1. What did you do in 2009  that you’d never done before?

2007 – Started taking horseriding lessons.  Became a public servant.  Went to Tasmania.  Did a detox.  Was a passenger in a car doing 100 miles p/hr.

2008 – Roasted a whole chicken.

2009 – Finished NaNoWriMo (wrote 50,000 words in 30 days)

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?

2007 – Yes and no and yes, I have made my grandiose proclamations. (I fixed that link, by the way)

2008 – My only resolution for next year is to try to live more frugally – this will require careful meal planning, mindful shopping, library cards and eating breakfast every morning.

2009 – I don’t think I did very well at living more frugally.  I tried.  But not hard enough.  My resolution for next year is simply to appreciate what I’ve got.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

2007 – Yes. Rachael and Beth had babies (Oscar and Jasmine respectively).  These two girls are friends of mine from high school, but they live in Perth and London so they’re not physically close, which is a shame.  I wait impatiently for photographs…

2008 – My friend Karen and her husband welcomed baby Austin a week ago. And shame on me for forgetting the arrival of Georgiana Banana to Tim and Penny in March!  Congratulations!

2009 – Helen and David welcomed Lucas exactly three years to the day after they had Thomas. Thomas may grow to resent this.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

2007 – No.

2008 – No.

2009 – No.

5. What countries did you visit?

2007 – Tasmania.  Ha-ha.

2008 – None.  2009 is the Year of International Travel (I hope).

2009 – None.  This is getting to be a habit.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009 ?

2007 – Perseverance.  And an architect.

2008 – A round-the-world airline ticket.

2009 – A really good 50mm lens (ie Canon EF 50mm 1.2L USM) and a flatter stomach.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

2007 – Dates? Who remembers dates?  The events that defined my year are many and varied.  To do with family, with work and with falling off a horse… just for starters.

2008 – End of May – I made the decision to stop working regularly.  Best thing I have ever done for my family.

2009 – Towards the end of this year there was a bit of a seismic shift (a good one) and the aftershocks are still being felt.  Not ready to elaborate just yet.  The other memorable moment from this year was my surprise birthday trip to Sydney to go to the Opera.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

2007 – De-facebooking.

2008 – Re-facebooking but keeping it under control.  I ignore all requests to play Scrabble.

2009 – Making good on my threats to win NaNoWriMo and start my Portrait Photography business.

9. What was your biggest failure?

2007 – I can’t talk about it, it’s too fresh.  But it rhymes with NaNoCryMo.

2008 – Not finishing my First Crappy Draft; but I refuse to beat myself up over this.

2009 – Getting fit.  I’ll try harder next year.  I’ve got 18 months to get into awesome shape for my 40th birthday.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

2007 – Yes, I had the ‘flu a few times in winter and I broke a rib in August.

2008 – Yes, I had a cold in winter.  I don’t know if my wrist counts as illness or injury but it was my major medical issue for the year.  So, can’t really complain.

2009 – Nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

2007 – My new red Crumpler. I’m easily pleased.  Oh, and my new calendar from kikki-k.

2008 – That’s easy – my camera and lenses.

2009 – My green half-length trench coat.  Love it.

12. Where did most of your money go?

2007 – I’d like to say we bought a house or I went to New York, but this didn’t happen.  So my biggest splurge for the year was the ongoing shopping extravaganza that is the groceries. Fruit is getting really expensive.

2008 – Single most expensive purchases for the year were the camera in June, and my surgery and orthotics in December.

2009 – I don’t know.  I swear it just evaporates.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

2007 – Some happy news that PJ received.  I’ll be able to spill the beans about it soon.

2008 – That news was about PJ’s new, improved job.   This year I got excited when my sister announced she was moving back from Tasmania.

2009 – Getting to 50K words on NaNoWriMo

14. What song will always remind you of 2009?

2007 – “Hallelujah” as sung by my kids at school.

2008 – “When All Is Said And Done” – the ABBA song that features at the end of the movie ‘Mamma Mia.’  But I first heard it performed by The Idea of North at their concert in Canberra, where it was introduced by Nick as “the ABBA song we have finally agreed to sing after Trish’s years of nagging us to do an ABBA song.”

2009 – I would have to say “America” by Simon + Garfunkel, whom I saw in June in Sydney.  This was one of the first songs they performed and I got goosebumps on my goosebumps.

Also, in the weeks before our 20-year school reunion, PJ and I listened to some music from the 1980′s that we had loved.  The one that I kept going back to listen to was ‘Dancing In The Storm’ from Boom Crash Opera.  I’ve blogged about it before but it bears repeating.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder?

