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Sat 11/13/2010
Ireland: Dublin Suburbs

Do they call them suburbs in Ireland? After breakfast, we took pictures of the Molly Malone statue that we'd seen from the duck tour the day before, and I insisted we go to Starbucks. It tasted just like back home. On the agenda for today was Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, then Trim Castle a.k.a. The Braveheart Castle, and Newgrange, an ancient burial tomb, which was recommended by my dad's friend Ed who has been to Ireland several times and is an expert in such things. (Plus it seemed cool online, so I probably would have wanted to go anyway.)

After our walk to see Molly Malone and our Starbucks excursion, we navigated to the Kilmainham Gaol without too many missteps. I had thought that it seemed like a good place to visit, but it was mainly for James. I mean, what man wouldn't like touring a prison? Also we had a coupon book that had buy one, get one offers for a lot of the attractions that were perhaps off the beaten path. Like this one. Anyway, it was pretty powerful. The cells were awful, and they had the place where the public executions were carried out, and the most powerful story was probably that of the Easter Rebellion, which I knew nothing about. We saw the spot where James Connolly was executed. James recognized the "New Wing," where several movies have been filmed.

We drove to Trim, located about an hour northeast of Dublin. It was cold and threatening rain, but we perservered. The castle seems like it's in pretty good shape for something built in 1204. We were a bit early for the tour so we had time to walk the grounds a bit, and James tried to help out three fellow tourists trying to get a decent picture in front of the castle. (They were trying to get a shot of all three of them jumping up in the air. James finally got one, but with our camera, and though we exchanged email addresses, I don't think we ever managed to send it to them. Oops.) We got to tour inside and then we got to go up to the top. Our tour guide mentioned that once she had locked someone up there and only noticed as she was walking back across the grounds and saw frantic hand waving. Meanwhile, it had started to rain steadily. Everyone hustled around pretty quick as it was cold and wet, but then I remembered the tour guide had said something about the gates of the castle being directly parallel to the gates of the castle in the next town, so I wanted to go get a picture. Once I did that, I realized I was the only one left up there, and went over to the door...just as the guide was locking it from the inside. Hopefully James would have come to my rescue eventually but luckily she let me in and we finished the tour without further incident.

After the castle tour, I wandered around the grounds some more (in the rain) while James looked at pictures from the Braveheart filming. Then we grabbed some lunch at The Castle Restaurant just across the street, where James had a burger and confused the staff by ordering "fries." We also noticed there was "Southern fried chicken" on the menu, and James asked if that meant Southern Ireland. I don't think they were sad to see us go.

Leaving Trim, James turned the wrong way on the one way street and came upon a police car. Luckily he either recognized our rental car or noticed James waving sheepishly at him. We headed over to Newgrange hurriedly, as I noted that it closed at 4:15 in winter. Unfortunately the website and guidebook neglected to mention that the last tour was at 3:15, which was just too bad since we arrived closer to 4. "You can tour the museum here onsite," the nice lady said. What the hell, we were already there, so we forked over some exorbitant amount of euros to look at the (tiny) museum, the highlight of which was the movie theater that had a replica of how the inner chamber is lit by sunlight at sunrise on the winter solstice. (See, doesn't that sound really cool? I wanted to see that.)

We then headed to our B&B which was in the coastal town of Skerries. We had fairly good directions but we COULD NOT find the place. We located the road it was on and drove down it at least twice. Nothing. Finally we went to a gas station in town and somebody took pity on us and let us follow her. We had been on the right road, but the B&B was just off the road, on a side road, with no signs. We could have driven all night and never found it. Our first Irish B&B was a bit ... odd. It was run by an older couple, and we were the only guests that night. We were met at the door by one son, and led to the kitchen where the owner was watching soccer (football?) with another son. Both sons left but said their dad would want to talk to us. The owner was on oxygen for "a bad chest infection" and kept hacking. It was awkward. He asked where North Carolina was in relation to Connecticut. He seemed like a nice guy but the constant hacking was a bit off-putting. Eventually we asked for dinner recommendations and he named a few places in town.

