2009 Meme

Here are my answers to Linda's traditional New Year meme. Enjoy, y'all.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Leave the Boy and go to New York with Chris just the two of us.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
For the most part, and yes, I have made more for 2010.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
YES!  My friends Emily, Heather and Allyson.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.


5. What countries did you visit?
My own.  Chris and I went to New York--he'd never been there before so it was fun to see the city through his eyes.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A house.


7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

July 13th--the first day of Chris' residency, and subsequently July 13th 2010 will be the last day of Chris' residency.  But who's counting?

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being a better wife than I thought I could be.



9. What was your biggest failure?

Not stepping up to support Chris from the beginning.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just ordinary stuff, colds, viruses, bugs...nothing serious.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My car.  Hands down, Arabella rocks.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Chris's!  He had capstone, fellowship applications, job applications, interviews, more rejection than any one person should have to face all at once, then a big move and a stressful job and for the most part he's been wonderful.  Tense and quiet at times, but that's much better than yelling or snapping, and given what he's currently doing, he's awesome.

The Boy's.  We've moved and traveled and he's teethed and had growth spurts and he's handled all of it like a champ.

And my Dad's!  Whenever anyone calls, he's the first to volunteer to help.  My sister was in a pretty serious car accident out in Nebraska (coming back from taking her oldest off to college) and my Dad drove out to bring her and her 3 younger kids home.  My brother was stranded in Florida, he drove up to North Carolina in a rental car and my Dad drove him the rest of the way back to his home in Maryland.  My Dad supervised the loading and organizing of our truck when we moved south and he helped us unload when we got down here.  He's awesome!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

All of those over-paid CEOs who needed the government to bail out their corporations but then took big bonuses.  That was charming.

14. Where did most of your money go?
A move and a new car.


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Chris graduating, New York, New York.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Regina Spektor's On the Radio

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


a) happier or sadder? Both...in different ways and for different reasons...probably more on the sad side.
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner but not by much.
c) richer or poorer?  Both...in different ways.


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Laughing.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worrying.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With Chris and the Boy.  It was cozy and quiet and then we had dinner with some friends.  Very low-key.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

Yep.  With Chris...stronger and deeper than ever.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Well, I really only watch 2--Community and V.  I'll go with Community.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nope.

24. What was the best book you read?

I did way too much re-reading this past year, but the best book I read for the first time was the biography of Elizabeth Gaskell A Habit of Stories by Jenny Uglow.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Muse

26. What did you want and get?

A Car.

27. What did you want and not get?

The Boston Fellowship.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

HAHAHAHAH!  Like I watch films in the theater!  That's hilarious!  My friend Mona gave us Harry Potter 6 on DVD, it was pretty good but they messed up the ending.  Little Dorrit was very good.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Surprise, surprise, I'm not telling you how old I was.  Chris was in Boston interviewing for a fellowship that he didn't get.  I spent my birthday at my sister's house--she made me tortellini and my mom made me a cake.  And I'm sure Chris and I got take-out once he came home.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A job in North Carolina.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Casual and functional.  Jeans, lots of cotton, sandals.

32. What kept you sane?
Honestly?  Music.  I don't turn the television on during the day and when the Boy is squirrelly, or otherwise grouchy, music calms him down and brings back my happy boy.


33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Matthew MacFaddyen

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Health care.  In this household, could there be another answer?

35. Who did you miss?

Debbi VanD!  She's my fitness buddy, friend, mentor, neighbor, and all around Awesome Girl.  I miss having someone to work out with, I miss having her to bounce ideas off of (she's so sensible!), I miss having her to vent to, I miss getting to laugh with her, I miss our twice or thrice weekly adventures.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Celeste and Brett.  They're my two friends down here and they're amazing women.  I'm so lucky that I get to find those kind of women where ever I seem to go.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

The past is the past.  You can't change it, you can't help it, all you can do is let it go and try to do better with today.

But also:

Ultimately, it doesn't matter where you live.  What matters is what you do with your time.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath.

--Regina Spektor

Happy New Year!