Once again, the calendar shows that it is December 25th, Christmas, a truly wonderful time of year. It’s the time of year when we try to put our concerns about things like investing, spending, and most personal finance off to the side as we stop and enjoy the holiday with each other. (If we planned our holiday properly, hopefully we won’t have to worry about an expenses piling up for us come December 26th.)
This Christmas comes after some of the greatest changes in my life that I’ve ever experienced. After more than two years, I’ve gotten a Master’s Degree, which should leave me with a great new job by this time next year. I’m not certain when (or if) there were be further education on top of this, so I’ll need to be sure to put this degree to work, allowing me to earn a nice income and support my wife and new daughter.
Speaking of daughter, that’s another of the big changes this past year. I’m now a father, with a sweet, wonderful girl I love so, so much. Compared to simply (or not so simply, as was the case) getting a degree, becoming a father is a huge change that will affect everything I do from this point in my life and beyond. It’s a huge event, one that has made me more than a little bit nervous, and not just when I’m holding her.
Overall, 2012 has been an impressive year. (Plus, the Mayans were wrong and we managed to survive!) I don’t know how you intend to celebrate Christmas this year, but for myself, it will be spent with my new daughter, my wife, and both of her grandmothers (as well as my two sisters, two of her four aunts). Don’t expect to see much of me online today, because today is for my family. (Not that I have been spending too much time online the past several weeks, anyway, for the reasons described above, but today, at least, it’s going to be entirely because I want to spend time with my family.) Before I go, though, here’s one last thought from my wonderful little daughter:
Elaine Says “Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night! Also, I’m coated in Sock Monkeys!”
krantcents December 25, 2012 at 11:48 am
Merry Christmas. My daughter was born on the day after Christmas. It has become a special time in my life. Enjoy it while you can.
Roger, the Amateur Financier December 27, 2012 at 9:53 pm
Thanks for the well wishes. I’m sure that December is going to become one of my favorite times of the year, between Christmas and my daughter’s birthday. It already is one of my more preferred times of the year, so her birth is likely to be enough to boost it to the top.