We ended up at Stoop Your Head pub, which was lively, and sat at the bar since there were no seats in the restaurant proper. James branched out and tried baked salmon but still apple pie for dessert. I had beef stroganoff.

gotta have my Starbucks...mostly for the photo op Molly Malone was popular with the menfolk the entrance to Kilmainham Gaol James, where he belongs James at Trim Castle the gate picture I almost got locked out for this is as close as we got to Newgrange


Posted by Molly at 12:01 AM EST
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Fri 11/12/2010
Ireland: Getting There and Dublin

We were leaving Raleigh at 1:30p.m. on a Thursday, and would get to Dublin, via Atlanta, at 6:50 a.m. on Friday. I was excited but also a nervous wreck, because OMG we were going to crash into the ocean and I was never going to see Patrick again. (I even got my will all in order before the trip. Granted I probably should have done that once he was born, but hey -- motivation!) Also, we had found out on Tuesday that I was pregnant, so I was coming to terms with the fact that I was not going to be able to drink while in Ireland. We dropped Patrick at daycare; they knew we were going and that my parents would be watching Patrick for the next week. We had time to eat at RDU so had Bruegger's for lunch. In Atlanta, I noticed a Caribou Coffee in the Atlanta terminal and thought that I should probably enjoy one last Campfire Mocha, but it had been a long way from our arrival gate, and I was hot so I didn't get it.

The plane disappointingly did not have individual movie screens at each seat and instead had one at each bulkhead (or whatever). I missed the beginning of whatever movie they were showing so there went that. Our in flight meal consisted of barbecue chicken with sweet potatoes which James actually liked and green beans. This was served with a side salad and brown bread with a triple chocolate brownie. I am enough of a dork that I still get a kick out of getting full meals (such as they are) on an airplane. James had hot tea on the plane with two sugars and expressed disbelief that anyone would want to put milk in their tea. (Foreshadowing!)

We did not sleep well on the plane and arrived before dawn in Dublin. I had booked us a duck tour and a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. I wanted to do a tour of Jameson as well but hadn't booked that because I didn't want to overbook us. I noticed an IKEA from the plane. We disembarked and stumbled through customs. The customs guys looked mean but let us through without a second glance. And didn't even stamp my passport. Like, I want my credit for traveling internationally! Then we went to get our bags. I don't know what I was expecting, but I thought the Dublin airport would be much more modern than it was. The baggage claim area smelled strongly of kerosene. We went over to our car rental counter. There was no one there. We called the courtesy phone, and the person on the other end said they would send a bus over, so we were out into the Dublin morning. It was cloudy and cold, but not too cold and not raining! (Rain was my big worry now that we had survived the trip over. That, and the flight back.) Our rental car bus driver was Italian. He said that driving in Dublin was a breeze. He said the only thing you had to worry about were the roundabouts, and if you knew what lane you were supposed to be in, those weren't even hard at all. And don't worry, he said, Dublin and in fact all Irish drivers were polite and never honked. (Foreshadowing!)

We got our car, which was small but adequate, and headed off to find our hotel. We promptly got lost. This was to be a trend, especially for our first few days in Ireland. And there was much honking. The drivers are not polite! They are insane! Clearly we should never drive in Italy. Eventually we made it to Dublin, but we had no idea how to find our hotel. We were basically there, but the hotel, it seemed, was not. Finally, after stopping for directions several times, we located it. It WAS there! (We had planned to rent a GPS along with our car rental, but then James said he could take his own GPS and just download an Ireland map. So I didn't rent the GPS and then it turns out he coudn't just download an Ireland map. Thus we were left relying on a paper map and me. Which was BAD BAD news.) 

We checked into our hotel early then headed toward St Stephen's Green for our Viking Splash tour. We were running late but luckily it was too. So we had coffee at the Red Rose Cafe across the street. The only other people on tour with us were two Chinese guys in town from Limerick to get their visas. (They were studying abroad for a year.) The tour was amusing but a bit long as it turned out to actually be quite cold. (But not raining!) Then we were off to Guinness. In retrospect, we should have taken a cab. It was a very long walk. By the time we got there, we were cold, hungry and tired, so we ate upon arrival in the restaurant then halfheartedly took the self-guided tour. At the top of the building, you get a "free" (after you pay for the tour, so...) pint at the Sky Bar, which has glass all the way around so you get a panoramic view of Dublin. It was pretty cool, but I didn't want to drink more than a couple sips of Guinness (in my "condition") and James hates the stuff anyway. I will note that I prefer U.S. Guinness to the unfiltered Irish stuff. It wasn't much different but it tasted less refined and more bitter. Buying souvenirs took forever, both because I am horrible at deciding what to get people and because the line was slow. I wrote a postcard that supposedly would get airmailed out that evening. My mom got that postcard a few months later, in January. We speculate that it got sent to Durham, England, though I don't know how, since I did remember, even while jetlagged, to write USA in big letters at the bottom.

