The Yearly Meme: Year 12
Year 1: 2004
Year 2: 2005
Year 3: 2006
Year 4: 2007
Year 5: 2008
Year 6: 2009
Year 7: 2010
Year 8: 2011
Year 9: 2012
Year 10: 2013
Year 11: 2014
This year: 2015
1. What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?
Sent my daughter for a multi-night sleepover away from me (with my parents). Took her to the beach for a week (twice). At work: planned a new product, with a development budget of close to $1 mil, and had the proposal accepted. Voluntarily became a member of a church. Helped plan a service at church. Supported my kid through a transition to a new school. Saw my child dance in a Hanukkah play.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Same as last year: Didn't make any, not making any. Too tired.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I'm trying to remember if Leilani had the twins in 2015 or if I just somehow forgot her last year. I think they're coming up on their first birthday, so I think it was this year. Betsy had Emily, Susanna had Julia, Rose had Alice, cousin-Kate had Alice, work-Kate had Caroline, Diana had Zoe. I think Andrea and Meredith have both probably given birth by now but I'll have to report back later on whether it happened in 2015 or 2016. Christina's pregnant.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
Sarasota and Cape May. Atlanta and New Orleans (for business).
6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
For fear of freaking out anyone who actually reads this, I'll avoid putting down my first-impulse answer of "Hope", because that's only occasionally true, and just stick with last year's answer, "Energy".
7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January: New Orleans for work.
February: Molly and Sean's wedding in Sarasota.
March: Sarah Blake's book launch party was a really good night out.
April: hanging out with Frey and doing "Braless AWP" at home while F attended real AWP in Minneapolis.
May: Stephin Merritt concert.
June: Zoe's wedding. Atlanta for work (during which trip I did not once leave the hotel, except for the last night, when I took the skyway to the next building over to get a pizza, and then took it back to my room and hid, which was wonderful.) Our amazing anniversary night out in Doylestown with dinner at Honey (the black tea-crusted spare ribs! Totally worth eating meat for!)
July: Frey turned three. Had a symposium at work.
August: Cape May week. Getting my promotion at work.
September: first workshop with my new writing group. Zelda concert with my mom. Hiding from the pope.
October: Supergirl.
December: Nutcracker with my girl. Star Wars.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting promoted at work. Making it through December. Finishing my Duolingo Spanish program. Doing yoga at least three times a week from August through December. Writing a new series of poems in a totally new voice and getting one of them accepted almost immediately, at a journal I've tried several times before without luck.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not going to talk about failure. As Elsa says, I'm never going back, the past is in the past. But I really wanted to go to the Ren Faire this year and we just didn't make it, even though we had free tickets, so that was disappointing.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
My low back is an ongoing issue and will continue to be as long as my kid wants to be picked up (so, probably for at least a few more years). I'm just hoping I won't completely destroy it. Overall, we've been pretty healthy.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Inadvertently bought the Amazon Prime membership again. No regrets. I'm loving my fleecy pizza pants (made of fleece, printed with a pizza design). I just bought three pairs of new boots, and ordered new underwear (not just one three-pack, but two!). No really big purchases this year, I don't think.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I really like Bernie, you guys. I don't know who else. F, of course.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I'm really not thrilled by the execs who took over my division this year, laid off a bunch of people, and continued restructuring all year long. There's a constant feeling of uncertainty. And they seem to think that book development/publication must work just like journal development, and it doesn't. But they seem to be trying to make amends for being such jerks all year. Fingers crossed that, in 2016, they move up to the previous question.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Daycare. We switched Frey to a really good one. Sorry, bank account.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My promotion. Dropping f off at my mom's for sleepovers. The beach and the shore. Star Wars.
16. What song will always remind you of 2015?
Alessia Cara, "Here" (Freya loves this song)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Sadder. Really need to fix this. (Disclaimer: Filling this thing out after Christmas, during winter, does not help with the answer to this question.)
b) thinner or fatter? Probably about the same, thankfully.
c) richer or poorer? Slightly richer (the promotion came with a pay raise), even though we're paying more for daycare now.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Same as always: Yoga, writing. Sleeping.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Same as last year, sadly: Worrying, being sad, feeling down, giving up, being tired. I'm so tired of being tired, and so tired of working so hard all the time.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
We spent Christmas at our home. We dropped f off at school for Christmas Eve and finished up the wrapping, then picked her up early, made cookies together, went to service at church, stopped by Rose Tree Park afterward, and had a pizza for dinner. My parents came over on Christmas Day again. f loved her gifts but actually ran out of steam opening things; eventually she just stopped unwrapping gifts so she could play with the stuff she had.
