Compartment 14B
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End-of-year roundup. 2007-12-31 - 11:30 a.m. Clearly my colourful cast of family let me down in terms of scandalous actions to report this festive season. It was a sedate, well-behaved, and very average Christmas this year. My sister and her husband didn�t do anything outrageous, there were no family scandals bandied about, no one had any big news, I got some nice presents, the food was good and everyone enjoyed themselves� my only complaint is that there wasn�t a lot of fodder to journal about! Sure, Spider�s husband didn�t thank anyone for his Christmas presents or hospitality, and yes, they both drank quite a bit (Spider alone had a bottle and a half of wine, plus some sake, plus a beer during just the few hours we were at our dad�s), but neither is unusual for them and at least no one got sloppy or maudlin. My grandmother probably did the worst thing when she opened a gift and complained about its contents, but that�s also par for the course and, at 83, she�s allowed a few peccadilloes. So, yeah, the lack of material over here coincides nicely with the proffering of end-of-year round-up questions over at All & Sundry, so without further adieu, here�re my answers: 1. What did you do in 2007 that you�d never done before? 2. Did you keep your new year�s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? 4. Did anyone close to you die? 5. What countries did you visit? 6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? 7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 9. What was your biggest failure? 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? 11. What was the best thing you bought? 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? 13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 14. Where did most of your money go? 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? 16. What song will always remind you of 2007? 17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? 18. What do you wish you�d done more of? 19. What do you wish you�d done less of? 21. Did you fall in love in 2007? 22. What was your favorite TV program? 23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn�t hate this time last year? 24. What was the best book you read? 25. What was your greatest musical discovery? 26. What did you want and get? 27. What did you want and not get? 28. What was your favorite film of this year? 29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? 31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? 32. What kept you sane? 33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 34. What political issue stirred you the most? 35. Who did you miss? 36. Who was the best new person you met? 37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. 38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Here�s to 2008. Changes, they are a-comin�, and I hope they�ll all be good ones.
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Moved to the �burbs.
I didn�t make any and don�t plan on any for 2008. I think that if you want to do something good for yourself, you should just do it and not wait for an arbitrary date to start.
At my age, it�s a baby-explosion amongst people I know, but in 2007 most people I know got pregnant (with their second or higher) and aren�t due to actually give birth until 2008.
No, thank God.
Cuba and the U.S.
A second kid (check!), coupled with the assurance that I will be able to manage two of �em (no check yet).
Seeing as how I can�t even come up with one now, while still in 2007, I�m not sure there will be any. There may be memories, such as selling our house and our first Christmas in this house and Grommet�s second Christmas ever, but the dates? Not so much, except as they�re associated with the memories and events. Oh wait, I miscarried on September 7th. I�m betting that�ll stick with me.
Getting pregnant, probably.
Not being able to keep my cool to the degree I want to when Grommet is doing something she�s not supposed to be doing. I need to work on my patience.
Again, no, thank God.
Our two new houses? Though the proof of this will be when we go to sell the one we�re currently in.
Grommet�s, for deciding she needed to use the potty all by herself at 1 year, 9 months.
Family and friends? I don�t think it would be prudent to say online. In the bigger world at large? Not just the celebrities that act so famously moronic, but the press that has turned this behaviour into something to be watched and analyzed and almost celebrated, and the culture that is so rabidly into following this sort of thing. Politically, I�m appalled and depressed at the state of our environment and the way our politicians care more about winning votes than doing the right thing for future generations.
Mortgage, property taxes and daycare.
Getting pregnant, both the one that �took� and the one that didn�t (though of course we didn�t know it wouldn�t at the time).
Hey There Delilah by the Plain White Ts, and Big Girls Don�t Cry by Fergie.
Hm. I think I�m about the same for a) and c), though I feel poorer contemplating expenses in 2008, even though I make more money now. As for b) I think I�d have to say fatter since I think I�d pretty much lost my baby weight by this time last year, and I�ve put on about 7 or 8 pounds this pregnancy so far. Of course, I haven�t weighed myself since the Xmas Orgy of Eating yet either�
Photography, writing, reading, walking.
Feeling cooped up instead of just taking out the stroller and going somewhere. Anywhere.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
With family.
With J? Over and over again.
Grey�s Anatomy.
I don�t think so. Hate�s a pretty strong word.
I�m reading it now: Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort.
I sing a mean ditty/Xmas carol/popular song for toddler-entertainment purposes. I�ve always sang (choirs and even a band in high school), but haven�t done so in a long, long time.
Pregnant. A polarizing filter for my camera. I�m sure there�s more �cause I usually get what I want.
Cute clothes. What was the point when I was trying to conceive and was hoping they soon wouldn�t fit anyway?
I�m not sure I saw very many in the theater, but I really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 3D. At home I think it was Live Free or Die Hard. If it tells you anything, the two I thought of first were Little Miss Sunshine and Stranger Than Fiction, but when I looked them up I discovered they both came out in 2006.
Hm. On my actual birthday I had a very normal day � work, teach a class, get home and eat dinner late, get ready for bed. I was, um, 35? 2007 minus 1972� yes, 35.
Having the time to apply for and participate in Art in the Park. My biggest disappointment of the year was doing the math and realizing that, despite planning for it for a year-and-a-half, I won�t be able to do it in 2008 since I�ll be due right around then.
Whatever fit that was �classic� in my wardrobe. Black or grey dress pants with a collared shirt at work; jeans/cords and short or long-sleeved Ts or sweaters at home.
My husband, J. He has been a pillar of strength and helpfulness.
Depends what you mean by �fancy�. There�s no one I salivate over for looks much. I like what Al Gore�s been up to for the environment, and I admire the work of Michael Moore; even if he�s deliberately inflammatory at least he gets people talking. I�ve also realized at some point that I�ve rarely seen a movie by either Bruce Willis or John Cusack that I didn�t like. I�m not saying they are the best actors of their generation, but I like the movies they pick and the characters they play. (In the case of the former, I should maybe say �character�, since he�s the same guy over and over again. But I like that guy.)
The environment. The appalling state of women�s rights in some parts of the world.
Most of my friends � it was not a good year for seeing a lot of people, particularly during the second half of 2007 when we moved twice and changed phone numbers.
I loved meeting people in person, finally, at BlogHer in Chicago this summer, even though I�d already �met� a lot of them online before. At work I really enjoyed meeting and developing an almost-daily coffee/lunch routine with my co-worker Catherine, who, unfortunately for me, found a new, better job across the river and left a couple of weeks ago.
I think I became a bit more self-aware in 2007, in terms of what kind of like I�d like to lead and what I�d like activities I choose to spend my time on to mean. Now to translate that into something more tangible.
Oh no, another music question. I really draw a blank on these. I�m not sure I could sum up my year just with a phrase I make up, much less try to draw from a specific source. This year was really about staying the course and trying to make big decisions that would support a happy, more meaningful life for myself and my family. There were steps forward and setbacks as well, but at the end of the year I feel that progress has been made overall, and that I�ve made the best decisions I could with the information I�ve had. I�ve moved to the suburbs but it was in support of a better quality of life for my family overall in terms of proximity to Grommet�s daycare, J�s work, and our parents. I�m pregnant and my fingers are crossed that I�ll have a healthy, happy Biscuit by mid-year this year. J and I are both soul-searching with regards to what to do for a living, but we have some time and the pressure�s not huge since we�re pretty well situated as we are. Our family is all doing well. What more, really, could we ask for?
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