Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The year that was

(Previous years: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007)

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Traveled overseas with a child. Started graduate school. Drove a car with a stick shift (though not very well). Put up a political yard sign. Spent Christmas in Germany. Found non-specialty boots that fit my calves. Attended an internet meet-up. Filed a complaint about an insurance company.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not really a resolution person. I didn't make any last year and I have no plans to change that for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My friend Emily. A friend from our childbirth class, whose first baby is a week younger than Callum, just had her second. A lovely coworker. Lots of internet people.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?

Germany, France, and England.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
A master's degree.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
No specific dates. Some specific events, but not their exact dates.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Last year I put achieving balance here and I'm going to stick with that. Work, school, marriage, and a toddler is a lot, but I think I succeeded at it pretty well. And actually achieved some meal planning (though not consistently) in the process.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not always trusting myself. It's scary having a toddler. The parenting feels much more fraught than with an infant where you just follow your instincts and meet basic needs. I constantly worry that I'm doing it wrong, and feel guilty about all the potential ways that I could mess my kid up.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Some colds and a stomach bug, but nothing major.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our new siding. It's so NICE not having to worry that the exterior of our house will blow away every time there's a gust of wind.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Borrowing last year's answer: Torsten's, as usual. Seeing him with Callum just reinforces how great he is, every single day.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Gosh, so many to choose from this year, yes? But nobody I know personally, so that's a plus.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Again, last year's answer: our mortgage and childcare.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Watching Callum turn from a baby into a walking, talking, opinionated, adorable, amazing little person.

16. What song will always remind you of 2012?

I'm going to have to go with the crowd on this one and say Call Me Maybe.

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

a) happier or sadder?
b) thinner or fatter?
c) richer or poorer?
a) The same
b) Thinner (the baby weight is FINALLY gone, plus some extra on top of that)
c) Richer

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

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stressing about parenting. I know that I'm doing pretty well and that I don't have to be perfect, but I'd love to banish the niggling feelings that appear in the back of my mind from time to time that try to say otherwise.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
We were in Germany at my in-laws' house. It was very different (no stockings, no Christmas morning) and very low-key, but lovely.

21. Did you fall in love in 2012?

Not with anyone new.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Grey's Anatomy.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.

24. What was the best book you read?

Hm. I loved The Fault in Our Stars, and the other John Green books that I've been making my way through since then.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Peter Bjorn and John. I looove their song "Second Chance."

26. What did you want and get?
A happy, healthy toddler. New siding for our house. Central air.

27. What did you want and not get?

A new TV. Curtains for our bedroom. A bike.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I saw very few movies this year, so I'm going to have to go with the only one I actually remember seeing: The Hunger Games.

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

I, um, can't actually remember. It was a Friday. We must have gone out for dinner, but I don't remember where. I turned 28.

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

I really can't think of anything. As I've said for the last three years, it was a great year exactly as it was.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

Basic. Jeans figured heavily. Every now and then I even thought to put on earrings.

32. What kept you sane?
Same answer as last year: my husband and baby.

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

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Gosh, so many. I'll go with marriage equality and access to health care.

35. Who did you miss?
I'm going to steal my answer from the last three years here: Most of my friends and family, since pretty much all of them live far away now.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Liz. Hands down.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
Perfection is overrated. Things can be (and are!) pretty great even if there are a million little flaws that you'd really like to fix if you could.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'm pretty sure 2010 will stand alone as the only time I ever managed to do this successfully. Not even going to try this year.

Happy belated New Year, everybody!

6 comments:

  1. YAY! I've seen so few of these this year. Happy New Year!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do you still love the boots? They are on sale, and as a fellow big-calfed girl, I have a really hard time finding boots that fit.

    I'm reading that book right now. So far I don't like it :( I'm not a fan of the writing style, but I'll stick with it.

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