Annual Questionnaire 2024

1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before? You think at 44 you're all done having new experiences, and then life says "lol watch this".

At least I didn't have to experience my first colonoscopy - which they just lowered the age for by 5 years. You have to catch me first, doctor.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions?  I wanted to get more fit, so YES. I FINALLY DID A RESOLUTION. This means I win and don't have to do any ever again. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? A cream pie? In this economy? 

4. Did anyone die? No, despite all my mental energy. 

Nonhuman: I think I killed one of my chickens by making friends with a monarch butterfly caterpillar, which she might have eaten. I'm so sorry, Tiny. 

5. What places did you visit? I went to Baltimore and took a lot of pictures of embarrassed-looking statues covered in snow. Spent a weekend on Maui with friends B & G, which was very wow. Tried a new restaurant near the airport that was pretty amazing.

6. What would you like to have in 2025 that you lacked in 2024? My kids are almost all grown up and I still haven't taken them to any of the places I used to live - Molokai, Arizona, Newfoundland. I will get on a plane with these children this year, somehow. 

7. What moments from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory?  HEY, maybe don't leave a motion-activated camera on the table while your husband is home alone. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?  I got two paintings into the annual juried gallery show, and illustrated two books. Did book signings at Barnes and Noble and everything. 

9. What was your biggest failure?   I still have not finished painting the house. Also we didn't trim the lychee tree, so when fruit season hit, the branches got so heavy they broke off and crashed on the roof.

 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?   Only emotionally. And physically. Thought I was going to get murked by a tree, for one.

 
11. What was the best thing you bought?   A computer, so I can finally write a book! Also I paid for a 10 hour video of Carlo Russo doing Dutch floral painting demos, and it changed my whole year of painting (and had me walking around the neighborhood with pruning shears down the back of my pants to poach flowers), so that was money well spent. Got a pair of novelty articulated bat wings that flap when you pull the strings, and it was the best Halloween trick ever.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?  Leif got a paying job as a CNC machinist with his robotics team, making him already qualified to earn more than me when he gets out of high school. Annoying. I'm proud of him. 

Gavin had a girlfriend and took her to Niagara Falls. It's long distance, and I think they might have broken up already, but I'm glad he met someone he connected with. Long distance relationships are hard, you get burned out from texting constantly and realize you're basically having a relationship with your phone, so sometimes the breakup is just one person dumping their device. Maybe they can reconnect in person after university.

Zenny joined two extra-curricular groups - cheerleading and a girl's gaming/coding club - and went to overnight summer camp for the first time. She hit her tween growth spurt, shot up 5 inches, and started reading manga. I'm having feelings about my last baby turning into a teenager, but she's pretty great.

 
13. Whose behavior made you appalled? lol

 

Honorable mentions:

    

Drunk Wife crashed my grandfather's walker AGAIN and broke her wrist. Then she decided to cut back on drinking, so she switched from beer to whiskey. 

Back in January/February one of my longtime friends (Mike the Marine, who boarded in our house for a couple years when I was in college) disappeared; we usually exchanged memes and short texts a couple times a week, but then suddenly he went silent and his social media was deleted. Last time that happened my friend had died, and I knew M. had a medical condition, so I was worried, texting "Are you okay? Are you in the hospital? Getting concerned". He finally called and explained: he had been cheating on his wife, got caught, and wasn't going to talk to women anymore. Oh. It was a big disappointment, because I didn't realize I was a woman, I thought I was a friend of 30 years. And I thought he had a code of honor. 

14. What did you get excited about? The "under $5" fancy cheese bin at Whole Foods.

15. What song will always remind you of 2023?  

Here are some of the songs I listened to while painting out my feelings:

Before therapy:

After therapy:

 

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Both. Rolled a 20 for confusion.
b) thinner or fatter?  Kind of a lot thinner. My stomach looks like an empty nutsack. It did its job and accommodated 3 babies, so I'm pleased with its performance, but I'm trying all the firming creams anyway.
c) richer or poorer?  Paid off my car and Zenny outgrew afterschool care, so I'm two monthly payments richer. Still can't afford all the household bills on one income, damn it.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of? I wish Past Me was better at making money, because Future Me and Present Me have zero interest in hustling, we just want to paint and bake fancy desserts.

18. What was your favorite TV program?   The latest season of Fargo. Also Mrs & Mr Smith, and Insecure. Favorite single episode was Demon 79, from season 6 of Black Mirror.

19. What was the best book you read? 

The Circle, by Dave Eggers, messed me up. I had to buy my own copy. And delete my twitter account.

The Eyes and the Impossible, a kid's book, also by Dave Eggers. 

Really liked Starter Villain, by John Scalzi, too. I'm reading Old Man's War by John Scalzi right now.

20. What did you want and get? A beverage fridge. I was listening to Morbid and Ash said they were a "beverage household" with a selection of fancy low-sugar sodas, bubbly water, and bottled teas so guests could just help themselves to something nice, and that sounded like a pretty damn good idea to me. I always liked going to friends' houses and discovering their parents stocked up on snacks and drinks. So I did that thing, and it is, in fact, pretty great. And the kids are making bank on the recycling. (Had to quit buying coffee to make room in the budget, but I was only drinking decaf anyway.)
 

21. What did you want and NOT get? As of this writing, I still do not have a truck. 

22. "So! How's your love life?"

I don't know. It's doing something. 

23. What was your favorite film of this year? Fall Guy.

 

 

 

24. Did you make some new friends this year?   I think my therapist likes me...?

25. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? A raise that matched the cost of living.

26. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024? The futile search for all the outfits Mabel and Loretta wore in the latest season of Only Murders in the Building.

If anyone sees a Simon Miller "Wendel" geometric mesh top, DM me

Settled for cheaper mesh tops and giant wide leg pants with pointy boots.

Work toilet fit check

27. What kept you sane? A huge stack of handwritten notebooks that I cockroached from my mom's house.

28. Which celebrity/public figure were you into? Oh no, it was Ryan Gosling.

 

29. What political/news issue stirred you the most?  LUIGI. Also Moo Deng and Pesto. 

Here is my collected list of stupid headlines that somehow made it onto the front page of CNN this year:

  

KPHO/KTVK: Husky escapes kennel for midnight snack

WLS: Rat imprint on sidewalk becomes viral sensation

WBBH: Suspect steals Snoop Dogg bobblehead

CNN: Rescuers believed pair of vultures were dying but they turned out to just be drunk

WJCL: Emotional support gator disappears in Georgia

KGO: Dog surfing competition saved by donations

CNN: I just don’t get why people enjoy eating chicken

KPTV: Posters ‘ban’ ghost summoning in park

ABC: Chicago's famous 'rat hole' removed and preserved from neighborhood sidewalk

Border Patrol intercepts 700 pounds of bologna

WHSV Family discovers 84-year-old biscuit

KSHB Tattoo artist uses ink to raise money

30. Who did you miss? 

I missed my college kid, and I worry about growing farther apart as he starts his own life. 

I missed an old boyfriend a bit. (Not you, S, get off my blog.)

31. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024. If you're feeling overwhelmed and confused, go with your gut, not your brain or your heart.