2012 Holiday Letter

I know I said the blog would get more love over the holidays, but apparently I had not sufficiently consulted with Neal about our plans. No matter; I’ve had a great time hanging with Addison so Neal can get more work time. I did, however, manage to get out this end-of-year letter. Two years in a row? That’s called being on a roll!

Happy New Year! It’s been great to hear from so many of you and we hope this finds you happy and healthy!

2012 was a calmer year for us than 2011, much to Neal’s relief and Addison’s chagrin. If you’re not familiar with Addison (almost 3) and her zest for life and interaction with the world, this conversation sums it up:

Addison: [On the way home from running about 30 errands] I want to go to parties now!

Me: It’s time to go home.

Addison: NO! I want to go to parties!

Me: Home.

Addison: Can parties come to our house? [Note: Over your father's cold, dead body.]

Besides parties, Addison is also keenly interested in marrying, dying, and driving cars – she can’t wait to grow up and do all those things (we’re still trying to determine how disturbed we should be about this). She is alternately heart-burstingly adorable and frustratingly obstinate, but never, never dull.

In April, Neal formally launched his blogging/writing career and has now officially interacted with more people online in 8 months than he did in person in his previous 28 years. He mostly blogs and draws comics about being a stay-at-home dad at Raised by my daughter, but he also became a monthly contributor to a larger book review blog. His comics have been picked up by some larger websites and bloggers, and he’s amassed a small group of ardent fans. Thanks random people on the internet for believing in his talents!

For me, this year had some ups and downs health-wise, which is why it was such a godsend to get a job as an online adjunct faculty at a university. Teaching in my pajamas? Yes, please! So far I teach a general family studies course – everything from parenting styles to courtship trends, relationship dynamics to abuse – but I hope to pick up a personal finance course next year. One of my pet projects, a paper encouraging financial educators to outreach to incarcerated populations and tailor their curricula accordingly, was accepted for publication this month, so that was a great way to end my year! I still blog occasionally (obviously), though “real life” seems to have interfered with my verbosity.

Wishing all the best to you and yours!

I thought we could get one quick snapshot of all 3 of us looking at the camera, but 20 tries later, forget about it. This is why, when asked what kind of girl she is, Addison says, “I’m always reaching for stuff.” True that. (If you need a hit of her sweet smile, go here.)

Neal perfectly capturing our extrovert-to-the-10^th-power:

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