Then it was back to the hotel. Again, we walked, and it had started to rain by the time we made it back. It was evening by that point, starting to get dark around 5 p.m. Jameson had no chance. James was irritated because my cheapness had not allowed us to get a cab. Upon arriving back at the hotel, we promptly went to bed at 5:30. And slept until 7:30 the next morning. 

lost while driving on the other side warming up at the Red Rose Cafe across from St Stephens Green Viking Splash Tour ... ARRRGH! Ireland, we have arrived sipping my two sips of Guinness at the Sky Bar


Posted by Molly at 12:01 AM EST
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Fri 10/29/2010
don't think; it can only hurt the ball club

Not too long ago, I had a conversation with a woman at work about the distribution of household labor. I said it felt like I did a heck of a lot more around the house than my dear husband, which would be one thing if I was a stay-at-home-mom but, you know, I'm not. (Still wouldn't be fair, exactly, but it might bother me less?) Anyway, she said there have been studies about this sort of thing, and they found that each partner feels they do way more than the other. So if you added up the percentages that they give themselves, it would be way over 100. I said I was sure that's true ... but I still do more. She laughed.

I remembered this conversation last night as I was trying to go to the bathroom undisturbed by a toddler, with little success. I started thinking about everything I had done at home, compared to everything James had done. Here's my recollection:

Things Molly Did

Things James Did

put away clean clothesplayed horrible boxing video game, loudly
did two additional loads of laundrywatched TV on the couch
baked sweet potato cupcakes for fall festival at Patrick's daycareate cupcakes
made cinnamon cream cheese frosting for said cupcakesplayed horrible boxing video game, loudly
made dinner (scrambled eggs and pancakes, but still)stirred scrambled eggs, put bacon in microwave
loaded the dishwasherput dirty dishes that should have gone in dishwasher in the sink
did dishes in the sink until the dish rack was fullplayed horrible boxing video game, loudly
took Patrick for a walkplayed horrible boxing video game, loudly
bathed Patricksmoked some cigarettes
took trash outplayed horrible boxing video game, loudly
pushed trash bin to curbplayed with Patrick for 10 minutes, getting him all riled up just before bedtime
put Patrick to bedwent to bed

We also fit in a bit of time to fight about budgeting/money (because that's what we do).

And then I watched Grey's Anatomy and not the World Series, because I cannot for the life of me get excited about Giants-Rangers. Yawn.


Posted by Molly at 10:40 AM EDT
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Thu 10/28/2010
been far away for far too long

After I had sex for the first time, my period was two weeks late. We'd been safe; I wasn't particularly worried. I didn't say anything. And then there was nothing to say. But sometimes I wonder about the what ifs. What if I had gotten pregnant? At the time, I would have told you there's no way he would have asked me to get an abortion, but I later found out he HAD asked that of his high school girlfriend. I wouldn't have. So there would be this little seven-year-old running around. In my mind, it's a boy. But he might have wanted a little girl. I know he had preferred girl names.  

Why do I still think about this eight years later? I don't know. We aren't in touch, we don't talk anymore. His choice. That's probably part of it. And, I mean, it was my first time. It was a big deal (for me). I thought about it a lot before it happened, and I told myself it was okay, it would be okay, even if we didn't, you know, walk off into the sunset together, because we'd been close friends, and we would always be friends. I couldn't see how we wouldn't still be friends, at least. So he would always be a part of my life. As it turns out, he's not a part of my life at all, and maybe that's why I still think of him.

I don't know where this is going. Probably nowhere. Sometimes I just think about it. I don't think about anyone else like this. I mean, they were really a lot of fun and I look back fondly on many things about them, even though one ended quite badly. But they were fun while they lasted. And I don't wonder what if.


Posted by Molly at 10:43 AM EDT
Updated: Fri 03/10/2023 1:07 PM EST
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Sun 10/17/2010
Dear Patrick

Last week, you went on a plane trip for the sixth time. We had to fly to Erie for your Great-Grandpa Jack's funeral. (You are totally over flying, and you were unimpressed by Cleveland. I've never really been to the city but given the complete lack of decent coffee in the entire airport, I can't say I blame you.)

