I did this questionnaire the last three years, and it's nice to start making this a tradition, to help me look back on the previous year.
1. Was 2009 a good year for you?
As years go, 2009 was a pretty good year. No major tragedies (or minor ones either), and lots of high points
2. What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?
Definitely my trip to France and Italy with Jeri. Getting to spend two weeks with her, and going with the other women in the Pinata group was very special.
Also, being in New York for the opening of Jim Brochu's play Zero Hour and getting to attend the opening night party at Sardis was really a thrill.
I also was so full of emotion watching Obama's inauguration. No matter what kind of a president he turns out to be, the inauguration and all the feelings that went along with it will always be high point in my memory.
3. What was your least favorite moment(s) of the year?
A tossup between realizing I'd have to climb down 250-300 stairs in order to catch a boat in Italy, or having to race a mile in blazing heat after a day of dragging myself around Florence.
4. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Visit Italy (I'd visited Paris briefly--one day--several years ago).
5. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Years resolutions, so I never have to confess how quickly I broke them!
6. Where were you when 2009 began?
For the past 4-5 years we have gone to a small party attended by members of the former Davis Comic Opera Company. It's low key. We have home made soup, home made bread, fabulous desserts, play "the name game" and are home in bed by 12:30 a.m. because we're all getting so old.
7. Who were you with?
About a dozen (or less) people from the Davis Comic Opera Company.
8. Where will you be when 2009 ends?
Back at the same party.
9. Who will you be with when 2009 ends?
With all the same DCOC people, probably our best friends in Davis.
10. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousin Kathy's daughter gave birth to Brandon and my cousin Peach's grandson became a daddy as well.
11. Did you lose anybody close to you in 2009?
One of the My Fair Lady puppies didn't make it and that was very sad, but there were no deaths of any humans close to me in 2009.
12. Who did you miss?
The same people I always miss: I miss our kids, David and Paul. I miss friends at a distance, like Peggy, Diane, Melody, Olivia and Lynn. And I miss the camaraderie of female friends who live close but who are busy about their own lives and whom I rarely see: Barb, Marsha, Rosemarie.
13. Who was the best new person you met in 2009?
A woman named Sherri, who was on our France/Italy trip. I now read her journal regularly. Actually all of the people who went on that trip were delightful and fun to get to know.
14. What was your favorite month of 2009?
I guess June, the month we left on our trip.
15. Did you travel outside of the US in 2009?
Yes indeedy. To France, Monaco and Italy with Jeri and a bunch of other folks.
16. How many different states did you travel to in 2009?
Just New York, where we went in November for the opening of Zero Hour.
17. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Personally, I can't think of anything. Globally, more peace and less war.
18. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 5, the day of my mother's 90th birthday party. She was as excited as a little kid and there was such a great turnout. I was so very happy that we had the chance, for the first time, to blend her "other" family (the kids of her second husband) with our family. Ned was a great MC and the kids put together a wonderful song that even included parts for The Cousins.
19. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I survived Florence. I actually survived the whole trip. It was more grueling for me than I thought it was going to be, but I didn't give up (most of the time).
20. What was your biggest failure?
I am, if nothing else, consistent in my failures -- house still not clean (though better now that Walt has taken over doing so much of it), and weight still not under control.
21. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing beyond the "preexisting conditions." And I got my cataract fixed!
22. What was the best thing you bought?
Registration to a conference of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals). This was my third year to attend and while most of the stuff is much more complicated than anything I'll ever do, I always come away so inspired by the possibilities of PhotoShop.
23. Whose behavior merited celebration?
All the wonderful people who run the Yolo County SPCA. I look at the masses of dogs and cats that we have at Petco each week and I know that we are just one little foster family out of dozens. All the women who are in charge should be canonized.
24. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
People who run puppy mills and anybody who tortures an animal for fun or profit.
25. Where did most of your money go?
Like every year, to Amazon.com!
26. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Being at Jimmy's opening, the party at Sardi's and rubbing elbows with the likes of Theodore Bikel, Marge Champion, and the cast of the show we had seen the night before.
27. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2009?
Not really. The only time I really drink at all is at Cousins Day or if we go wine tasting (but even then I don't drink very much).
28. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2009?
Only legally prescribed ones: for diabetes, for high blood pressure, and for cholesterol. Also some vitamins.
29. Did you treat somebody badly in 2009?
If I did, it wasn't deliberate and I wasn't aware of it. And I'm sorry if I did!
30. Did somebody treat you badly in 2009?
I don't believe so.
32. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2009?
More socialization with female friends.
33. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Procrastination. It's my downfall every time. Give me a deadline and I wait until the very last possible moment to start. I always manage to get things done on time, but usually not without a lot of angst.
35. What was your favorite TV program(s)?
The Daily Show, Jeopardy, NCIS, Amazing Race, Monk, House, Glee, The Good Wife
36. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables sung by Susan Boyle.
37. How many stage shows did you see in 2009?
The original question is "concerts" but since we see more stage shows, I decided to change it. Like last year, we saw about 60 stage shows in 2009
38. Did you have a favorite stage show in 2009?
Zero Hour, of course!
39. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The same as an awful lot of people's: Susan Boyle!
40. What was the best book you read?
"Dragonfly in Amber." I had read Diana Gabaldon's first book, "Outlander," several years ago, but had never gotten into the subsequent books. But I really ate up "Dragonfly in Amber" and then "Voyager" and am now working on the fourth book in the six-book series, "The Drums of Autumn."
41. What was your favorite film of this year?
I only saw five movies in the theatre this year: Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, Up, Julie and Julia, and The Princess and the Frog. They are all so different it's difficult to chose a "favorite" from among them, but probably Julie and Julia just because Meryl Streep was so amazing as Julia Child.
42. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 66 this year and it was a quiet day. I had flowers from all 3 kids (2 real, 1 virtual), I had lunch with a friend (who didn't know it was my birthday), I went to a meeting, had a Skype chat with Tom, Laurel and Bri and then out to dinner with Walt after the Skype conference.
43. What did you want and get?
An iTouch from my mother
44. What did you want and not get?
World peace and a clean house.
45. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
For Obama to have put some of his promises into reality by now. I am forever hopeful that he is going to turn out to be a great president, but I wish that things were moving a bit faster in several areas.
46. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Sweats, t-shirts, and big puffy slippers (Birkenstocks or loafers if I'm going out)
47. What kept you sane?
The internet, I guess, though there are probably those who would think that the internet makes me a little insane!
48. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Susan Boyle. Her initial appearance on Britain's Got Talent which went viral on the internet still moves me to tears. The recent Susan Boyle Story that I saw on TV just filled my heart with such joy for this woman who, at age 47, is finally achieving her dreams. I have a feeling her fame is going to be short-lived, but she seems to be the kind of person who will handle whichever way her future swings...and will have amazing memories.
49. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
I survived Florence; I can survive anything!
50. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Everything is beautiful, in its own way."
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