2010 In Questions

I saw this format on love is blonde and it seemed like a neat (and honest) way to look back at 2010.  This has been such an interesting year for me - a roller coaster ride if there ever was one.  I'm about a million miles from where I thought I'd be this time last year, but at this point I can't imagine being anywhere else.  I feel proud of where I am in terms of my work, my marriage, and my health.  I'm thankful every day that I started taking care of myself in 2009, because given the shit that came my way (both that which has and has not been documented here) in 2010, I don't think I could have survived it a year earlier; I just wasn't strong enough.  So I suppose at the end of the day (or in this case, the year), I'm just grateful to be here - to be happy and healthy, to have a wonderful little family, a home where I feel safe and loved, and to have discovered a career that I really enjoy.  I am a lucky girl.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Oof.  SO MUCH.  I became pregnant & then not pregnant, was in my first wedding, started a real, live adult job, found a dog park for the dogs, became pregnant & had it last longer than seven weeks, submitted grades for the first time, was completely honest with my professors.  


2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I did not make a single resolution last year.  I was very much in the middle of recovery from bulimia and depression this time last year, and I opted not to put more pressure on myself than was necessary.  I don't know if I'll make resolutions for this year...but as it is December 31, apparently I should decide that, um, yesterday.  Perhaps my resolution should be to stop procrastinating.  Because that is so realistic.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.


4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, although my grandmother has been extremely ill all year, and is now very close to death.


5. What countries did you visit?
Bermuda (we squeezed it in right at the end).


6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you didn't have in 2010?
A Master's Degree, a full-time job, and a healthy baby that is outside of my uterus.


7. What dates from 2010 will be etched upon your memory and why?
March 30 and July 12 were the days I miscarried, but I'm hoping that those dates will fade with time.  September 11 was the day we found out we were pregnant again, but I don't know if I'd remember that if not for the 9-11 associations.


8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?
Continuing my recovery and staying healthy.


9. What was your biggest failure?
Not finishing my MA.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes (here, here, and the nasty cold Preston's brother has given me over the course of the last week), but overall I was just so much healthier in 2010 than I was in 2009 (or 2004-2008) that I feel like it really doesn't even compare.


11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new phone.  I have gone down the smartphone path and will never return.  It's just too delicious.


12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The way that my friends rallied around me this year was nothing short of spectacular.  Their support buoyed me through some very difficult months; I don't know what I would have done without them.


13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
That of the politicians during the campaign season this fall.  Ugh.


14. Where did most of your money go?
I have been really bad about tracking our money on Mint.com since September, but based on that month, my guess is that most of our money has gone to rent and groceries.  We are boring.


15. What did you get really excited about?
This pregnancy, coming to Bermuda, new trailers on apple.com, citrus season, and everything bagels with cream cheese and tomatoes.


16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
I listened to "New Hampshire" by Matt Pond PA on repeat throughout the end of this summer and this fall.  So probably that.


17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer of poorer?
a) happier, b) fatter (but for a good reason, I think), c) richer (Because hark!  I have a job! On the flip side, we're about to have a child, which means that this time next year we will be MUCH POORER)


18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Writing my thesis.


19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying.


20. How did you spend Christmas?
Oh, Christmas.  I stayed up till 2:30 AM writing a paper, slept through the alarm I'd set for myself at 4:30 to finish the paper, woke up in a panic at 5:20 and got ready to leave for the airport 10 minutes later (we were supposed to leave at 5:15).  We drove to the airport, flew to Bermuda with my in-laws, and then  I emailed my paper, slept the afternoon away, took a MUCH NEEDED shower, and ate turkey with cranberry sauce.  All in all, a good holiday.


21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yes, in the sense that I fell more in love with our family (and with this baby).


22. What was your favorite TV program?
The Big Bang Theory, hands down.


23. What was the best book you read?
I have read distressingly little this year.  I very much enjoyed the Stieg Larsson trilogy I read over the summer, and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day was positively delightful.


24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Um, anything that my friend Margaret put on mix CDs for me?  I am lame.


25. What did you want and get?
A healthy pregnancy and new Danskos (not that those are on the same level, but I wanted both of them and I got both of them, so...).


26. What did you want and not get?
A fairy who would dust our apartment.


27. What was your favorite film of 2010?
Having seen all of four (maybe five?) movies in the theatre this year, I'm going to go with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I.  I saw it twice and enjoyed it thoroughly both times.  Definitely the best adaptation of the franchise.  I loved Young Victoria as well (even though it's technically a 2009 film, I didn't see it till 2010).  


28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went to work and then for dinner, Preston made me pizza and mocha sorbet.  I turned 25.


29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being a superhero, finishing my thesis, being able to put clothes away instead of piling them on top of Ness' crate.


30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2010?
Nonexistent.


31. What kept you sane?
Preston, The Big Bang Theory, and (dare I say it?) Prozac.


32. What political issue stirred you the most?
Oh dear.  I'm afraid this is where I simply have no idea/do not care (and subsequently feel guilty for not knowing/caring; see: this post).


33. Who did you miss?
Those friends whom I'm unable to see often.


34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
That taking care of myself should always be my top priority, that worrying is overrated, and that honesty is always a safe bet.  Also, that I should not subscribe to magazines, because once they arrive, they just sit in a basket and gather dust (see: our study).


35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I don't have a song lyric (see number 24), but my friend Margaret sent me this Emily Dickinson poem after my second miscarriage in July, and I immediately fell in love with it.  I think that it encapsulates this year in a lovely way:

Our share of night to bear,
Our share of morning,
Our blank in bliss to fill,
Our blank in scorning.

Here a star, and there a star,
Some lose their way.
Here a mist, and there a mist,
Afterwards - Day!

***

Here's to a fantastic 2011, internet.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of my year.  Also, stay tuned for 2010 in Photos (I should have it up within a few days)!  And with that, have a wonderful New Year's Eve - make sure to drink an extra glass of champagne for me (if you need an excuse to have a second glass)!