What a year

Another year gone by. Yep, it's my birthday. Well, what's left of it. It's 10:45pm on December 3rd, 2008.

31 years old.

It's been an amazing year for me. The last few months have put an exclamation point on it.

JD, my son, turned 1 in January. My wife and I decided to attempt to conceive in July and were successful in August in our first few tries. (We officially found out we were pregnant with our second child September 24th, though we were pretty sure around Labor Day.) My men's league hockey team won the league championship in late August. Then my brother proposed to his amazing girlfriend in early October. On October 16th, my wife was voted into partnership at her law firm. Finally, we found out that we will have a girl in May.

I would say that's a top-notch year.

I find it amazing how, at least for me, we've had such good news among the terrible state of the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 4500 points for the year, or about 35%. People are losing their money, their jobs, and their homes. Meanwhile, I'm basking in a cluster of happiness.

Conversely, in my worst year, 2005, my father was diagnosed with cancer in March or April and died in September. That was in the middle of the economic climb on the way to the 14,000 range from which we've slumped. The Dow closed around 10,500 during that September, up from the depths it reached in 2002 when it sunk below 8,000 for the first time since the tech bubble burst at the end of the 20th century. The economy was thriving and my father was dying.

And now the world is in turmoil and my life is about as steady as it gets. We're not without our own economic issues; we're certainly not swimming in money (don't let the label "partner" mislead you.) But we've got steady employment, we've got our health, and the future has many bright spots.

I really couldn't ask to be in a better situation than I'm in right now.