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Saturday, December 31, 2005
year-end survey
lifted from KiwiRia...
1) Was 2005 a good year for you?
Yes, it was.
2) What was your favorite moment of the year?
Oh, geesh, one favorite moment? Most of my life is made up of my favorite moments. Which means I'm truly blessed, but it does make it difficult to answer questions like this.
3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
I had some bouts of near-depression and some days when I felt very unlike myself.
4) Where were you when 2005 began?
Home. I think I might even have been awake.
5) Who were you with?
The cat. I think everybody else was asleep.
6) Where will you be when 2005 ends?
Home.
7) Who will you be with when 2005 ends?
The cat again. At least I'm consistent.
8) Did you keep your new years resolution of 2005?
I kept one (to keep track of the books I read) and shattered two (to lose weight and get/keep the house organized and tidy). I also started a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, and although I haven't kept up with actually marking things off it or blogging about the things I've done, I do sort of have a lot of them in the back of my mind. I should pull that out and go over it and post it. Hmm.
9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2006?
I think T and I are going to read through the Bible together. And (drumroll please) I'm going to stop yelling.
10) Did you fall in love in 2005?
I fell more deeply in love. (side note: you know how when you've been married a while, the love is stronger and things are even more blissful but you don't often have that initial heady butterflies in the stomach and weak knees thing going on? Don't you love it when out of the blue that feeling comes again? The other day T and I were talking about how I always associate the texture and scent of wool flannel shirts with falling in love with him, because he wore them a lot at that time, and he replied that he always associates them with the way he would put one on on purpose when he knew he was going to see me because he knew that I liked him in them. And bingo -- butterflies in the stomach and weak knees. It felt like a gift)
11) If yes, with whom?
Um, my husband. (And my Nikon).
12) If yes, does he know?
I tell him all the time, just to make sure.
14) Did you have fun in 2005?
Oh goodness yes.
15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2005?
No.
16) Did you make any new friends in 2005?
Kristen! I made a couple of friendly acquaintances IRL, but no call-at-4-am kind of friends. I did grow closer to several people and meet a lot of nice people online, too.
17) Who are your favorite new friends?
You know, asking about favorite friends is kind of problematic. You can't rank friends on a scale, you know? All my friends are wonderful and I'm not in high school so I don't have to pick a 'best friend'. Even though that means I don't write 'YBFFAE!!!' on the bottom of any letters.
18) What was your favorite month of 2005?
I liked the spring, and the summer. For once. The evenings were long and I was having a heady and passionate affair with my camera, so that provided lots of time to indulge it. (you didn't think I could pick just ONE, did you?)
19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2005?
No.
20) How many different states did you travel to in 2005?
I did not venture out of California. California's BIG, though. :)
21) Did you lose anyone close to you in 2005?
I don't think so. Of course, because my mind is like a steel sieve, the possibility exists that I did and as soon as I've posted this I'll hate myself for forgetting. But I don't think so.
22) Did you miss anybody in the past year?
Yes, several of my dear friends live quite far away.
23) What was your favorite movie that you saw [for the first time] in 2005?
hmm. HMM. I didn't watch a whole lot of new movies, or movies new to me. Maybe Ocean's Eleven, or The Phantom of the Opera, or the new Pride and Prejudice (the second time I saw it I did a pretty decent job of forcing myself to forget I'd ever read the book, and voila, it was a beautiful movie, except when Donald Sutherland was on the screen or when the actors had lines that were glaringly anachronistic. Still like the BBC version better, though.)
24) What was your favorite song from 2005?
I don't keep up with new music so I've no idea on this one.
25) What was your favorite record from 2005?
Ditto
26) How many concerts did you see in 2005?:
Well, I saw a couple of community chorus concerts...
27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2005?
Could this survey be aimed any more sharply at people in an entirely different phase of life than I'm in?
28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2005?
Ah, no.
29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2005?