Jack was my mom's father. You got to meet him, once, when you were about three months old. Neither of you remembered that, but I think it was a nice moment for me and for your grandma. You never got to meet MY grandma, your Great-Grandma Rose, but she would have loved you, and spoiled you ROTTEN, like she always did me and Kevin and Megan.

When I went to the hospital to have you, one of the things that I worried about the most was getting an IV. (I tend to do this, you see, focus on tiny little things so I don't have to worry about the big things. I don't think it's terribly effective so I don't recommend it.) And I said to the nurse, "I don't really like needles." She was completely dismissive and said, "Most people don't." I suppose it's the same with funerals. But all the same, it was nice to see everyone. Jack's older sister Jeanne was there. She DOES remember when you met Jack and she loved seeing you again. Your grandpa Mike's dad, Great-Grandpa Ed, came, and so did Larry and Andrea and my Aunt Linda. You got to meet your grandpa's best buddy, Ed Hilovsky, and you got to meet your great-grandpa's best buddy, Joe Marshall. Joe and his wife lived across the street from Jack and Rose on West 23rd Street from 1963-2006 when Jack moved out. Joe was the Erie chief of police and once yelled at me for running into his car while I was learning to ride a bike. I've been slightly afraid of him since that day. You let Joe pick you up -- the only one you let do that who wasn't already familiar -- and the next day gave him a high five.

Your grandma spoke at the service, and Chris and Jeff. Chris talked about how Jack loved trains, and how once, when Megan was 11, she stayed home sick one day, and her grandpa stayed with her, and when Chris got home that night, Megan said, "I'm never getting sick again -- Grandpa made me watch train videos all day." Your grandma said that Jack loved Carolina basketball and told the story about how I used to take dance lessons with Dean Smith's daughter. And one day, Jack was waiting to pick me up after dance, and there was Dean Smith, and he walked up and introduced himself, and he was so happy that he got to meet Dean Smith. Jeff said that Jack was the best husband and father that anyone could hope for -- he lived with his mother-in-law, his wife, and his two daughters -- and that he always looked to Jack for guidance on how he should act. Joe stood up and talked about how he went to high school with Jack, but then they lost touch until 1963, when Jack moved in across the street. Later, Joe's daughter said that he wanted to say so much more, but he couldn't; it was too hard.

After the service, we all went to lunch. Jack and Rose always used to drink Manhattans, so we tried them, lots of us for the first time. (They aren't bad, but I don't think I'll continue that tradition.) Jack was buried in a Carolina pullover, and the sky was Carolina blue. It was a beautiful fall day. You, however, weren't interested in eating lunch, though, who knows, you might have wanted to try a Manhattan. In the same row of buildings as the restaurant was a toy store, and you and I wandered over there to try to keep you happy. You had a hunk of bread in your hand, and after a time around the store, you were looking for someplace to put it. You saw a display of little plastic personalized mugs. You picked one up, a blue one, and put it back. Then you picked up an orange one, dropped your bread inside, and walked off with the cup. After you put it down, I went to go pick it up and saw the name on it. You picked the mug that said "Jack."


Posted by Molly at 1:00 AM EDT
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Tue 07/20/2010
Nineteen Months

 

Dear Patrick,

Today you are nineteen months old. Before you were born, I had all these crazy ideas: I was going to do an awesome scrapbook for you. I was going to take a picture of you every day for the first year of your life. I was going to write you monthly letters so you would know what you were like when you were a baby (and so I would remember). Anyway. I hit one of those three goals, which was a total bitch. Hope you like your photo book. The scrapbook thing (and the letter thing) I've rationalized away using the 'But he's a boy, he won't care' reasoning. It's probably true. It's still a rationalization. You'll find that I'm very good at that sort of thing. If I had decided to do this sort of letter writing thing even on an infrequent basis, it would have made much more sense to do it at 12 months, or even 18, but well, here we are. Last week we just had your 18-month doctor visit, although the delay there was the doctor’s fault, not mine. Perhaps that visit is what has sparked this urge to write you a letter. You measured at 50th percentile for height and weight, and 99th percentile for head circumference. I got the biggest kick out of that. Your grandparents love to talk about how I was at 5% for weight and 95% for head circumference, so it is nice to know that we have that in common.

