A window into the life of a professional geek, wife and mother (and nonni), stitcher/designer, bibliophile, old-school gamer, and whatever other roles she finds herself in.

Friday, December 31, 2004

The Year in Review

It's the last day of 2004, and time to look back at the year. And coincidentally, today's Friday Forum seems well-suited to do just that...

Friday Forum 12/30/2004: Happy New Year!
1] What was the year 2004 like for you? How would you describe it, in just a few words/sentences? Are you glad that 2004 is ending, or are you sad to say goodbye to yet another year? Do you feel that 2004 went by quickly?

2004 was rather eventful, both in good ways and in bad:
The up side:
  • A vacation to Italy!
  • A business trip to Ottawa
  • I started this blog
  • Several stitching finishes: Amethyst Elegance, Floral Swirls, Futurecast, several ornaments

    The down side:
  • Ugly situations with DsS, and his running away
  • September: Month of the Hurricanes

    I find I'm neither glad nor sad about 2004's passing - my emotions wouldn't change its departure anyway. I suppose I am looking forward to the new year and a new start, but every year provides that opportunity. And the older I get, the more quickly each year passes.

    2] If you could plan the ultimate New Year's celebration for yourself, what would you choose to do and why? What are your actual New Year's plans this year? Is New Year's a big deal to you, or is it just another day?

    The ultimate New Year celebration....hm. A group of friends, in the great hall of a castle, with plenty of good food, good drink, and comfy chairs. And perhaps a big-screen TV and a DVD player!

    Our actual New Year's plans this year are rather modest. I'll be spending most of the rest of the day sitting around watching bowl games and stitching. We'll probably have a toast at midnight, maybe light off a few fireworks, but nothing particularly noteworthy.

    3] What are some things that you hope to accomplish in 2005? Do you ever set resolutions for yourself? Does the end of the year usually cause you to reflect upon your life and become introspective?

    I often set resolutions for myself - the past few years I've tried to be a bit more realistic. In the past I'd been rather too aggressive with my yearly goals , and never came close to meeting them all. At first I'd get down on myself about that, but after DD was born I realized that I'd just been too unrealistic. So now I try to be a bit more reasonable.

    I guess I need to come up with some goals, then! I think I'll set some basic goals, and some bonus goals that it would be cool to meet but not a failure if I don't. So I have something to strive for, anyway.
  • Finish stitching Last Supper (bonus: by Easter)
  • Get below 30% body fat (bonus: 28%)
  • Read on average a book a month (bonus: two books)
  • Clean up and organize back bedroom and contents (bonus: entire house)
    Part of me feels like there should be more. Those four are easily quantifiable, at least, so I'll go with those.

    4] What's the worst New Year's that you've ever experienced? Which one was the best? Do you have any special traditions on New Year's Day?

    I don't know that I really have a single one that jumps out as 'worst'. All the New Years Eves from my youth were nothing memorable...I was either asleep (as a child) or babysitting (as a teen). There was one year my babysitting plans had gotten cancelled at the last minute, and I hadn't been invited anywhere, but that was one among many unmemorable evenings. Oh, and one New Years Eve party in college where I had a bit too much rum too quickly, and was queasy for several hours, but the night in general was okay.

    The best...now *that* is much more easy to identify! In December 1999, DH and I and our family friend M were over in the UK for two weeks. (Once in a lifetime chance to get stranded overseas due to the Y2K bug.). New Years Eve we were staying at the home of M's friends (C&C) in London. They had a nanny for their two young children, and so 7 month old DD got to be babysat as well, while the adults hopped on the Underground and headed for millenium celebrations at the Thames. Awesome fireworks, and between us and friends C&C that we met down there, we polished off 8-10 bottles of an excellent champagne. Then back to the house of C&C's friends for more champagne, munchies, and general pleasant socializing. A great time was had by all. Best New Years Eve of my life so far.

    Special New Years Day traditions - other than sitting around watching bowl games, we follow Southern tradition and have black eyed peas and ham for dinner. I've already got the black-eyed peas soaking, and the ham is thawing.

    5] Which year of your life so far has been the best? Why? What do you think you'll be doing five years from now, when the clock strikes midnight and we ring in the year 2010?

    Hm. Another hard question...practically every year has its good and its bad points. 1990 was good - I met and married DH. 1999 was good - DD was born, and we had that wonderful trip to the UK I mentioned earlier.
    Five years from now - hard to say exactly. Probably much the same as this year, just we'll all be older. I'll be staring 40 in the face, so I may be a bit more introspective...who knows. Guess we'll find out when we get there!


    We spent all day yesterday at Epcot, and had a good time. There are booklets for kids to encourage them to travel to all the countries in the World Showcase and collect 'charms'. DD had a lot of fun doing that!. It was also neat to look around and see the holiday decorations at each country, and hear about some of the traditions. We had lunch at the German place, and dinner in Norway - both of which were buffets. Lots of good food, and surprisingly reasonably priced. We rode most of the rides (except for Mission:Space (too jarring for most of our party and too long lines), Test Track (too long lines), and Living Seas (didn't get around to in time). DD *really* liked Spaceship Earth and wanted to ride it again but we didn't have time. I have noticed they've updated the rides since last time - Spaceship Earth now boasts fiber optics and updated info toward the end. And Imagination! is completely different - instead of the animatronics, there are screens and fiber optics. The "I-maaaaa-gination" song has been updated too - some vestiges of the original are there, but it's more upbeat and less "Small World"ish. They still have Figment the purple dragon, though - Figment is cool. (Trivia: I used to call DD Figment when I was first expecting, before we saw her on the ultrasound)
    So other than my feet aching most of the day (poor choice of shoes on my part), it was a good trip. Better than I'd been expecting, actually. (I have opinions on DisneyWorld that I'll save for another time - this entry is already too long to support a rant)

    Anyway, that's it for this year! Happy New Year, everyone!

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