1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Bought a house. Went on a cruise to the Mediterranean. Tried to get pregnant.
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I can’t remember what they were (since I wiped out most of my old entries and can’t find it on the Way Back Machine) but I’ll tell you what: This year? This year I’m doing more work to chill the heck out. If my brief time on vacation has taught me anything, it’s that I allowed myself to spiral. No. More. Life is too short.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! So many babies! From my closest friends to my sisters (in-law and otherwise), I’ve been surrounded by babies.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No, but my high school history teacher passed away and we also lost the music director at our church. It’s not really fair to say I was close to either men, but I was incredibly saddened by their deaths. Both were too young.
5. What places did you visit? We went to Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Sicily, Santorini, Istanbul, Izmir and Malta. Most awesome trip EVER.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Nothing, but maybe a little less stress.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? November 24, the day we finally closed on our house.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? House, house, house.
9. What was your biggest failure? I let my professional life eclipse my personal one.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Well, I did get the Hashimoto’s Disease diagnosis, which was a good thing. It’s nice to have an idea of what’s wrong.
11. What was the best thing you bought? House. I also like my Garmin Forerunner.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My husband is a damn saint. I’m a good partner, but he’s the one that keeps the ship afloat. I am a loon, that ain’t no lie.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I’m pretty much over anyone having anything to do with health care reform.
14. Where did most of your money go? Buying the house and wiping out all of our debt. By February, the mortgage and Scott’s grad school loans will be the only debt we’ll be carrying.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our Mediterranean vacation!
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Oy, it pains me to say this, but Black Eyed Peas’ “I’ve Gotta Feeling.”
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? I’m sadder, but only in that I didn’t do a better job of handling stress. I’m a really happy person, though.
b) thinner or fatter? No real change there. Maybe a little fatter? All of my clothes, save for a pair of jeans or two, still fit so not much has changed. I’m still 15 pounds bigger than I’d like, but I’m running farther and stronger than ever so I’m not complaining right now. I ate my feelings a bit more than I should have. See all that stress.
c) richer or poorer? Richer. Our housing expenses are obviously larger, but our money is in our house now. And having also gotten us nearly out of debt this year, we feel richer. We also made a bigger push to invest and save more. We took the recession, and our good fortune to be gainfully employed during it, as a warning and are building a foundation.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Chilling the heck out and not taking myself so seriously.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Being angry at everyone because I didn’t handle stress well, especially my husband.
20. How did you spend Christmas in 2009? Same as usual, though being in our house made things feel much more peaceful.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Absolutely. The husband gives me daily reasons to fall in love with him more each day.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Modern Family. God I love this show so much.
23. What did you do for your birthday in 2009? Scott and I went to Bistro Campagne.
24. What was the best book you read? Let the Great World Spin was just amazing.
25. What did you want and get? I wanted to own a house and be closer to being out of debt. Done, well, almost. The house is a big debt. Next year I’m aiming for two more big financial goals. Becoming anal about money has seriously paid off. It’s the most freeing, empowering thing ever. God, had I known about this feeling YEARS ago…
26. What did you want and not get? We wanted to be pregnant by this time, and we’re not. We stopped trying after last month, and we’re excited to start trying again in January.
27. What was your favorite film of this year? Don’t remember since we don’t go to the movies much. I loved Up, though!
28. Did you make some new friends this year? I did.
29.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Learning how to deal with stress. Is it any wonder, really, why we didn’t get pregnant?
30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Yay yoga pants! As well as Yay dresses and tights!
31. What kept you sane? Scott and Kate Shea.
32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? The entire cast of Modern Family brings me immeasurable joy every week.
33. What political issue stirred you the most? Health care. The banking industry.
34. Who did you miss? I wish I could see my friends’ babies more.
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Patience is a virtue.