I took some Tylenol with codeine when I had surgery...
30) How many people did you sleep with in 2005?
[steals/adapts Ria's answer] Literally sleep, 3. Have sex with - 1 (hey, we're married, you'd be surprised if we didn't ;-) )
31) Did you lose anything important this year?
Nothing that couldn't be replaced, I don't think.
33) What was the worst lie someone told you in 2005?
If anyone told me terrible lies, I didn't know it.
34) Did you treat somebody badly in 2005?
I think maybe I did.
35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2005?
Yes, a guy ripped off one of my pictures and then weaseled out of paying me for it, and I let him. I'm a softie. This is why I'm not in business.
36) How much money did you spend in 2005?
Too. Much.
37) What was your proudest moment of 2005?
Well, there were a lot of proud mother-moments, I know this, but honestly, I can't remember any of them right now. The only specific things that stand out are a) seeing a 'best of show' ribbon on my crocheted baby outfit at the fair b) hearing a couple of people enthuse about one of my pictures (also at the fair) when they didn't know I was the photographer, and c) THE CRACK-FREE CHEESECAKE.
38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2005?
Sometimes I feel like my life is an embarrassing moment, but nothing specific springs to mind right now.
39) If you could go back in time to any moment of 2005 and change something, what would it be?
I am not sure if I would go back and continue sticking it to the photo guy or not. I didn't feel like myself when I was doing that, but at the same time, he shouldn't be allowed to continue to rip people off, either.
40) What are your plans for 2006?
Hmm. Mostly little stuff -- looking forward to a visit with Jenn in January and maybe a trip to San Francisco with her, probably going to take my nephews and kids on a day-long outing in the spring, hoping to buy a D70s with our tax return, planning a week at the beach in the summer. I'd also like to lose twenty pounds, and go to the ladies' retreat in the fall, and the mother/daughter camp at the same place in the spring would be fantastic but I don't imagine we can afford it.
41. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Took an average of 27.33 photos a day for ten months. Had a major organ removed. Bought my own domain (that sounds so cool and powerful. MY DOMAIN. BWA HA HA HA.). Oh, wait, I did that in 1998 also. whoops. Um, installed Movable Type. Used Photoshop.
42. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister-in-law and my husband's lifelong friend's wife.
43. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Discipline. (I think in 2040, if I'm filling one of these out, I'll have the same answer.)
44. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 12th-- my nephew was born.
March 3rd-- my Nikon arrived.
April 14th-- I had a hysterectomy.
45. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I'm having a hard time thinking of anything specific. Oh, wait, THE CRACK-FREE CHEESECAKE. And my kids are smarter than they were this time last year, so that's something. I finished a few crochet projects that had been hanging over my head for ages.
46. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't completely quit yelling at my children (although I do yell less) or keep my house clean. sigh.
47. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Had surgery.
48. What was the best thing you bought?
Well, The Nikon was bought for me, so I'm going to say... the spare battery for The Nikon. :)
49. Where did most of your money go?
The usual -- rent, bills, groceries, etc.
50. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Anything that would make a really excellent photograph. :) The ladies' retreat (and was a little disappointed). The Nikon. Our very brief beach vacation (and was, again, slightly disappointed due to weather).
51. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Neither.
thinner or fatter? Fatter.
richer or poorer? Maybe a bit better-off financially but not by much.
52. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Housework, and playing with my kids.
53. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sitting in front of this machine, and kind of losing it emotionally.
54. What was your favorite TV program?
Didn't watch TV.
55. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
Spiritually, I learned never to give up on my relationship with God or on what He can do.
Comments
I like this survey! I will use it in my blog!!
Posted by: debi at January 1, 2006 08:13 PM
You aren't fatter, are you? You looked great when I saw you.
Posted by: jenn at January 1, 2006 09:34 PM
Wow, you have accomplished a lot this year.
Posted by: jenn at January 1, 2006 10:31 PM
