it’s that time again

I don’t care.  I like memes, cliche or stupid or no.  So here goes:

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

I gave birth… er, no wait, that was 2009.  I was raising a baby! Watched my kid turn 1 year old.  Moved to Seattle.  Bought a freakin’ house.  All sort of a adult things.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never make resolutions.  I work on self improvement throughout the year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Man… I was going to say “I did! I did!” because it feels like everything happened in 2010, but the birth thing was 2009.  So no.  Er, actually, my cousin’s wife did, but we’re not all that close, so… A friend of mine got pregnant, though.  Two friends.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes.  And I was completely surprised & taken off guard by how heart wrenching and sad it was, by how much it affected me.  I feel like I’m still reeling from it.

5. What countries did you visit?
Spain! Canada! Holland!  And just wait’ll you hear about our plans for 2011…

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
In the reverse, there are many things that 2010 had that I would like 2011 to lack.  Gut-wrenching sadness, death.  All the anxiety and stress and strain from moving to a new state, buying a house and one of us starting a new job, all with a 5 week old baby in tow.

I would like 2010 to be lighter – we’ve done a LOT, now is the time to settle in and enjoy, to be proud of making it through.  I would like 2011 to be full of confidence – I’m a damn good mother and if we were to have another child, I’d know what the hell I’m doing.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January and February, all of it – we went through the house buying process and moved.  November 13, Nugget’s 1 year birthday.  October 14 – we took off on our belated honeymoon.  November 17, I got the news that Vera died.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Turning into a bona fide adult.  (See: moving, house buying, child-raising, surviving it all)

9. What was your biggest failure?
As tough as some of the moments were – there were no failures.  It’s all been a very difficult learning process.  My husband and I fumbled many times, there were lot of fights and unhappy moments, but we never taken our eye off the prize, so to speak.  With the ringing in of 2011, we’ve started to find our groove again.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I got sick, twice.  That’s actually notable, because I RARELY get sick.  Once every year and a half, if that.  Granted, it wasn’t anything major and the second time was because of the sadness/lack of sleep/exhaustion of the week before Christmas.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Uh… a house?

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My husband’s and mine, thank you very much.  We made it!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Not to get all political on you, but hey – THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.  At least, that particular group that has anything to do with or votes for people who are affiliated with this Tea Party business.  Disgusting.  Oh, and the American People for being so fucking naive – you voted Obama in (yay!) and then got pissed off because he couldn’t perform miracles.  Grow up.  It took us two terms (thank you, Bush) to get in this mess, it’s going to take more than 2 to get out.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Buying a new house.

15. What did you get really excited about?
All the possibilities.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Miike Snow’s “Sans Soleil”.  This just happened towards the end, but I listened to it shortly after finding out about Vera’s death and it hit me, hard.  It’s just beautiful and “without sun” – that’s life without Vera and most of 2010.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
–happier or sadder? I prefer to say I’m more determined, more focused, more full of possibility.
–thinner or fatter? ha Well, thinner.  My kid was only weeks old at this time last year.  But asking questions about weight is weird.
–richer or poorer? Hm.  I guess poorer?  The house and all.  Except we’re on the up swing again.  Not that we were ever really “poor.”

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Yoga.  Taking time to breathe.  Resting.  Saying “I love you.”  Emailing friends.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Being angry, being busy, being trapped in my own head.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Just the three of us in our own (new-ish) home with our very own Christmas tree, eating a huge brunch.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yes, again.  and again.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I’m trying to convince Mr Nikki to get rid of cable.  I hate tv.  And hate that there’s shows I just love to watch.  The Walking Dead (AWESOME! Right up my alley!)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
“Hate” is a bit strong.  Though I have refreshed my desire to not waste time trying to get close to my extended family again.

24. What was the best book you read?
Gah.  I haven’t read much this year.  I re-read “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” on our belated honeymoon (the flights, mostly.)  The new Anthony Bourdain.  A couple books about postpartum care for my certification.  Cookbooks.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Music is a hardcore obsession in this discover LOTS of new stuff, all the time.  Though the one that stands out as my favorite new one is Miike Snow.  They are fucking BRILLIANT – they write beautiful songs that show incredible skill in all aspects of songwriting.  And they play PIANO!  Sigh.

26. What did you want and get?
Sleep! And I got it.  Don’t hate me.  Nugget sleeps at night from about 8:30p until 8-:30 or 9 am.

27. What did you want and not get?
More trips?  But that’s coming.

27a. What did you not want and not get?
The death of a friend.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Uh… uh… I have to try hard to remember what we saw, all I can think of is recent stuff.  We were surprisingly pleased at the American remake of “Let the Right One In.”  I enjoyed “The American.”  The Stieg Larsson trilogy was great.  (The original, of course.  Dear America – keep your hands off foreign movies with your crappy remakes.)

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 34. (Had to think about that for a second.  35 this year! wow!)  What did I do, what did I do… Oh, right! Nothing!  Stayed at home and took care of our new baby.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Better communication with my husband about how stressful it all really was.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
“New mom”.  *snort* Luckily, I went back to my usual style pretty quickly.  Let’s just say that most of it comes from Anthropologie.  With some combat boots & tattoos thrown in for good measure.

32. What kept you sane?
This will be the cheesiest thing I’ve ever said, but – LOVE.  Love kept me sane.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None?  I just don’t get all that into celebrities, etc.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Ugh.  Politics in general.  Environmental & agriculture issues.  And the fact that birth is a political issue.

35. Who did you miss?
Vera.  And all my friends far & wide.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Some people on Facebook, that I met through all the Hipstamatic hullaballoo.  I’m eager to go back to Spain to meet up with Elena, to get to Sweden to see Annett, to Norway to meet Mariann…

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Everything I ever knew was right, time to put it into practice.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
“Sympathy is overrated, like a snapshot when you’ve lost the game.”

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