ChiKat

I completed this year-end summary last year, and thought it was worth repeating this year:


1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
I became a mom, which was a pretty mind-blowing experience.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Last year I said I would go to the dentist (which I did for the first time in four years, and yes, I had several cavities); have a healthy kid (check); not freak out about stupid stuff (check, but mainly because I'm too busy chasing the baby to notice stupid stuff); and not lose myself to motherhood (check; I love being a mother, but I have been able to remember that I am also a wife, daughter, writer, artist).

This year I resolve to (1) go back to the dentist and actually get my cavities filled (2) paint, which is something I haven't done for over a year (3) write fiction, which is something I never do because I spend all my writing energy on my job or this blog.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Me. One of my girl friends.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
We didn't leave the country. We did take our five-month-old to Colorado, which was a wonderful vacation.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
A full-nights sleep.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 2, when my son was born.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being a great mom to my son.

9. What was your biggest failure?
The dog respects the baby more than me, mainly because I am a huge pushover when it comes to dog training.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
It was a great year. I had an arthritis flare a month after giving birth. It was mainly in my wrists, making it hard to lift the baby. I thought I would have to stop nursing and go back on medication, but the flare subsided and since then I have been feeling great. I still have arthritis pain, but it's only a two or a three on the pain scale. It rarely keeps me from doing activities.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A haircut. A month after giving birth, I left the baby with my husband for the first time and got a haircut. It wasn't a great haircut, but it represented a lot to me. I could trust my husband with the baby. I could leave the house and focus on myself instead of mothering. It represented balance and self-preservation at a time when every hormone in my body was telling me I should just stay home and coo over the baby.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My parents, who became grandparents for the first time and threw themselves into the role with total love and excitement, while still respecting the fact that my parenting decisions might be different from the parenting decisions they made in the 1970's.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
All the people who say, "guns make communities safer". That might be true in rural America, but guns are destroying my neighborhood.

14. Where did most of your money go?
It was the security blanket we needed so my husband could quit his job and find something he really liked...and allowed us to take a vacation during his break from employment.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
See answer to question #7.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Coldplay's "Clocks", which was playing while I struggled to NOT deliver the baby in the car on the way to the hospital.

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

a) happier or sadder? So much happier, in ways I didn't even know were possible.

b) thinner or fatter? Thinner, thanks to not being pregnant.

c) richer or poorer? Poorer...who knew babies use so many diapers?!

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Yoga. But I always say that and I never do more of it. I said the same thing last year.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I wish I didn't have to change so many diapers. I have seen way too much poop.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Fishing bits of wrapping paper out of my son's mouth. Wishing my brother was home for the holidays. Thrilled that my other brother was home and enjoying his time as an uncle.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I fell in love with my husband even more, which surprised me.

22. How many one-night stands?
None. This question is so far from the reality of my life right now.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
My brother bought me season 1 and 2 of House, so I'm enjoying that right now.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I can't think of anyone. My hormones have made me all lovey-dovey.

25. What was the best book you read?
I'm reading "A Frontline History of the Abortion War" which is fascinating. I've been reading it for ages. I should probably make finishing it my 2008 resolution.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The internet is an amazing source for lullabies. I went from knowing no children's songs to knowing dozens by heart. I never used to sing; now I sing every day. My son gave me music.

27. What did you want and get?
A healthy baby.

28. What did you want and not get?
A little more peace in the world.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I think the only movie I saw was The Transformers...and it ROCKED. It's not going to change the world, but it was a lot of fun.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 33, and we went to the Chicago Air and Water Show with my family. It was a great day.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I wish I felt like the world was getting safer, not more dangerous. That applies to the Middle East, and my neighborhood. Everywhere I turn, it seems there are more and more people willing to kill other people.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
33% hippie; 33% Gap; 34% v-neck to show off the benefits of nursing.

33. What kept you sane?
My husband, for loving me in the midst of crazy hormone changes. My best friend, for pointing out when my hormones were doing the talking instead of my brain.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
We're in the midst of House season 2, so I think Jesse Spencer, the blond doctor on the show, is pretty adorable. My husband thinks the girl on the show isn't hard on the eyes, so it works out pretty well for us.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Education in the city. I hate the fact that I don't feel like my son would be safe at a public school.

36. Whom did you miss?
My brother, who started a three-year embassy tour that will take him around the world.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
My son. He's spectacular.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Not all labor contractions move to the front. I only had back contractions, so my doctor and all my pregnancy books said I was only in the early stages of labor. But my husband and I went to the hospital anyway. I'm so thankful we did. If we had waited another hour, my son would have been born at home. Since my son was born with the cord wrapped around his neck and needed help breathing, I am so thankful we were at the hospital when he arrived.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Singin', come out upon my seas
Curse missed opportunities
Am I, a part of the cure
Or am I part of the disease