Happy Blogiversary to Funny!

And happy holidays to all of you!

Funny about Money was born two years ago today, as an idle hobby to while away the hours as its proprietor wasted the evenings in front of the television set. Apple’s iLife came with the iMac I’d bought; part of that program was a lightweight blogging platform. Thought I’d try it to see if I could do it. So I was amazed when it was still online a year later, and even more amazed that some people were actually reading it. And now, by golly, Funny has made it through a second year!

And what a year it’s been! We’ve replaced the worst U.S. president since Herbert Hoover with our country’s first African American president, an articulate dynamo who has yet to show whether he can rescue us from the greatest economic fiasco the world has seen since the Great Depression. Indications are mixed: we’re getting ourselves mired deeper in Afghanistan, a sinkhole that will make Vietnam look like a garden party, but our Congressional leaders, despite knee-jerk partisanship on both sides, are nearing agreement on some sort of national healthcare plan.

On Funny’s micro-level, it’s been quite a year, too: furloughs and unemployment insurance, getting canned along with my entire staff, taking a part-time job before the full-time job ends, setting up Social Security way sooner than planned, nailing a discount on COBRA, finding a way to pay next year’s mortgage without touching investments, dealing with enough bureaucrats to populate a giant ant colony, migrating Funny about Money to Bluehost and monetizing it (thank you, Mrs. Micah!), worrying a lot about survival, and finally realizing that the past twenty years of frugal habits and steady savings will make “early retirement” the best thing that ever happened to me. M’hijito’s mellowing relationship with me and going back to sing in the choir have gone a long way to make this rocky time not only tolerable but often filled with joy.

Here are my ten favorite posts from Funny’s second year, in no particular order:

Truth, the Highest Thing that Man May Keep
Revanche on The Secret Joy of Unemployment
25 Awesome Sites for Personal Finance Buffs
Do You Have to Be Wealthy to Be Financially Independent?
What IS Frugality?
Living within Your Means Is Good for the Economy
How Much Financial Help to Give a Family Member?
Debt to Income Ratio: Frugalist Begs to Differ
Garden as Income Stream
Early Social Security: A Way around the Earnings Limit

And then we have the three most hilarious posts (well, at least, intentionally hilarious…) that went up this year:

When Real Estate Is Funnier than Real Life
What’s More Important than a Costco Card?
Best Phone Solicitor Story of All Time

Free Money Finance e-mailed yesterday to say Funny’s “Truth, the Highest Thing” post has been selected to compete in this year’s March Madness competition. If it wins or places, I’ve asked to have the money donated to All Saints Episcopal Church, which not only sponsors the greatest choir on the planet but supports Hospice, Habitat for Humanity, a soup kitchen, outreach to the homeless, a ministry to a nursing home, a caregiver program to help the elderly and infirm remain in their homes, and many other worthy projects made even more crucial in these difficult times. Because of the recession, All Saints was unable to make its pledge goal this year, and so a March Madness gift will help a great deal.

Happy holidays to everyone and best wishes for glorious New Year!

Image: Kris De Curtis, Christmas Tree Bauble, http://www.flickr.com/photos/krisdecurtis/313881077/ , Free content licence. Wikimedia Commons.