A whole bunch of my friends do this meme every year, and I admit I usually wait till they’ve all done it before I do mine. I don’t have a specific day I try to post it on, but I think now I have my own official ‘blog’ (with advance publish options) I’ll see if I can get it at least the same day two years in a row!
Did you enjoy this year?
Overall, yes. It’s had it’s ups and downs.
What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
I dialled 999, I rode in an ambulance, I spoke to a solicitor, I raised £200 for charity, I failed a driving test, I bought property, I put up a shelf.
Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Nope. I don’t think I went swimming once. As of this writing, I’ve not decided on any new resolutions.
Did anyone close to you give birth?
A few friends did! Willow, Sophie and Lily were all born this year.
Did anyone close to you die?
Nope! Another year safely passed.
What countries did you visit?
England? I don’t think I even got as far as Wales this year. I’ve been pretty immobile this year.
What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
My savings back! A driving licence would be nice, too.
What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
There are two dates for me – my birthday, when I was told we’d gotten the house and August 28th when we moved in.
What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying the house at an awesome price! Slightly smaller, I completed Super Mario Galaxy and got all stars as both Mario and Luigi (that’s 242 stars, in total).
What was your biggest failure?
Failing my driving test. Not that big a failure, but it’s the biggest one I have. It even has ‘fail’ right there in the description.
Did you suffer illness or injury?
LOTS of illness. Too much illness. Even the suspected swine flu. Freddy had more than me though, and that was terrifying.
Did you have to go to the hospital?
Only for Freddy. People talked about drips, and he had oxygen overnight. Things were a little scary.
What was the best thing you bought?
A three bedroom house. Oh yeah.
It’d better be the best thing I bought, it’s certainly the most expensive thing!
Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Mine! I’m terrific!
Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
No-one really, pretty much everyone around me has behaved themselves this year. Go team!
Where did most of your money go?
See several points above – the house. The deposit alone is more than I’ve spent on anything else, but it means I own just over 10% of a real, actual brick house. This is still a little shocking to me.
What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Freddy standing, singing, dancing, babbling, smiling, eating and learning to unwrap presents. Freddy coming out of hospital.
What song will always remind you of 2009?
I’m not sure there is a single song that reminds me of 2009 – all the songs I get stuck in my head at the moment are those that are played by plastic toys. Possibly Rage Against The Machine, for the Christmas controversy? I don’t know.
Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder?
Much, much happier.
ii. richer or poorer?
Much, much poorer. Although property prices are on the rise, so my house is worth more than I spent on it! Hooray!
What do you wish you’d done more of?
I want to say driving, but it wouldn’t be truthful. I hate driving.
What do you wish you’d done less of?
I’m not sure. I think I did everything about right this year.
How did you spend Christmas?
At my parent’s house, with them, my Grandma and my sister, with Freddy opening presents. It was a lot of fun.
Where did you ring in 2009?
Well, I think we probably crashed into bed and were woken up throughout the night by Freddy. That was in the early ‘he has reflux’ stage, before we discovered it was caused by a milk intolerance.
What was your favourite TV programme?
We’ve been watching Babylon 5 on DVD, and as a new discovery Life on the BBC iPlayer.
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope. I’m fairly content with the other humans on this planet.
What was the best book you read?
I didn’t read many new books this year. Possibly ‘All Quiet On the Western Front’ would get it, that was a very moving book.
What was your greatest musical discovery?
Being a media hermit as I am – no radio, no TV – I am quite isolated when it comes to new music. I don’t shop, so I can’t just pick something up to try it (and that’d be quite expensive anyway). I heard quite a bit of Mamas and Papas and ELO this year though, but neither I’d describe as ‘greatest musical discovery’.
What did you want and get?
All together now boys and girls – a house. And Freddy is well, we found the cause of his reflux.
What did you want and not get?
A driving licence. I’m very single minded.
How did you earn your keep?
I’m still a programmer. I’ve also sold off some of my old Warhammer 40,000 bits (Imperial Guard and Space Marines). Next year, maybe some of the fantasy models – Orcs and Goblins.
What was your favourite film of this year?
The only new films that I recall seeing are Star Trek and Surrogates – so Star Trek is the best one I saw in the cinema, certainly! Nothing else made an impact enough to remember.
What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was (looks at fingers) 25, and I had a Wetherspoons pub meal. Before the meal, I called an estate agent and put in a silly, low, let’s-open-negotiations offer on a house. During the meal, I was told that it was accepted. Then we went and got aniseed balls. For my birthday, I got a house and a bag of aniseed balls.
What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting more aniseed balls. And perhaps that driving licence. A slightly less offensive pay review would have been nice, too.
How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
’You’re lucky I’m not naked.’
What kept you sane?
That’s a pretty big assumption to make. Sleepless nights spent comforting a screaming child, lasting months on end? Sleepless nights listening to an asthmatic child struggling to breathe, despite the hospital keep discharging us? Not seeing my friends as much as I’d like? Feeling quite unappreciated at work, and working long hours to counterbalance time off looking after a sick child? Yeah, I think we’ll skip this question this year and try again next time.
What political issue stirred you the most?
The BNP being on Question Time stirred me enough to make a post on here about it. The Christmas number one stirred me enough to buy RATM.
Who was the best new person you met?
I’ve met lots of new people in work, and they’re all pretty cool.
Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
You can argue with doctors if they try and send you out of the hospital. As long as you argue politely.
Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
”Our house… in the middle of our street.”