The Annual New Year Recap, Sundry -style

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?

Birthed a 10 lb. 11 oz baby and lived to tell the tale.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I wisely didn't make any last year, thank goodness because there is no way I would have had any follow -through.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Me! Me! ME!

(and I can't help but note: some of you! YAY!)

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, though we've sure been talking a lot about death around here.

5. What countries did you visit?

Does day dreaming about Greece count?

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

A sense of connectedness to my new life here in VA. A really good friend here who I can call up and cry/giggle/kvetch with.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Inauguration Day.

May 19, 2009. E's birthday.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

E's birth.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not weathering this cross-country move better. Not being present, adult and patient enough with Z this summer.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Sometimes my body has felt both ill and injured but that's because I birthed a 10 lb 11 oz baby (How many times can I bring that up? Let's count. We're up to 3, I think.).

But, otherwise, thankfully, NO.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Not these.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

I have to give my husband a HUGE pat on the back here. He was a STAR during E's birth. He was our family's rock this summer when everything felt like it was falling apart around me. He moved us, pretty much single handedly, across the country. He deserves a National Day of CG celebration (with chocolate covered pretzels and crisp pale ales and a very long nap)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Mark Sanford, Tiger Woods, OH WHY AM I STILL SURPRISED BY THIS?

Famous people who rallied behind Roman Polanski.

Jon and Kate.

My own, on occasion.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage, insurances, moving expenses, Target.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Inauguration night, though it seems a very long time ago.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

When I was preparing to leave CA, a friend, someone with whom I was just getting close, made me a CD mix. The first song is "Miles Away" by Madonna. All fall, Z and I listened to it every morning when I picked her up from preschool. It reminds me of my old life in CA and reminds me of how far we've come this year as we are now a family of four (4!) living in a small town in Virginia (VA!).

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Can I just come out and say that I HATE this question. I'll just say: 'bout the same.
b) thinner or fatter? Hate this one too. I'm "thinner" because last year I had a baby in mah belleh.
c) richer or poorer? Combine this year's financial melt-down, Z's expensive preschool and me not working with CG's new, impressive salary and.... I have no idea.

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

Here's what I said last year: "Danced. Cooked. Gardened. Hugged. Written letters. Made phone calls. Reached out."

Still true that. Double true.

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

Lost my temper. Curled inward instead of reaching outward.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Here, in our new home, with my parents, watching Z dive into her mountain of presents and trying to keep E from chewing power cords.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

I'm sorry CG and Z, I still love you desperately but.... this year has been all about E.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

GLEE!

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

I don't really go for the word "hate".

24. What was the best book you read?

I can barely remember what I read in the last month, let alone the last year..... Well, I loved The Help by Kathryn Stockett and right now I'm reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and I am enraptured.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

my very own Beyonce.

26. What did you want and get?

My big, beautiful, healthy baby girl.

27. What did you want and not get?

My dad to be completely clear of cancer by this Christmas. Fucking cancer.

More sanity post-partum than I had pre-partum. (I blame the move.) (I'm working on it.)

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

Did I see ANYTHING this year?? All I can think of is "I Love You, Man" which is a sad statement on how many date nights we've had this year.

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

I turned 37 this year, the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we had a lovely day with CG's family. I had a delicious breakfast, got a pedicure with my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law and had an awesome 4-course meal date night where I didn't have to wipe anyone's spills or fetch anyone more milk.

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

Daily massages and a night-time nanny.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

Wear whatever isn't too stained, too stinky or too maternity.

32. What kept you sane?

Dark chocolate covered ginger. My husband. Every scrap of exercise I could beg, borrow and steal time for.

But most of all, this blog, and you all, kept me sane. I've always written, needed to write to stay relatively sane. I've never written and had so many people support, encourage and acknowledge me. Thank you.

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

Can I just say that I LOVE the word "fancy" in this context? It makes me feel like a British pop star in an interview.

Ummmm... I have a little thing for Paul Rudd.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Marriage equality.

35. Who did you miss?

Oh, Lady California. I miss our lemon tree. I miss our backyard (aka. our outdoor play room). I miss my friends.

I miss my pre-partum boobs.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

E, bar none.

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

I just read this passage last night in Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and circled it and read it aloud and cried:

"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it."

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

"Where are my keys? I lost my phone, phone (.....) Just dance, gonna be okay"
- Just Dance by Lady Gaga