Lately you LOVE spending time outside. This is unfortunate since we are having probably the hottest summer ever recorded. You bring me your shoes and put on your little shark hat and grab my finger and pull me to the door. 'Door' and 'outside' are two of your favorite words. (I'm glad that you have these words, because I spent a good portion of your first year worrying about your development. Because you crawled funny. You'll be happy to know that in your second year, I worry less about you and more about me. I don't want to miss anything, and it scares me. Your grandmother tells me that she went to the doctor at least nine times during MY first year of life, convinced that she was dying, so it must be genetic. She said it leveled off around age 2, so here's hoping.) You also like to say 'ball,' normally while you're toddling toward one across the street in the neighbor's yard. Good thing we live in a family neighborhood. You cry when I leave the room, and it's simultaneously annoying and adorable and heart-breaking. And it pisses off your dad, because he thinks you don't do it for him, but you do. Every weekend you boys go off to have breakfast at Bojangles so every morning you ask for Daddy. (You also say 'sweet tea' very frequently, as you pull the jug from the refrigerator. I told your father he is going to take you to your first dentist appointment.) We go for walks every night, and I think you like it, but you no longer are content to be contained. You have to walk, too, or push the stroller yourself, or ride in your Cozy Coupe. You think it's hilarious if your dad or I let you go and run in front of the car. Your laugh is such a wonderful thing; it's so genuine and it’s hard not to laugh with you. You use this to your advantage when you know you're about to be in trouble. The pediatrician says that babies are not manipulative. I'm not sure when toddlers become manipulative, but I'm pretty sure you had a head start. You have been manipulating me from the minute you were born. Even before that.

You hate going to bed. I think it's because you hate being left out. You want to be a part of everything that we're doing. And I usually don't give in but I do cave when you snuggle up next to me and say 'baseball.' You seem to prefer throwing things with your left hand, and this delights me. Apparently kids don't pick a dominant hand until they are 4 or 5, but I think it would be neat if you were a southpaw. This is not a popular opinion; I know of at least two other moms who actively discourage their kids from using the left hand. They say it's too difficult to be a lefty in life. I'm not a lefty, but I disagree.

Your father and I are talking about maybe trying to provide you with a sibling. In case you hate that possible theoretical future sibling, I want to tell you why we are thinking about this. Well, I'll tell you my side. I think your dad has different reasons. My brother, your Uncle Kevin, and I fought A LOT while we were growing up. I don't just mean 'I'm not touching you' kind of fights. I mean hitting, punching, scratching, that sort of thing. We were mean to each other. We always tried to get the other in trouble. Looking into the future when you can read this, he probably is still talking about that time (he claims) I cost him his hearing by smacking him in the ear with a towel at Disney World. He can hear fine. But here's the thing: we have so much fun together now. We have the same sense of humor, we like a lot of the same things, we like to quote Armageddon at inappropriate times. We have a weekly lunch date, and we usually meet for coffee too. We have a shared history, and it's just so awesome. And more than anything, I want that for you. (Also, of course, someone to share the burden with when your parents are old. You know.)

There's a lot more I want to say, but it's going to have to wait until at least 19 months and one day. And let's be realistic: it'll probably be at least several months out. Anyway. I love you, Patrick, and I'm so glad you're here. It's so much fun to watch you grow up. (For now, at least.)

Love,
Mommy


Posted by Molly at 9:41 PM EDT
Updated: Wed 07/21/2010 10:13 AM EDT
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Wed 06/16/2010
Scene

So. Hi. Been awhile. Going to try to get better about that, but -- I know, I know -- you've heard that one before.

This one is in grand mommyblogging tradition, here, but it cracked me up this morning. (And no, we're not potty training. Not really. Not yet. I don't know.)

Patrick wakes up.

Molly: Hey, buddy. Do you need to go potty?

Patrick: [points downstairs]

We go downstairs, and -- oh, what the hell -- into the bathroom, where I sit Patrick upon his own special mini throne.

Patrick: [sits there, looking around. Nothing happens.]

Patrick: Up!

Molly: Do you want to get up? Are you all done?

Patrick: All done!

He gets up and stands on the rug in front of the shower. And pees.

Molly: Patrick! You're supposed to do that in the potty!

Patrick: [picks up his potty and hands it to me. Smiles.]

 


Posted by Molly at 3:11 PM EDT
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Wed 03/17/2010
Hershey Kisses: Revealed

Last year, in late March, I spied a bag of Creme de Menthe Hershey Kisses on clearance at Target. I bought them. They were good. Last Christmas, I spied a bag of Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses at Target. I bought them. They were good. And they tasted suspiciously familiar. And so, when I was at Target last Sunday, I bought a bag of the Creme de Menthe Kisses to do a comparison.