21. Did you fall in love in 2015?
Same ol' love, still going strong.
22. How many one-night stands?
None.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Doctor Who, followed by Daniel Tiger probably.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I try not to be a hater.
25. What was the best book you read?
Saga! A lot of good graphic novels this year. I finished the Twin Spica series this year and loved them a lot. Tiny Beautiful Things was great. I read The Martian, and also the first two of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series, and they were great. No-Drama Discipline was the most useful book I read. Full list here.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I downloaded Kurt Vile late in the year but I think he's going to be a winner. Josh Ritter's Sermon on the Rocks is very good.
27. What did you want and get?
Boots. A promotion. A babysitter. Some child-free weekends. A writing group.
28. What did you want and not get?
Sleep, energy, yoga. A shed (still working on it).
28b, Things I didn't want and got anyway: Reorganized at work. There are several work projects I could list here, too.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Star Wars was great. Frozen, of course, is a big hit around here.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 36. I went to the outlets with my mom and it was great and we had a nice lunch. F also took me out for a special birthday date when we were in Cape May: a really nice dinner out, followed by the theater! A really special surprise.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More sleep? I don't even know at this point, I feel so unsatisfied with a lot of things in my life but I don't know how to fix it.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?
Dresses, boots, rinse, repeat.
33. What kept you sane?
Still F and Eric at work, but he's at a new job now. Yoga at work, actually: finding that T-Th lunchtime class has done a lot for me.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I can't think of one who's not animated. Wait, the Star Wars people.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I just try to avoid it.
36. Who did you miss?
Same as last year: Sarah, Amy, Missi. (I also wrote "The me I used to be" but it'd be more accurate to say I miss the freedom that me used to have.) Eric because he doesn't sit next to me anymore and his new office being two blocks away means I don't see him nearly enough.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Everett and his parents Hannah and Matt, and Eva's parents Deb and Al. I'm hoping to spend more time with both of those families. Dave and Debby at church seem promising, as do Liz and Danton.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015:
Age three really does suck as much as everyone says it does. And now I know all those people were right who told me that taking care of an infant was the easy part.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I am a latke, I am a latke, and I am waiting for Hanukkah to come!
Year 2: 2005
Year 3: 2006
Year 4: 2007
Year 5: 2008
Year 6: 2009
Year 7: 2010
Year 8: 2011
Year 9: 2012
Year 10: 2013
Year 11: 2014
This year: 2015
1. What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?
Sent my daughter for a multi-night sleepover away from me (with my parents). Took her to the beach for a week (twice). At work: planned a new product, with a development budget of close to $1 mil, and had the proposal accepted. Voluntarily became a member of a church. Helped plan a service at church. Supported my kid through a transition to a new school. Saw my child dance in a Hanukkah play.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Same as last year: Didn't make any, not making any. Too tired.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I'm trying to remember if Leilani had the twins in 2015 or if I just somehow forgot her last year. I think they're coming up on their first birthday, so I think it was this year. Betsy had Emily, Susanna had Julia, Rose had Alice, cousin-Kate had Alice, work-Kate had Caroline, Diana had Zoe. I think Andrea and Meredith have both probably given birth by now but I'll have to report back later on whether it happened in 2015 or 2016. Christina's pregnant.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
Sarasota and Cape May. Atlanta and New Orleans (for business).
6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
For fear of freaking out anyone who actually reads this, I'll avoid putting down my first-impulse answer of "Hope", because that's only occasionally true, and just stick with last year's answer, "Energy".
7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January: New Orleans for work.
February: Molly and Sean's wedding in Sarasota.
March: Sarah Blake's book launch party was a really good night out.
April: hanging out with Frey and doing "Braless AWP" at home while F attended real AWP in Minneapolis.
May: Stephin Merritt concert.
June: Zoe's wedding. Atlanta for work (during which trip I did not once leave the hotel, except for the last night, when I took the skyway to the next building over to get a pizza, and then took it back to my room and hid, which was wonderful.) Our amazing anniversary night out in Doylestown with dinner at Honey (the black tea-crusted spare ribs! Totally worth eating meat for!)
July: Frey turned three. Had a symposium at work.
August: Cape May week. Getting my promotion at work.
September: first workshop with my new writing group. Zelda concert with my mom. Hiding from the pope.
October: Supergirl.
