this list wouldn't have been possible without Hayley('s phone) bringing us together.
3. Got Married.
   Is there much more pivotal in anyone's life? Well, I guess things like having a child, or buying a house... Wonder whether they'll be on the list?
4. Helped make a whole human.
   This should not be in the middle of the list, but that's the order it happened in. The only downside of having made a human this year is that I'll never do anything that amazing again. A whole human being, grown by my wife and raised by us both. Simultaneously the most natural and most insane thing I can think of, and Eleanor will forever be the biggest facet of my life.
5. Got a proper job.
   Partly because of how badly I'd been running fifty6 in the final years, partly because of the stability we needed because of the whole 'made a human' thing, but mostly so the next point could happen...
6. Bought a house.
   Could've probably made this work some other way, but the proper job did help make things simpler when it came to mortgages and stuff. Our modest little home was the final piece in the family life puzzle for me. Happy to live there forever, in a place that Eleanor can grow and learn and experience life.

Those are the biggest 'best bits', but there's been downsides too. There's been deaths,