New Year's Memes

From years past...

#1
1. Will you be looking for a new job? No. I don't think that's an issue for me.

2. Will you be looking for a new relationship? Same person, different relationship.

3. New house? I'll stick with what I said last year: "I'm not moving out of this house until we move out of this state. I wouldn't mind having a small place in the mountains somewhere, though."

4. What will you do differently in '14? Weight loss, and lowered cholesterol numbers.

5. New Year's resolution? I don't make these, but I have work to do this year.

6. What will you not be doing in '14? I wouldn't count anything out. Life has been weird.

7. Any trips planned? I'll be going to Dallas at some point to see the BRAND-NEW baby, as of last night! And maybe Vegas in February. I'd like to get to the Ozarks maybe too. Otherwise, nothing firm.

8. Wedding plans? The same suspects as last year are still available this year. It's possible that James could end up moving in with his friend, but I don't know if marriage is on the horizon.

9. What's on your calendar? Meetings. Lots of meetings: work stuff, P.E.O., Al-Anon and doctors. And Sunday School. But nothing specifically awesome.

10. What can't you wait for? I can't think of anything I'm really excited about.

11. What would you like to see happen differently? I'd like to actually REALLY learn to control my mouth.

12. What about yourself will you be changing? See #4. Lots of internal stuff too. I hope.

13. What happened in '13 that you didn't think would ever happen? I've gotten way too comfortable in dialing 9-1-1.

14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about? One thing I learned this year is that niceness doesn't really enter into it; I need to be honest.

15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in '13? Not if I can help it!

16. Will you start or quit drinking? I'm unlikely to be doing any drinking this year at all. And unless I am somehow able to wrangle a prescription for pot, I won't be smoking either.

17. Will you better your relationship with your family? The family with whom I live: yes. The rest of them, right now, I'm not sure any changes need to be made.

18. Will you do charity work? Yup.

19. Will you go to bars? Not.

20. Will you be nice to people you don't know? I usually am.

21. Do you expect '14 to be a good year for you? Hope springs eternal, no?

22. How much did you change from this time last year til now? Tons. Just loads, with more to come.

23. Do you plan on having a child? As I said last year, only for a visit.

24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now? There's no reason to change the main players, but I'm finding friends in slightly different areas lately.

25. Major lifestyle changes? Indeed.

26. Will you be moving? Ugh, the mere thought of packing.... NO!

27. What will you make sure doesn't happen in '14 that happened in '13? I would hope that I learned my lesson about taking crap from people.

28. What are your New Years Eve plans? We had fondue for dinner. Watching "Criminal Minds" on Ion now. Beast will probably play a round of Tiger Woods golf, and we'll be in bed well before midnight. I hope.

29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight? I would if I planned to be awake.

30. One wish for '14? I'd like to get my family (household) relationships figured out.


#2
1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? That absolutely HAS to be the two family babies!!

2. What was the most challenging thing that happened? Beast's issues. Again.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? Discovering how many friends I have.

4. What was an unexpected obstacle? Myself.

5. Pick three words to describe 2013. Long, gray, depressing.

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2013 (don’t ask them; guess based on how you think your spouse sees you). Depends on when you asked him. Right now he would probably say supportive, worried, patient.

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2012 (again, without asking). Depressed, forgotten, treatment.

8. What were the best books you read this year? As I said last year, "I would suggest a trip over to my reading blog to see what I have to say [tomorrow]."

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships? The Cindys, Lisa, Amy, Beast, Sparky, Marie, Jenny, Brian.

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year? I'm done (I hope) messing about with being stupid about relationships.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally? Al-Anon has helped a lot there.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually? It's been interesting: Al-Anon has helped here as well, but there have been some serious "What the HELL, God?!" moments too.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically? I went up another size in clothing. So fucking annoying.

14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others? Sheer necessity.

15. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home? Still having the house cleaned by other people.

16. What was your most challenging area of home management? All this freakin' stuff in my house is making me nuts.

17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? Facebook and the internet as a whole.

18. What was the best way you used your time this past year? I read some pretty awesome books.

19. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year? The mask has not only slipped, it's fallen completely off.

20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2013 for you. Annus horribilis


The Three Threes
1) Three things that have changed since the beginning of the year: Beast's mental health, Sparky's attention to school and grades, and my boss.

2) Three things that didn't change: my job, Sparky's addiction to games, and Beast's innate goodness.

3) Three things you want to change this year: my worldview, time management, and the amount of time I spend running my mouth.


#4
In 2013, I gained: a much busier schedule.

I lost: weight. Briefly.

I stopped: tolerating idiocy.

I started: therapy again.

I was hugely satisfied by: work.

And frustrated by: things way the hell out of my control.

I am so embarrassed that I: gained back most of the weight I lost.

Once again, I: took way too long to learn a lot of really basic lessons.

Once again, I did not: get family papers and photos sorted.

The biggest physical difference between me last December and this December is: I'm 50 now.

The biggest psychological difference between me last December and this December is: I'm learning and trying to work the 12 steps.

I loved spending time: alone in peace.

Why did I spend even two minutes: doubting myself.

I should have spent more time: reading.

I regret buying: so much fast food.

I will never regret buying: the new shirts I splurged on last month.

I worried: WAY WAY WAY too much.

I didn't: understand how fucked-up my life was until it hit the shitter.

Dealing with: other people's shit has got to stop this coming year.

The most relaxing place I went was: meetings.

Why did I: waste so much time this year!?

The best thing I did for someone else was: be quiet.

The best thing I did for myself was: listen to myself.

The best thing someone did for me was: be honest.

The one thing I’d like to do again, but do it better, is: take a vacation alone.


This one is new:
#5
January: A wonderful trip to Vegas, Red Rock Canyon, leaking windows in our hotel room, and Penn & Teller.

February: Got plowed into a ditch in our subdivision by a village plow. Asshat.

March: Marriage equality hits Facebook HARD.

April: Stupid, useless RDA class that was pretty much 100% of a waste of my time.

May: Patrick Stewart talks about his childhood

June: Local restaurant appears on makeover show. Since then, it has been sold to new owners because the hemorrhage of money and customers only sped up after the makeover.

July: Watched my niece deliver a healthy baby boy.

August: My two living siblings turn 60 and 70.

September: Sparky starts his (OMG!) junior year of college.

October: The bottom falls out of my world.

November: I turn 50.

December: Sparky comes within an hour or so of becoming an orphan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!