Our Little Geekling

Year in review! Questions originally from Sundry.
2011, 2010

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
-Went to New Orleans
-Whole30
-Voted Democrat for President
-Started a second graduate degree
Is that it? Oh, that’s kind of sad.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My resolutions were:
-Get fit: Nope.
-Travel: I went to Mexico, New Orleans, Nashville, Dallas (a few times), and Little Rock (a couple of times), not necessarily in that order. Does that count?
-Read 25 books: At last count I am at 74? I think I’m okay.
-Be a great mom and wife: Meh. I wasn’t great, but I did the best I could.
-Do well in school: With the exception of this most recent semester, I did well, enjoyed my classes, and learned a lot. Let’s just leave it at me being happy this past semester is over.
-Spend wisely: Nope. I did okay, but I definitely didn’t pay off the debts I wanted to.
-Stick to a schedule: Eh. We do have set things we do specific days of the week. But we still wing it most of the time. Eriana is the rare “spirited” child that is good on a schedule, and she really benefits from school. She does nap at a mostly consistent time every day, and she does have a bedtime, and she does have things to do five out of seven days a week. So I guess we just keep trying?

Yes, I will make more. I have a draft of 2013 goals already going.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No? I don’t remember? Crap. I should know this. Some of my imaginary friends had babies, but no one close to me in distance, and no one whose baby I get to regularly squeeze. 2013 is a boomer year with my friends, though. I’m super excited about the babies I get to squeeze then!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
The fetus we lost in the spring.

5. What countries did you visit?
Mexico. And Texas, I guess. (HA. Whatever, I’m funny.)

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Money.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day I turned (gasp!) 30!
November 6, the Presidential election.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Um. I was pretty proud that I passed (nay, did well in) the three classes I took in one semester in the spring.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Lack of losing weight. Look, I know it isn’t the number on the scale that matters, it’s how you feel, but I don’t feel well.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope. I mean, just my miscarriage.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My iPhone? Two cars? I don’t know.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Jim’s. He’s such a trouper. Seriously. What in the world would I do without him?

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed?
Oh, Lord, what a loaded question. Politicians. Some of Jim’s coworkers. People from both sides at the election. Some family members, at times. People that inflicted pain and hardship on others strictly for his or her own gain or fame.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills, bills, bills.

15. What did you get really excited about?
Jim. Eriana. The two together. School.

16. What song will always remind you of 2012?
No idea. I don’t really listen to music that often, and when I do it’s seasonal (holiday) or older (classic rock) music. *LAME-O*

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier.
– thinner or fatter? About the same, I think.
– richer or poorer? Richer, I guess.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Run. I love to run, and I forget that until I’m doing it.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Fret. I’m a worrier. Major.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
-We were at my dad’s on Christmas Eve, as per usual, for Maiden Name Family Christmas.
-Christmas Day we were at home, just the three (seven, including pets) of us, and it was wonderful.
-The 28th was my mom’s side of the family at my grandfather’s house, and the 29th was my siblings (but for the one brother on the Maiden Name side) and step-siblings and mom and stepdad and grandfather at my grandfather’s house.
-The 29th was my stepdad’s kids and the grandkids on that side of the family. My grandfather was kind enough to open his home for us again, so we headed back up there for a pizza potluck. Eriana had a blast.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
Parks and Rec? Sons of Anarchy? Parenthood? The West Wing (old, but we watched it start to finish)? Eureka (same)? I don’t know.

22. What were your favorite books of the year?
(Books list.)
-The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
-Run by Ann Patchett
-The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
-11/22/63 by Stephen King
-Paper Towns by John Green
-Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
-This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
-The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
-Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
-The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
-When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
-The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
-Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Um. See above, number 14.

24. What were your favorite films of the year?
I don’t know. I didn’t see a lot of movies. Was Hunger Games this year? The last Harry Potter? I don’t remember.

25. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was in Mexico. I turned 30. THIRTY.

26. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not turning 30? Kidding. Kind of. Paying off more debts. Being healthier overall.

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?
Mommish. Nerdy.

28. What kept you sane?
Jim. Zoloft. Mother’s Day Out. Schoolwork. Books. Wine.

29. What political issue stirred you the most?
Same-sex marriage. Equal rights, basically.

30. Who did you miss?
It really makes me sad, on at least a weekly basis, that all of my best friends and imaginary friends don’t live in my neighborhood. We don’t know our neighbors, and I wish all of the people I liked very best lived here instead of them.

31. Who was the best new person you met?
Oh, goodness. This is too hard. There are a lot of people with whom I forged new or better friendships this year, especially online, and I don’t know where I’d be without them.

32. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012.
I already knew this, but it’s nice to see it in print:
“Belief and knowledge have little, if anything, in common.” - James Potter and the Hall of Elders’ Crossing by G. Charles Lippert