2011 Year in Review

I've done this before here and here and here, so here's some more.  I am pretty sure no one reads these whole things, but I will keep insisting on traditions.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Got a kitten, moved with the kitten, and commuted for two hours for a fairly worthless job.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't know if I lost those pesky ten pounds, but I have been more mindful of what food and drink go in my mouth this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My SIL gave birth to Baby Jack in January.  Someday we will stop calling him Baby Jack, but that's the moniker he's stuck with right now.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.  Sheesh.  Thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit? Canada.  Does that even really count?

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? Stability in my life.

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The day I broke my leg. It's going to be an ongoing saga, I'm sure.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I didn't murderize any of my family this year.

9. What was your biggest failure? I considered murderizing members of my family this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? I broke my stupid leg.  I'm still not weight bearing on it and I'm exceptionally frustrated with the entire thing.  Pretty sure I'm going to be talking about this for a long time.

11. What was the best thing you bought? It's a toss up between our new couch or the new entertainment center.  Furniture that didn't come from someone else's basement is pretty awesome!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Zelda the outrageously cute kitten.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Zelda the outrageously naughty kitten.

14. Where did most of your money go? Rent, food, and moving expenses.  Seriously, I type that same thing every year and probably will for the foreseeable future.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Getting our kitty.  The Lions making the playoffs.  Dr. BB getting a job.  

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? "Take a Back Road" by Rodney Atkins, "Remind Me" by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, and endless repetitions of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" with the nieces and nephews (not to mention "Biplane Evermore" which I would sing to them and they would love and my husband and my inlaws thought I had completely made up by myself)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? probably the same
c) richer or poorer? much, much, much poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?  Successful job searching.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Endless fruitless job applications.

20. How did you spend Christmas? TOP SECRET: We went to Iowa to be with my inlaws.  I was pretty sure, even on the 23rd, that I wouldn't be able to handle a four hour car ride with my bum leg, but Dr. BB really wanted to go and EVERY MEMBER of his family had called us in the three days beforehand to "encourage" us to go, so we went. Fine.  We went.  I don't want to talk about it anymore.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011? Oh, that Zelda kitty has really wormed her way into my heart.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Since my surgery, all I do is watch Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Cash in the Attic, and Clean House on Netflix on Demand.  Don't judge me for my reality shows.  

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Can you answer this questions without sounding like a jerk?

24. What was the best book you read? Just Listen by Sarah Dessen, Where She Went by Gayle Forman, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (what? you wanted me to pick just one?)

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I rediscovered Garth Brooks and his Sevens album.  I really love Jaron and the Long Road to Love even though their band name is ridiculous and way too long.

26. What did you want and get? I got a sewing machine for Christmas! I am pretty excited to start some projects.

27. What did you want and not get? Stability.  I am a sucker for wanting to know what's going to happen to me in the next year.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (okay, fine, I think it's true that it's possibly the ONLY movie I watched in the theater this year)

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was in Michigan with my sister and mother. I was 32.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A job where I felt useful and needed.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Scarves.

32. What kept you sane? Country music, Sunday Night Football, and public libraries

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? THE LIONS MADE THE PLAYOFFS.  'Nuff said.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? I can't listen to the news anymore.  War, unemployment, and misery fill the headlines and it is this year that I have finally come to realize why most Americans are ignorant of the most basic facts of their country's political system.  Honestly, the most hot button topic in our household is a discussion over why Jim Schwartz has left the Lions roster become a poster for hooligans and asshats.

35. Who did you miss? I missed my friends who I didn't get to see at all this year.  I missed my dad, especially that Monday night when the Lions beat the Bears (what? I totally would have called him to rub it in). I missed my family who I just don't see enough.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Baby Jack, of course.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. Don't fall on black ice. You can really do some serious damage to yourself.