2010 in Review

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?



Gave birth. THAT was a doozy. The actual birth part wasn’t so bad, it was mostly the 10 hours of labor leading up to the birth part. I hope I never have to feel that kind of physical pain again EVER.


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


Um, I guess I didn’t make any resolutions for 2010. I don’t generally do that anyway, because I feel that New Year’s is overrated as far as NEW! BEGINNINGS! I have an ongoing resolution to get healthy, which means losing weight and taking better care of myself, but it’s truly ongoing.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Me! Karen had baby boy numero dos (his name is Finn) and lots of Facebook friends – it seems like every day someone new is pregnant…


4. Did anyone close to you die?


No, although my dear friend Jeanne lost her brother in January. He and I had been close friends many years ago, and his death was horribly sad because I loved him and I love her.



5. What countries did you visit?


Ha. Next question.


6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?


Less stress brought on by my own personal tendency to freak out. I’m trying to learn to be less high strung.


7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?


April 16 – that’s when my tiny baby was born!


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?


Learning to be a parent to a newborn. It was so much harder than I ever thought it would be, but worth every single screamy, up-all-nighty second.


9. What was your biggest failure?


There has to be something, but nothing HUGE jumps out at me. Maybe a parade of small but fixable failures?


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?


Not really.


11. What was the best thing you bought?


Our new car. We finally have a vehicle that fits everyone AND can fit all the gear it takes for a family of five to go somewhere. I LOVE it.


12. Where did most of your money go?


Probably to baby stuff? Those little boogers are expensive!


13. What did you get really excited about?


Piper! All her little (and BIG) milestones that I get to see every day. The fact that after nearly a year of Chris and my dad working weekends, our basement is almost finished and looks so awesome!


14. What song will always remind you of 2010?


“Break your Heart” by Taio Cruz and Ludacris. Best. Song. Ever.


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



– happier or sadder? Happier.


– thinner or fatter? Thinner (what with the not being pregnant anymore), but also probably thinner than the year before as I lost all my pregnancy weight and then some!


– richer or poorer? About the same maybe?


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


SLEPT. But that can’t be helped.



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


Worried. But again, I’m a worrier. And I’ll try to do better this year.



18. How did you spend Christmas?


We did all the big stuff Christmas Eve, since we had the kids that day, and so Christmas day was pretty chill. I put in earplugs and took a fantastic two hour nap while my mom played with Piper. It was the best day ever.


19. What was your favorite TV program?


There are a few – Psych, Burn Notice, CSI and CSI:NY, the new Sherlock Holmes


20. What were your favorite books of the year?


I seriously read so many books this year that I can’t even tell you. I loved all the new stuff from John Sandford, Stephen White, Sara Paretsky, Faye Kellerman.


21. What was your favorite music from this year?

I love Pink’s new song, Taio Cruz, a few random artists here and there. I’ll tell you who I did NOT like though (and only because I keep seeing him pop up on the ‘best of’ lists) and that’s Kanye West. He may be a musical genius, but he is a total fail as a person, and that taints his music for me.


22. What were your favorite films of the year?


Films, hmm. Don’t know what those are. I can barely get through a tv show…


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


I was 34 and I went out to dinner the night BEFORE my birthday, as the night OF my birthday I was checking into the hospital to have a baby the next day.


24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?


I can’t think of a thing. My year was awesome.


25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?


Let’s see – first half, maternity clothes and sweatpants. Second half, anything that wasn’t sweatpants because I was so sick of them by then. Oh, and baby spit. I hear that slobber is SO 2011.


26. What kept you sane?


My mother, believe it or not. If it weren’t for all of the help she gave me with Piper and keeping my house from falling into a pig sty, I would have struggled even more than I did those first few months. Also, Mandy. I love to talk to her on the phone about any and everything, mostly about kids, but also just to talk to a friend my age on a pretty much daily basis makes me feel less like I’m isolated in babyland. Not that I would change being home with Piper, because I definitely wouldn’t. But sometimes it’s nice to talk to other grown up people. Plus, her advice and generosity are such a blessing.


27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.


That I am much stronger than I thought I was and capable of more than I thought I was. The first few months with Piper were hard, because she was struggling to adjust to life on the “outside” and I was struggling to figure out what she needed. Never in my life have I felt more like giving up, and never in my life have I not been able to just give up. If something was too hard, I didn’t have to do it, I just gave up and moved on. But there was no such thing in this situation – I had to stay up with a crying baby all night. I had to figure out by trial and error what the best way to comfort her was. Giving up was simply not an option, and so I realized that I am able to do a lot more than I thought I could. Every day is a different challenge (in a good way, usually) and so I just roll with it. If it’s a hard day or night, I just figure tomorrow will be different. Now I just have to remember to apply that to every aspect of my life and I’ll be golden!