New Year
January 1, 2010emily No Comments »Happy New Year, everyone! I hope your holidays were as lovely as mine. We flew back to Kansas in mid December and enjoyed a wonderful two weeks in the heartland. Family, friends, and 8+ inches of snow. Life doesn’t get any better!
In honor of the New Year, I thought I’d revisit a New Year’s quiz I’ve done the last couple years. Here’s to a great 2010!
-
What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
I finished a draft of my dissertation.
-
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for 2010?
It wasn’t a formal resolution, but after I read In Defense of Food, I decided to pay much closer attention to the foods I eat. When we’re at home, we only eat local meat whose provenance we know; we mostly eat local, organic, in-season veggies; we’ve expelled HFCS from our diet (for the most part– it’s hard because it’s in everything!); and we make a lot of our staples ourselves: cereal, stock, pesto, etc.
-
Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my friend Kimberly gave birth to a lovely baby boy!
-
Did anyone close to you die?
John’s grandmother died in August. While I can’t say I was personally close to her (I’d only met her once before her Alzheimer’s really set in), I can see her in so much of our lives: in the traditions she handed down, in the foods she made, and in the children and grandchildren she loved.
-
What countries did you visit?
None.
-
What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Last year I said I wanted more self confidence in 2009, which I think I definitely have. For this year, I’d love to learn to be happy with what I’ve got while I’ve got it.
-
What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 17th, when John got laid off. And then, happily, December 22, when John got a shiny new job offer!
-
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I won a teaching award and I finished a draft of my Epic Dissertation.
-
What was your biggest failure?
Last year I wrote, “In 2008, as in all previous years, I lacked patience.” I think I’ve started to learn how to be more patient. But I certainly procrastinated when I shouldn’t have.
-
Did you suffer illness or injury?
I got really sick in August and honestly, I think it was swine flu. Oink!
-
What was the best thing you bought?
Well, the best money we spent this year was probably on our master bathroom remodeling project. It turned out so perfectly, and I can’t even remember the sheer horror it was before!
-
Whose behavior merited celebration?
Without sounding like a braggard, I think John and I navigated his unemployment with aplomb.
-
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Two things: I’d love to see the American public be more patient with Obama. I think many people expected he’d be able to wave a magic wand and fix everything after his inauguration and when it didn’t happen, they got disgruntled. Secondly, I’ve been fairly appalled at the behavior of our politicians, on both sides of the aisle. Not their personal behavior, necessarily (although what a doozy of a year 2009 was for that!), but the lack of willingness to find common ground. The increase, even, of partisan politics. The fear mongering. I could go on.
-
Where did most of your money go?
Our mortgage, our bills, our home improvement projects…
-
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I’m really excited about John’s new job. He really disliked his previous job, and in many ways it was a blessing when he got laid off. I was nervous, yes. But I was also full of excitement at the promise of a better future for him, work-wise. And I think his new job will be really rewarding.
-
What song will always remind you of 2009?
Fly Me Away, by Annie Little.
-
Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier and thinner, but poorer (see: unemployment).
-
What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I’d been able to see my family more. If wishes were fishes, though…
-
What do you wish you’d done less of?
Stress over stupid stuff: piles of laundry, dirty dishes, etc. They need tending to, certainly, but they shouldn’t stress me out.
-
How did you spend Christmas?
We flew to Kansas and spent time with John’s family in Kansas City. Then we drove to Lawrence and hung out, supporting the local economy, eating good food, frequenting all our favorite haunts, and seeing good friends. Just as the ice started to come down on Christmas Eve, we drove to Manhattan and spent time with my family, eating more good food, hanging out, and marveling at all the snow! Then we had one last day in Kansas City before we came home on Monday and celebrated Christmas just the two of us on Tuesday. Whew!
-
Did you fall in love in 2009?
No.
-
What was your favorite TV program?
NHL Hockey on Versus.
-
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope.
-
What was the best book you read?
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan.
-
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Rodrigo y Gabriela.
-
What did you want and get?
Without sounding like a complete hippy, I wanted to be more at peace, more serene. And I was (am). Oh, and job for John!
-
What did you want and not get?
A job for myself, though the hiring year’s not over yet!
-
What was your favorite film of the year?
Um… drrr… I don’t really like movies. But we went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and I liked it.
-
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 32 on my birthday. I opened presents in the morning, baked an apple pie, talked to family and friends, and went out to dinner with John at a cool local restaurant. Since I’d turned in my final chapter the day before (yay!), I allowed myself not to do an ounce of real work. It was divine.
-
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being closer, geographically, to family and friends.
-
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Clean and comfortable.
-
What kept you sane?
I don’t know that it was any one thing. The year of Writing The Dissertation pushed me in many ways, and often it was HARD, but I always looked forward to going to the dog park in the evenings. It was often a sigh of relief at the end of the day.
-
Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most
Fancy, huh? Hmm. I’ll continue with the Michael Pollan theme. He’s wicked smart, incredibly articulate, and man, does he have something to say. We could all learn something from him. In fact, we should.
-
What political issue stirred you the most?
Healthcare, no question. We’re working without a net right now, until John’s new job starts, and it’s scarier than I thought. What would we do if we got really sick? Would we be able to swing it on our own? Would it become a stupid “pre-existing condition” that would affect our ability to get insurance down the road? And we’re financially solvent folks– can you imagine what it’s like for people who are just barely scraping by?
-
Who did you miss?
I missed Kansas and everyone in it the most. My heart is lighter there.
-
Who was the best new person you met?
I was part of a search committee last year and we brought in four candidates to the department. They each gave job talks, with varying success. The candidate who stood out, the most junior of all of them, gave a job talk that knocked my socks off. From the first word he uttered, he grabbed everyone’s attention. The audience was deadly silent, rapt, hanging on his every word. We wound up hiring him, fortunately. He beat out two associate professors and one assistant professor for the job. His hire gave me hope that it’s possible to find a job, a good job, in this terrible job market. (Now, my phone isn’t exactly ringing off the hook. But there’s hope!)
-
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
The road ahead, murky and scary though it may be, is also terribly exciting.
-
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
“It’s a brand new day/The sun is shining/It’s a brand new day/For the first time in/Such a long long time/I know/I’ll be okay .” Brand New Day, by Joshua Radin
Join the discussion