2012: Not the Last One, After All

Well, despite all the hoopla about the Mayan doomsday prophecies (interestingly NOT coming from Mayans), we are still here, on the brink of entering 2013, and for those in the United States, falling off the fiscal cliff.  And despite the lack of posts this year (this will only be the eighth), 2012 has certainly been eventful for me.  Now going generally in the reverse order from the list I made at the beginning of the year, here is my year in a single blog post.

• Well, we survived Campaign/Mud-War 2012.  Obama was reelected (fortunately), and every ballot item in Maryland passed (fortunately for some, unfortunately for others).  
• I'm still on the church council.  Unfortunately, the interim pastor we had found a full-time job somewhere else, so I have preached twice since the beginning of November, which meant Victoria finally got to see me preach (more about her in a bit).  Hopefully the council finds someone soon, because I have that dissertation thing to work on the first few months of 2013.
• The job hunt has begun.  I have already been short-listed for a postdoc at Carnegie Mellon, but more interestingly, St. Mary's gets a new tenure track line starting next academic year.  I'm kind of hoping for that one, but realistically, not incredibly optimistic.
• I visited Europe for the first time, going to a conference in Italy and giving my first conference talk.  I also spent nine days in a row outside of Maryland, the longest such streak in my life.
• The proceedings article has been written and another paper submitted.  And the dissertation is well on its way, already at 96 pages.
• I attended three weddings this year: Adam and Ranwa, Laura and Nick, and two friends from graduate school.  And for the last two, I was able to bring a date (although she was invited in her own right to the last one), which leads to
• I have a girlfriend after just over six years of being single!  And each day I spend with her, I feel closer and like a love her even more.  No offense to anyone reading this, but she is probably the best thing to happen to me this year, or in several years.  She has also met all of my relatives I see on a regular basis (that is, more than once a year), and is well liked.  Indeed, my mother adores her.

Well, that's it for 2012.  Hopefully I see many of you New Year's Eve.  If not, best wishes for a fine 2013.  The look ahead will come later, hopefully before I go to San Diego.