2009...

Thought I'd follow B Sharp's lead here, in the spirit of sharing

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Have a Caesarian section; toilet train a toddler; made an old fashioned christmas pudding in a pudding basin.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?
I resolved to get a cleaner (snap, BSharp!), and no - we didn't do it. Something to do with tight-assed-ness or not being able to justify it due to the uncertainty of incomes. My poor, chapped, dish-pan hands are red with anger - I could never be a domestic godess! One day we will do it!!

My New Year's resolutions, would be:
- to be less of a glutton and exercise more (but I always find that I do when I do or when I can, respectively).
- to find more things to keep my son entertained, and get him eating a wider range of healthy foods.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Population explosion!
My sister-in-law had her third (but my first niece), the day before Angel had her little boy.
Two of my Mummy friends - Katie and Anita - had second babies;
Friends Fiona, Sally and Hannah had little boys;
Colleague Yogi had her first;
and many many others seem to have been concieved, due this year!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. A friend is thankfully in remission from breast cancer.

5. What countries did you visit?
None. Sigh! Good for my carbon footprint, though.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
An insulated roof; a career (or the inkling of one).

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
24 July - my daughter's birthday. Because she was born then!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
A year of lots of little things - nothing stands out.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Going on maternity leave without a certain job to return to in 2010. You can only do a few jobs for 2 years or less before you start to wonder if it's "me, not them". But I'm not sure I care that particular job much either, so does that make it a failure?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Only colds, the odd sore back, eczema and athsma.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hmmm. A few things:
- some nice new shrubs (to go in the mega plant pots we inherited from a former neighbour) and a bench, for our courtyard. It's actually nice to sit out there now!
- ceiling fans for the bedrooms, and a bath for our bathroom.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage/house, grocery shopping, child care fees.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Meeting our daughter Astrid after carrying her for 9 months.
My son sleeping through the night without a nappy.
Getting my plant-growing mojo back.

14. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"Starman" by Bowie and "Rocket Man" by Elton John. Happy memories of the whole family singing along in the car.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
Both.

Happier - because I don't have morning sickness, and puddles to clean up on the floor, and because I seem to have learned something as I am finding motherhood easier this time around.

Sadder about a few things - a friend left for Canada permanently and she left a bigger hole in my life than I'd anticipated. Sad also that my nephew has been diagnosed with Autism, and it means a lot of life-long challenges for my brother's family.

b) thinner or fatter?
Fatter, due to not having morning sickness, and not managing to swim/gym very often.

c) richer or poorer?
About the same. We own slightly more of our house.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
- going on holidays
- reading
- sleeping
- swimming

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
- yelling: "NO!" "Stop (insert mischievous deed)!" "Right! In the naughty corner, and STAY there until I say!!"
- vomiting (see morning sickness comments, above).

18. How will you spend Christmas?
Waves of family visits to us this time.

19. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Yes - this time with my beautiful daughter.

20. What was your favorite TV program?
The Wire (snap again, BSharp!) - we joined the digital age when we got a hand-me-down set top box from Angel and DrJ, and strated watching it from the beginning on ABC2. However, we have just started renting it out on video, because you pick up more of the dialogue when you can put on subtitles!! That Baltimore accent can be challenging!!

21. What was the best book you read?
Probably "Maus" by Art Speigelman. Also enjoyed "The time traveller's wife" and "the lovely bones". None of these were very challenging to read, which reflects my brief windows of opportunity for reading in the past year.

22. What was your favorite film of this year?
No idea. Must have been a DVD I rented, but I can't remember. It certainly wasn't the lastest Harry Potter movie...

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
34. We celebrated my birthday on the Sunday before, due to hubby having a yucky breakfast meeting on the actual day. I remember getting to lie in bed reading unpestered for a few luxurious hours, and possibly even a bath....

24. What kept you sane?
Um... I think I may be less sane...

25. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I need a drop down list for this kind of stuff - no one comes to mind.

26. Who did you miss?
My brother (even though he's been on another island for a long time); I still miss being able to just drop by my parent's place and hang out; Annik who left with her little boy for Canada to be closer to her parents; BSharp (but she's back now!); and it's getting generally harder to meet up with many friends due to our vastly different lifestyles (e.g. us having kids and them not. But that will get easier as the kids get older).

27. Who was the best new person you met?
My neighbour up the corridor - Leili. Fantastic to meet a mother of 3 older children who's been through it all! So nice to have a neighbour who is friendly, and whom you can help and be helped.