2007 – Still as happy as a hat full of happy things.

2008 – Blissfully happy.

2009 – Still happy.

b) thinner or fatter?

2007 – About the same, but a lot less fit.

2008 – Slightly thinner, and fitter (though I haven’t been to the gym for a fortnight on account of the wrist, so my fitness level is debatable.

2009 – Slightly fatter and less fit.  Quite frustrated with this state of affairs, actually.  Need to Do Something.

c) richer or poorer?

2007 – Richer, in every sense.  I know, it’s sickening, isn’t it?

2008 – Feeling poorer, hence the pledge to live more frugally next year.  But still rich in everything else.

2009 – Same.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

2007 – Pilates, yoga, rowing, horseriding.  Going to the movies.  Flossing.

2008 – Writing.  My gym membership runs out in February and I’m going to take up yoga and/or Pilates.  I’m not sure about horseriding.  Rowing is tricky to arrange but I might give it a try.

2009 – International travel.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

2007 – Work.  I missed the kids last year.

2008 – Procrastinating on the book.

2009 – Worrying about stuff I can’t change.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

I already told you.  It was lovely.

2008 – This year we’ll be spending the first half of the day with my parents, my younger sister and her kids, then the evening with good friends.

2009 – We’re having brunch with those same good friends, then dinner at my parents’ house with all my siblings and my Dad’s brother and his partner.

19. Did you fall in love in 2009?

2007 – No, I was already there

2008 – I fell deeper in love.  Something’s going on with the alignment of the planets, but we are definitely having a great year.  It’s nice to be able to say that, because marriage is not always so easy

2009 – Planets are still nicely aligned.

20. What was your favorite TV program?

2007 – Interesting question.  Um… Grand Designs was a consistent winner.  I miss The West Wing.

2008 – I started watching “In Treatment” but it was a nightly commitment and I didn’t have time.  I TIVO’d all the episodes but couldn’t keep up.  I’m waiting for it to come out on DVD.  I love Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest.

2009 – Couldn’t say.  Don’t really have one.

21. What was the best book you read?

2007 – Oh, gosh, there are just toooo few to mention.

2008 – The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl.

2009 – Tie between ‘Eat Pray Love’ and ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’.

22. What was your favorite film of this year?

2007 – “Once”

2008 – “In Bruges” with ‘Mamma Mia” a close second.

2009 – “500 Days of Summer” and “Julie and Julia” and “Inglorious Basterds”.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

2007 – I turned 36 in 2007.  I can’t for the life of me remember what I did.  Seriously.  I’ll have to look it up in the archives.

2008 – 37th birthday… went out for dinner at Ottoman.  Yummy.

2009 – PJ took me to Sydney to see the Opera.  It was a fantastic weekend.  Best birthday in a while.

24. What kept you sane?

2007 – PJ.  He’s the great leveler.

2008 – The 11pm shut-off on my internet connection.  No more all-night blogging.

2009 – My girlfriends.  You know who you are.  And my sister, Jill.  And Lesa, my naturopath.  And Susie.

25. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

2007 – I think I have a crush on Barack Obama, in a purely platonic, non-romantic way.  I could listen to him talk to crowds of screaming ‘caucusers’ all day and never lose the goosebumps, and I’m not even American.   It’s just so great to see Americans embracing Dubya’s polar opposite, isn’t it?

2008 – Barack Obama, of course.

2009 – I’m going to have to say Mr Clooney.

26. Who did you miss?

2007 – My little sister, Jill.  She moved to Tasmania in March last year and the telephone is not enough.  I need hugs.

2008 – Jill came back, so the answer to this question is my friend Susanna, who died in 1993.  Every now and then I wonder what she might be up to if she was still with us.

2009 – Kathy.  I was really hoping to go and see her this year, one way or another.  Oh well, maybe next year?

27. Who was the best new person you met?

2007 – I’d have to say Lucy.  I hired her at the beginning of the year as a Trainee in my office and she’s fantastic.

2008 – I was introduced to someone earlier this year who, as it turns out, has had quite the impact.  Just gave me a little nudge in a particular direction.

2009 – Riitta!  Her daughter is in Ella’s class and we have become great friends this year.  She’s just announced that her husband has won a posting to India mid-2010 but I know for sure that Riitta and I will be friends forever, no matter where we are living.  We are kindred spirits.

Tags: meme