1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Bought a house. (Technically, our house in Washington, Dave already owned when we met. So this was our first house purchase together.) Flew to the UK.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I try not to make New Year’s Resolutions as a rule.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My cousin Cat had baby Austin.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My aunt – technically she’s my dad’s first cousin, but she was like an aunt to me. I wouldn’t say we were super-close, but she was a very sweet lady, an all-around good person, and she’ll be greatly missed.

5. What countries did you visit?
England & Scotland.

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

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 20th – Obama was inaugurated, and we got our first snow day since we moved to North Carolina. That was a great day.
January 27th – my baby girl turned 2 years old.
April 7th – the world lost Maddie Spohr.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I decided to start a freelance writing business, and I actually made a little bit of money doing so.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not losing weight. I tried a few different diets and seemed to go off the rails with each one. Going to be working on that again in 2010.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major. A few bad colds. We’ve been lucky this year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
This house. My Canon Rebel XSi DSLR camera.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
There are seriously no less than 20 names that immediately popped into my head when I read this question. So I’ll just say: you. All of you. And yes, you too.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Sigh. I can think of a couple of people in my real life that I could list here, but I don’t really want to name names.
So how about I remove my personal life from the equation and say Glenn Beck. Does that work?

14. Where did most of your money go?
This house.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
BlogHer! And Type-A Mom Conference! And getting to meet so! many! awesome! people! whose work I’ve read and adored for ages. And of course I was really excited to watch my baby girl grow up this year, and also about buying a house.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Um, this song. (Can’t stand the guy, but I like the song. Can’t help it.) And oddly, “Do Re Mi” from the Sound of Music, because of this video.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? About the same, I think.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter. Sigh. Working on that.
c) richer or poorer? Poorer (see: house purchase).

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Writing. Working out. Being a more actively engaged mother/wife. The usual.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying. Moping. Goofing off. Eating junk food.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
At my mother-in-law’s house in Carlisle, England. It was lovely.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
With a house, yes.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
LOST. Big Love. Project Runway. Um… trying to think if I watch anything else. The Daily Show?

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I try not to waste my energy on hating people. There are people I cared about who I no longer care about, we could put it that way. But overall, I’m ending the year with far more friends than I started with, so I think we can call that a win.

24. What was the best book you read?
I haven’t finished it yet, I’m in the last few chapters, but I’m going to say “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don’t think I really discovered anything this year. I’ve developed a little bit of an obsession with both Keane and Muse. Neither of those are exactly “new,” though.

26. What did you want and get by year’s end?
A home.

27. What did you want and not get by year’s end?
Well, I’m not pregnant yet, but I’m also not entirely sure that I want to be. (I keep wavering on that one, it kind of depends on the day of the week.) Hmm. You know what would’ve been nice that I didn’t get? If this house had a hidden secret passageway that was filled with unmarked $100 bills. That would be awesome. Sigh. Oh well.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Since I rarely get to see any movies that aren’t animated, I’ll go for the best of that bunch and say “Up.”

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 33. It was pretty low-key. My brother & his then-girlfriend drove over from Charlotte for the weekend. And Dave bought me a Wii, which was awesome.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Huh. Oddly, I can’t really think of anything.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Jeans and sneakers. Lazy suburban mom chic.

32. What kept you sane?
My family. And Diet Coke.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
George Clooney, always. Josh Holloway on “Lost.”

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Probably healthcare reform.

35. Who did you miss?
It’s odd, I found myself missing my grandmother a few times this year, even though she passed away in 1996. There were several occasions that I found myself thinking of her, wishing she was there. She was such a baby nut, I know she would’ve adored Catie. I’m sad that they’ll never get a chance to meet.

I also miss a lot of my friends back in Seattle. I miss Patsy, our previous baby-sitter.

And of course, I miss all of the fantastic ladies that I had a chance to spend time with at BlogHer and Type-A Mom. I wish I lived closer to them so I could see them all the time.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
I cannot possibly pick one.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
The same rules you use for online dating also apply to Twitter and blogs: don’t invite people from the Internet to your house. Meet them in public first to decide if they’re crazy. THEN, you can decide whether or not you want to invite them over to spend the night.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
“There is no home like the one you’ve got,
Cuz that home belongs to you.”
— Jenny Lewis, “Barking at the Moon”

Yes, that song is from “Bolt.” I’m sorry. It’s all I’ve got.