The packing, in an attempt to mislead innocent shoppers, is quite different. The wrapping on each individual mint truffle kiss is quite a different green. But once opened, you can see that they look amazingly similar.

And the filling. It is the same. I call foul, Hersheys!


Just kidding. I don't care. They're both good. And just in case you were wondering, the recipe on the back (the SAME recipe on both packages) is good, too.


And finally, Patrick would like to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

He advises you not to drink too much.

 

 

 

 


Posted by Molly at 10:41 PM EDT
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Mon 01/11/2010
One Year Later

I thought I would follow the last post with my 'resolutions' for 2010 (pronounced 'twenty-ten'). I was going to do 110 for 2010. I got distracted after typing up 11 and I have not revisited that little endeavor. But one of the 11 was to blog more. So to that end, I will cop out by posting photos!

Dec. 28, 2008

Dec. 27, 2009


Posted by Molly at 3:07 PM EST
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Thu 12/31/2009
2009 Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
You know, we sort of took it easy in 2009 after getting married and buying a house in 2007 and then having a baby in 2008. Ooh I know one thing I did: took my baby on an airplane. That was interesting.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I am pretty sure I didn’t make any last year, but if I had, it would have been to get skinny, which I didn’t, and I will resolve to do so next year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! The closest was my LLL Sarah. There will be more babies in 2010 as well.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What places did you visit?
Not very many. We took Patrick to Pennsylvania in March, my brother and I went to Baltimore/DC in June (I think) to see the Orioles and Riverdance, we went to the beach in August, and James and I took an “anniversary” trip to Colorado in September. Oh, and we just spent a day visiting the Detroit airport, which was not what you’d call a planned vacation.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Sleep.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Uh. I can’t remember anything, really.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
My Project 365: Patrick endeavor.

9. What was your biggest failure?
My plan to get in shape, first by the beach, then by our Colorado trip. Now it’s for mine and Sarah’s spring training trip. She just had a baby in September, I can’t let her look better than me.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not anything serious, but oh man, daycare colds SUCK. And I did get my first doctor’s note in years, even though I told him I didn’t need one. (I had the stomach flu.)

11. What was the best thing you bought?
We went looking for new kitchen cabinets and came home with a couch. I am not thrilled about its position in our living room but it is quite comfy, I have to say.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Patrick…he learned so many things…and he will celebrate if you say “yay!” :)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
People trying to push the horrible health care bill.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills bills bills. The mortgage, formula, diapers. Blah.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I was excited by the trips we took. And then I was excited to come home!

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
I am not sure it has huge associations with the year 2009 but I really like “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? About the same, I tend to worry a lot about everything and it’s unproductive.
b) thinner or fatter? I suppose thinner, since I had just given birth at this time last year.
c) richer or poorer? We probably have about the same amount of money in our accounts, but more in retirement and less debt so … richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercising.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying.

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2009?
We opened our presents for our little family of three here at home and James made biscuits and gravy, then we went to my parents’ house for more presents and turkey dinner. Then we were going to take Patrick to PA to see his relatives but the lake effect snow had other ideas, hence the trip to the Detroit airport.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Sort of, I guess, if you count Patrick. I don’t think that would be the traditional answer, though.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Bones, I suppose. TV disappointed me for the most part in 2009.

23. What did you do for your birthday in 2009?
I had a cold. It sucked. James got me a full body massage and a facial though.

24. What was the best book you read?
Ah, yes, I used to do this thing called reading. I’ll go with The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris.

25. What did you want and get?
I’ll give the materialistic weasel answer: the quilt I had been coveting from Pottery Barn! (Thanks Mom!)

26. What did you want and not get?
We did not get to a good place with our budgeting.

27. What was your favorite film of this year?
I think we only went to three or four movies the whole year. The last one I saw was It’s Complicated which was a decent way to spend two hours but not really a great movie or anything like that.

28. Did you make some new friends this year?
Yes. And I reconnected with some people and got closer to some people.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Reassurance that Patrick is totally normal even if his mother is a paranoid freak.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
“Do I have any stains on my shirt? No? Good to go, then.”

31. What kept you sane?
Coffee.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hmm. I got nothing.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
I avoid thinking about politics as it makes me angry.

34. Who did you miss?
WM.

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
When it comes to life lessons, I’m a slow learner.

 


Posted by Molly at 10:36 AM EST
Updated: Mon 01/11/2010 3:11 PM EST
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