I count myself incredibly fortunate that I can say for certain that 2012 was better --- and not just by default.
I found out that I was pregnant on my birthday, and my son Brandon was born in November. Volumes have been written about the awe-inspiring joy and sense of enormousness that children bring to one's life, so for this humble blog it will suffice to say that suddenly, everything has been better. Different, yes, in ways expected and unexpected, but undoubtedly better. 2012 was the year of better.
It was the year that I finally got a job as an independent researcher, vindicating too many years of struggle with a bad job market and uncooperative circumstances. It was the year that my husband graduated his first Ph.D. student, published his first book, and got a lovely raise. It was the year that my brother got married and I gained a wonderful sister. It was the year my father was re-employed after a long and stressful job search in a poor economy. It was the year that gave me back my faith that a year could be better than the one before.
Hello, 2013. Let's do it again.
