Another End of Year Wrap-Up

I know I've already posted my end of year wrap up, but I saw this meme at Du Wax Loolu (Originally posted here at All & Sundry) I really wanted to fill it out. Besides, 2009 was such a great year, it really does deserve two posts :)

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Gave birth to my beautiful Son Max. My other firsts revolve around Max's birth... first time I've been admitted to hospital, first time I have had an operation, first time I've been pregnant.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Definitely not :( I am going to have a look at them this afternoon and make some new ones, I'll keep you posted!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Besides me :) One of my favourite friends (Nat) had a beautiful baby girl. Check out her blog if you want to see all of her gorgeous baby photos.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
The Big Man's Gran. She was a beautiful person and we were very sad to lose her.

5. What countries did you visit?
We didn't take a single holiday this year (besides weekend trips to Hervey Bay and Lismore to see our parents) and definitely didn't go overseas. We are planning a quick weekend away for February, but probably wont take a big holiday this year either.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
First up better health and secondly a finished house.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The 2nd of December 2009 was the date that I gave birth to Max. There were other memorable dates like our first wedding anniversary and the day I found out I was pregnant, but Max's birthday is the standout day.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Giving birth to Max.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Probably not being able to stay on top of my anxiety in the last couple of weeks. Not really my 'fault' I guess, but this year I would like to would like to develop some coping techniques so that I don't lose it again.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
After losing the vision in one of my eyes several times and having an MRI doctors are telling me that I may have MS. We don't know anything for sure though, once Max is 3 months old and my hormones are back to normal I am going to have all of the tests done again. The good news is that I don't have any other clinical symptoms, so we are staying very positive that it was just a pregnancy thing.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
We didn't make any big purchases this year. Max's bouncer was probably the most useful thing that we bought.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My sister Jen was the star of my year. The support she gave me through my pregnancy and especially after Max was born was amazing and I will be forever in debt to her.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My pregnancy hormones meant that a lot of what I saw on the news this year made me cry.

14. Where did most of your money go?
We paid off all or our debt (except for the mortgage) this year. It was a very good feeling :)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Being pregnant and becoming a Mum.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Single Ladies. Not because the lyrics mean much to me, it is just such a fun song. And I love, love, love the dance!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Most definitely happier, I have wanted to be a Mum for a very long time.
b) thinner or fatter? Surprisingly considering I gave birth 4 weeks ago I am thinner. This time last year I was at my heaviest weight.
c) richer or poorer? Financially we are in a better position because we have a lot less debt, although with me not working at the moment we do have to be careful with our money. Emotionally much richer too.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I had done more around the house and garden. Whilst we couldn't have finished the house last year, we could have done more than we did.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I hadn't taken so much time off work sick. With various pregnancy and health issues I took a fair bit of time off and this put additional pressure on my team at work.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
We had Christmas at our house for the first year, all the details are here.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Yes, I fell in love with Max when I knew I was pregnant and I fell in love with him all over again when I first met him.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
I didn't watch a lot of TV this year, but I did enjoy The Mentalist with Simon Baker.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope

24. What was the best book you read?
I can't remember if I read it in 2009 or at the end of 2008, but I absolutely loved The Book Thief.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Big Man is always playing various songs to me that he thinks I will love. He always knows exactly what I will like.

26. What did you want and get?
A baby and a job that I love.

27. What did you want and not get?
I should say something like world peace or an effective government, but really I just wanted an iphone.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Up. I cried and laughed so much.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We celebrated with some of my family including my Aunt from New Zealand, I turned 28.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I had a great year and not much could have made it better. If I had to pick something, it would be finishing the house.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Mainly comfortable maternity clothes and flat shoes.

32. What kept you sane?
The Big Man, it will probably be his job for the next 50 or 60 years :)

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Roger Federer. Love him!

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Lets not go there. Suffice to say I'm a conservative and disagree with most of what our government is doing.

35. Who did you miss?
My BFF Erin. At least she's back in the country and hopefully I will see her in the next couple of weeks.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
I met a lot of new people this year. The standouts for me are Amanda, Shan from Finns, my whole team at work and the guys that I trained with when I started my new job (Steve, Shona, John and Will).

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
That my family (which includes the Big Man's family) will be there for us no matter what and that even when I think no-one will understand, my family always will.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Wow that's a hard question, I asked the Big Man (because he is a music buff) and he came up with nothing. This quote by Elizabeth Stone will do instead "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

Happy New Year Everyone!

T xx