December: Nutcracker with my girl. Star Wars.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting promoted at work. Making it through December. Finishing my Duolingo Spanish program. Doing yoga at least three times a week from August through December. Writing a new series of poems in a totally new voice and getting one of them accepted almost immediately, at a journal I've tried several times before without luck.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not going to talk about failure. As Elsa says, I'm never going back, the past is in the past. But I really wanted to go to the Ren Faire this year and we just didn't make it, even though we had free tickets, so that was disappointing.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
My low back is an ongoing issue and will continue to be as long as my kid wants to be picked up (so, probably for at least a few more years). I'm just hoping I won't completely destroy it. Overall, we've been pretty healthy.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Inadvertently bought the Amazon Prime membership again. No regrets. I'm loving my fleecy pizza pants (made of fleece, printed with a pizza design). I just bought three pairs of new boots, and ordered new underwear (not just one three-pack, but two!). No really big purchases this year, I don't think.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I really like Bernie, you guys. I don't know who else. F, of course.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I'm really not thrilled by the execs who took over my division this year, laid off a bunch of people, and continued restructuring all year long. There's a constant feeling of uncertainty. And they seem to think that book development/publication must work just like journal development, and it doesn't. But they seem to be trying to make amends for being such jerks all year. Fingers crossed that, in 2016, they move up to the previous question.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Daycare. We switched Frey to a really good one. Sorry, bank account.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My promotion. Dropping f off at my mom's for sleepovers. The beach and the shore. Star Wars.
16. What song will always remind you of 2015?
Alessia Cara, "Here" (Freya loves this song)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Sadder. Really need to fix this. (Disclaimer: Filling this thing out after Christmas, during winter, does not help with the answer to this question.)
b) thinner or fatter? Probably about the same, thankfully.
c) richer or poorer? Slightly richer (the promotion came with a pay raise), even though we're paying more for daycare now.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Same as always: Yoga, writing. Sleeping.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Same as last year, sadly: Worrying, being sad, feeling down, giving up, being tired. I'm so tired of being tired, and so tired of working so hard all the time.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
We spent Christmas at our home. We dropped f off at school for Christmas Eve and finished up the wrapping, then picked her up early, made cookies together, went to service at church, stopped by Rose Tree Park afterward, and had a pizza for dinner. My parents came over on Christmas Day again. f loved her gifts but actually ran out of steam opening things; eventually she just stopped unwrapping gifts so she could play with the stuff she had.
21. Did you fall in love in 2015?
Same ol' love, still going strong.
22. How many one-night stands?
None.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Doctor Who, followed by Daniel Tiger probably.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I try not to be a hater.
25. What was the best book you read?
Saga! A lot of good graphic novels this year. I finished the Twin Spica series this year and loved them a lot. Tiny Beautiful Things was great. I read The Martian, and also the first two of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series, and they were great. No-Drama Discipline was the most useful book I read. Full list here.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I downloaded Kurt Vile late in the year but I think he's going to be a winner. Josh Ritter's Sermon on the Rocks is very good.
27. What did you want and get?
Boots. A promotion. A babysitter. Some child-free weekends. A writing group.
28. What did you want and not get?
Sleep, energy, yoga. A shed (still working on it).
28b, Things I didn't want and got anyway: Reorganized at work. There are several work projects I could list here, too.
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Star Wars was great. Frozen, of course, is a big hit around here.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 36. I went to the outlets with my mom and it was great and we had a nice lunch. F also took me out for a special birthday date when we were in Cape May: a really nice dinner out, followed by the theater! A really special surprise.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More sleep? I don't even know at this point, I feel so unsatisfied with a lot of things in my life but I don't know how to fix it.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?
Dresses, boots, rinse, repeat.
33. What kept you sane?
Still F and Eric at work, but he's at a new job now. Yoga at work, actually: finding that T-Th lunchtime class has done a lot for me.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I can't think of one who's not animated. Wait, the Star Wars people.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I just try to avoid it.
36. Who did you miss?
Same as last year: Sarah, Amy, Missi. (I also wrote "The me I used to be" but it'd be more accurate to say I miss the freedom that me used to have.) Eric because he doesn't sit next to me anymore and his new office being two blocks away means I don't see him nearly enough.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Everett and his parents Hannah and Matt, and Eva's parents Deb and Al. I'm hoping to spend more time with both of those families. Dave and Debby at church seem promising, as do Liz and Danton.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015:
Age three really does suck as much as everyone says it does. And now I know all those people were right who told me that taking care of an infant was the easy part.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I am a latke, I am a latke, and I am waiting for Hanukkah to come!