2011 Survey

1. What did you do in the last year that you’d never done before?
-natural faced climbing and rapelling
-met a pisces
-got over Cooper

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didnt make any resolutions, I was still working off of my 101 in 1001 list. I ended the year with a few leftovers but feel good about it regardless.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A few friends gave birth, almost every baby was a girl.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
– My favorite neighbor Riggs
– Husband of a scout friend
– The kids’ great-great-granny Jean
– My friend Charlie’s dad
– My friend Terry’s wife
– My friend Judy’s mother
– A few scouters
– Houdini, the professor’s rabbit

5. What countries did you visit?
None.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A real relationship

7. What dates, one each month, from this year will remain etched upon your memory and why?
– January 19th – Got a concussion… from a shower curtain rod
– February 16th – Out of the blue letter from my friend VH that really lifted me up
– February 24th – Officially became a member of BPOE
– March 25th – Coop flew in from Kuwait to surprise me at my FOS Gala, that meant a lot as we hadnt seen each other in a while
– April 8th – Had foot surgery
– April 28th – First anniversary of my father’s death
– April 30th – Kids’ baptisms
– May 15th – Aidan’s First Holy Communion
– May 24th – Enter Henry, The Professor
– June 15th – Booked our first family vacation
– June 29th – Aidan got clotheslined at camp, he’s still got a scar
– July 12th – Aidan goes vegan
– Aug 1st – Booked the Epic Winter Wonderland Extravaganza (EWWE)
– Sept 6th – Somebody broke into my car
– Sept 25th – Enter Liam
– Oct 15th – Had a lovely weekend at a friend’s wedding
– Nov 8th – Emma spends a week in the hospital
– December – The entire month was spent tying up loose ends so that I could go on the EWWE

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not killing anybody. It’s always my biggest acheivement

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not living up to my own expectations

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
– I got that flesheatingwhateveritis again. Sucked.
– Had a lot of carpal tunnel issues
– Got a concussion

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Nothing stands out but the GPS. Probably because I used it a lot these last two weeks.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The kids’. Theyre growing up and with that comes change. So far things are okay.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 
Coworkers

15. What did you get really excited about?
My trip

16. What songs will always remind you of 2011?
Grapefruit Moon

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder: Sadder
Older or wiser: How could I NOT be older than I was last year??
Thinner or fatter: Probably close to the same.
Richer or poorer: Definitely poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Things for myself that I actually enjoying

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Searching. I’m always looking for something. Literally and metaphorically

20. How did you spend Christmas and New Years Eve?
– Spent Christmas at home while kids went with their dad.
– Spent New Years Eve driving 9hrs and ending up in an Elks Lodge outside of Chicago with Shane on our way to Minnesota.

21. What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2011?
Obviously whatever it was isnt that bad or I would remember it?

22. Did you fall in love this year?
Yes and no. Still trying to figure that out.

23. How many one-night stands?
None, actually.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Dont have a TV but was turned onto How I Met Your Mother and Swing Town which I have watched on Netflix here and there.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not really, surprisingly.

26. What was the best book you read?
Oh gosh. So many. Cant pick. I really liked:
– Council of Dads
– House Rules
– Swan Thieves
– The Giver (reread)
– Change of Heart
– Others that I cant remember but want to pay credit to

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Tom Waits’ new stuff

28. What did you want and get?
smaller car

29. What did you want and not get?
my own place

30. What was your favorite film(s) of this year?
I have no idea, nothing stands out to me right now

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 29. On my actual birthday I went to dinner with friends and then to the Elks with Henry and Amy. The day after my birthday I drove to Pittsburgh to see Alex Goot in concert with Shane.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
-to lose 20 pounds
-to move

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year?
boy scout uniforms and tshirt/jeans

34. What kept you sane?
the Elks, Shane – those are two big staples in my life

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
nobody is sticking out

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Not even going there.

37. Who did (do) you miss?
Friends

38. Who were the best new person/people you met?
Henry, Liam, PJ, Amy, some people at my church

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year:
– "Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it."
– "Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It’s the courage to continue that counts."

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"If we could just free up the laws that bind our heart then we could love." – Alex Goot