Happy New Year!
Before I start thinking about hopes and plans for 2023, I do want to reflect a bit on the year that has just ended. It ended with tough times, but I don’t want that to be the only thing I remember about the year.
Professional Highlights
Work was challenging this year.
Staffing remains one of the most frustrating aspects, as both clinic and hospital floors have insufficient staff to get the necessary work done. That leads to unhappy patients and overworked coworkers.
Despite all this, when I look back, it was a pretty good year for me, professionally. I expanded a project at work, saw a paper accepted (I am neither first nor last author, but still, it’s a paper), and generally had a successful year.
Financial Highlights
Our financial life was relatively tame, thank goodness.
No loans remained to be paid off.
Roth IRAs were set up in 2021, and funded again in 2022. Mr. PiN declined to invest his money at the beginning of the year, which ,with the decline in the markets, turned out okay.
Mr. PiN did receive an inheritance from his mother, of which he promptly gave a good portion to his son.
I did think more about bonds and cash, and, despite my vague wish to reduce the number of my accounts, set up a high yield savings account (and got a nice bonus for opening it).
Family and Travel
I saw my family a lot more in 2022, and traveled more too.
Mr. PiN and I took several vacations: to my parent’s winter apartment, back to Maine in late Spring, to Portugal in the fall. Our trips were a little colder and cloudier than I expected, and we caught COVID in Portugal, but overall we felt fortunate to be able to go.
As for family, we missed out on our holiday get-together this spring when our car broke down. We made up for it by seeing my parents (and brother with his family) at the end of our spring vacation, and twice again in the fall. I saw my sister and her family at Thanksgiving, the first time since the pandemic.
Most recently, we were all together (adult children only) to support our mom during my dad’s hospitalization.
I still feel like I’d like to travel more, and see family more; but compared to the past few years of the pandemic, this is a vast improvement.
Blog Highlights
The number of visitors rose again in 2022, thanks in no small part to mentions by other bloggers. Thank you, Physician On Fire, All Star Money, Xrayvsn, Personal Finance Blogs, Crispy Doc and White Coat Investor (the monthly newsletter).
Four posts were highlighted in 2022:
- What I Learned From Reviewing Our Yearly Spending.
- The Million Dollar Dream.
- Who’s Got Your Back?
- Giving: Thanks and Money.
A fifth post from 2022 was also featured by Physician on Fire, but not until January 1 –a great way to start 2023!
Personal highlights
On the whole, most of my achievements for 2022 probably fall under work, travel, and blogging.
If I work a little harder to think about what else I did last year, I might call 2022 the year of tennis. I started lessons with a professional (they were great! I can’t wait to start up again for 2023), and watched many, many hours of tournaments. I caught a few documentaries as well, including some episodes of 37 Words (about Title IX, amazing) and Strokes of Genius (about Federer and Nadal, with their 2008 Wimbledon match highlighted). I would recommend both.
I read a few new books by favorite authors–I was most looking forward to The Golden Enclaves, by Naomi Novik, and at the end of the year picked up my aunt’s recommendation of Death at La Fenice, by Donna Leon.
I continued my Duolingo streak for another year.
Looking forward
Given the disruption to my schedule at the end of last year, I am hesitant to make any firm plans for 2023. I may make firmer goals in my next Future Me update.
However, I suppose I do have some plans, and some wishes for the coming year.
There are some obligations I do need to address: catching up on my vaccinations (Shingrix number 2, the bivalent COVID booster); buckling down on MKSAP, to prepare for boards in a couple years.
After seeing a totally different hospital, and how kind everyone was, I see that I need to work on my attitude. I don’t know how long it will last, but I would like to be less crabby and more generous in my approach to work. I can see this will be a work in progress.
I plan to continue blogging twice a week, though it is certainly possible that life may get too busy in the next few weeks. I hope to have the mental energy to write posts that speak to others, preferably offering something helpful each week.
Mr. PiN and I hope to travel out of the country again, but not to catch COVID this time. A piano (with lessons) remains on the wish list; the challenge remains clearing enough space to fit one in the house, and then making the time to practice.
Tennis, reading, walks, time with friends and family, perhaps even museum visits–I expect that 2023 will see them all in my calendar.
The real surprise will be figuring out what else shows up in my life this year.
What do you want to highlight when you reflect on 2022? Any big plans for 2023?