2011 in Review

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before? Birthed a child. Had major surgery in order to birth said child. Nursed said child. Fell head over heels in love with said child. Went to Cincinnati, and promptly wanted to move there. Took a Zumba class. Cooked new foods like quinoa and bulghur.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't really think I made any last year. For 2012 I think I'll go on record to say I'd like to be a better friend. I don't think it always comes naturally to me, so I need to try harder. I'd also like to make more friends. Maybe more mommy friends for play dates. And losing this baby belly pooch would be pretty awesome too, but I'm not going to aim too high.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Me! And a friend had a baby boy a few weeks after me.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Jeff's grandfather died in early March.

5. What countries did you visit? I think it will be a long time before I'm visiting any foreign countries.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? More caffeine! I gave up coffee because it seemed to be affecting Mia's sleep, and I miss it so. This spring, when I finish breastfeeding, I am going to be an incredibly caffeinated woman!

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? March 28th - Mia's birthday. Every other date pales in comparison.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Aside from carrying, birthing and keeping Mia alive, I would say it was breastfeeding. It was so hard for us at first. I thought about quitting many times, but I'm so so glad I didn't.

9. What was your biggest failure? Not making sure Mia took a bottle. It's not so bad now that she only nurses 4 times a day, but it sure would have meant a lot more freedom a few months ago.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Injury in the sense that I had a c-section, and it really fucking hurt. I did not heal as well or as quickly as I would have liked. I was essentially bed ridden for about 2 weeks, and in quite a bit of pain for 6 weeks.

11. What was the best thing you bought? A new car to replace Jeff's 11 year-old Nissan. I was the one driving it at the end and Lord, was I embarrassed by it. It sounded like a diesel truck, the power windows and locks were broken, it made a loud knocking sound with every sharp left turn etc, etc, etc. Second best thing we bought was a new washer and dryer to replace those that I believe may have been original to our house. Which was built in 1954.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Jeff's. During the 2 weeks after Mia was born he had to take care of all 3 of us, and he just... DID IT. I don't think I changed a single diaper for the first several days. In the hospital while he brushed and blow dried my hair for me, and I thought, "This is love."

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Jerry Sandusky & Bernie Fine

14. Where did most of your money go? The mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Mia!

16. What song will always remind you of 2011? probably Adele - Someone Like You or Chris Brown - Look at Me Now or Florence & The Machine's Dog Days Are Done. We listened to those songs a lot in our house.

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

a) happier or sadder? Happier! Oh so happy.
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner.
c) richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? The only thing I can think to say is "sleep," but what difference would it make to me now if I had slept more? Maybe I wish I'd exercised more?

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? I guess I wish I'd nagged less.

20. How did you spend Christmas? In Buffalo with Jeff's family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011? I fell so in love with my girl, and so much more in love with her amazing dad.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Probably The Good Wife. It's the one I am most excited to watch every week, and one of the few that Jeff and I both enjoy. But, let's be honest, I'm also excited when there's a new episode of The Real Housewives of Wherever in my DVR. And Top Chef, I love Top Chef.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? No, can't say that I do.

24. What was the best book you read? I burned through The Hunger Games series. I also loved Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones. And Bossypants was hilarious.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I knew of Adele before this year, but her music had never moved me the way her new album has.

26. What did you want and get? A healthy, fiesty little girl.

27. What did you want and not get? I wanted my stomach to magically shrink back to how it looked when I was 16 and for my stretch marks to disappear overnight. I'm still waiting.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I think I watched like 3 movies this whole year. We cancelled out Netflix account because we were basically donating $15 dollars to them every month, and we haven't seen a movie in the theaters all year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 29. We went out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant. Then the following weekend my family came, and we had cupcakes and Thai food.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hmm... Maybe if Mia had slept through the night from day one? It's been pretty damn satisfying other than the lack of sleep.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011? Yoga pants, sweat pants, and pajama pants, all covered in spit up.

32. What kept you sane? Jeff.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Josh Charles

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The legalization of gay marriage in New York state. (Stirred in a good way)

35. Who did you miss? I miss my family so so so much. They aren't that far away (and obviously I saw them tons this year), but I yearn to live close to them. I daydream of living so close that we could just pop over for a random weeknight dinner or have my mom babysit anytime we want. Someday?

36. Who was the best new person you met? Mia.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011. I learned that I am a lot stronger and a lot more patient than I thought I was.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I can't come up with one, and I don't feel like putting off posting this until I do.