1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
– Took a MARVELOUS couple of train rides; one in the Royal Gorge and one on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
– I don’t make new year resolutions.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
– I swear we have had the most fertile church in Memphis this year.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
– Yes. A friend who was three years younger than I... she died of a brain aneurysm.
5. What countries did you visit?
– The United States and my inner self.
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
– My ABD. My health. An electric car (per Crash). A flat screen TV.
7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
– 11/4. Obama's election. I have never cried tears of joy over an election. Ever. I hope they were not in vain.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
– Finishing my coursework? My teaching?
9. What was your biggest failure?
– Ugh. Not performing to my ability this last semester in my coursework.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
– Oh geez. We are *so* no going there right now.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
– My new laptop. The new CH/A. The new plumbing. The refinanced mortgage.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
– My students - most of them, anyway!
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
– Politicians in general (don't get me started). Certain relatives.
14. Where did most of your money go?
– I swear it went to healthcare, but the piechart on Quicken says other bills.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
– Teaching. Our trip to Colorado.
16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
– Hmmm... one song? I have no idea.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
- Happier. I'm always happier!
b) thinner or fatter?
- Thinner.
c) richer or poorer?
- I think we're about even on this. We lost a lot of our assets for retirement... but we've paid off a lot of bills... so I think it all is about a wash...
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
– Tending the roses. Reading non-PhD-related books. Listened to more music
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
– Wasting time. Oh god... this computer is a pit.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
– Sleeping, watching movies.
21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
- Only with Achmed the Dead Terrorist.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
– Countdown with Keith Olbermann, or the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
– Hate is a really strong word. But I have to admit I strongly dislike some people more this year than last... and feel better for having told some of them so.
24. What was the best book you read?
– Hmmmm... The best book? Booknotes: Stories from American History by Brian Lamb. Hands-down the best romp through American history I have *ever* read - and I have read a lot of them.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
– Heh. Amazon's MP3 downloads. With their freebies and their daily 99-cent albums. Wheee!
26. What did you want and get?
– To improve my teaching.
27. What did you want and not get?
– My damn health.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
– Golden Compass.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
– Brother. I decided to get the floor furnace turned back on (again) and also call a plumber to get Crash's potty fixed... the floor furnace guy got here and immediately came right back out from under the house saying that the sewer line had ruptured... and I called the plumbers to come STAT... and thus started a $20,000 adventure which included our plumbing, central heat, air and a new mortgage. Oh. I was forty.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
– If I had had my health.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
– LOL... whatever I could find that would fit a person who has lost 10 dress sizes! I guess you would call it Thrift Store Chic.
32. What kept you sane?
– Friends, the internet, our church, school.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
– Um. Let's see. Obama?
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
– The political issue that moved me the most was hoping that our country would have the collective will to vote for change and not put Sarah Palin anywhere near the Oval Office. (A friend of mine wrote this, and I will let it stand)
35. Who did you miss?
– My grandma.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
– OMG! I have met so many GREAT new people this year!! I haven't reached out in some 20 years... and now that I have it's amazing to me to find that there are really awesome people who are there IRL!!!
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
– Oh geez. Which one? "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
- How about I quote a student exam response instead?
"Consequences are antidotes that should come before and after the antecedent."
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