New Year's Meme

New Year's Meme
This waste of time brought to you by reannon:

1) Where did you ring in 2006?
In Southern Missouri at Roger & Hunter's place

2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Shacked up and schmoopy. Gorgeous tungsten carbide commitment ring on
the Day itself.

3) Were you in school anytime this year?
No.

4) How did you earn your keep?
Second verse, same as the first. Programming in Java.

5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
No. I spent a couple days there visiting hospitalized lovers.

6) Did you have any encounters with the police?
None. I think the cop coming to the Lake House door at 4:45 am to tell
us the dog was barking happened in '05.

7) Where did you go on vacation?
No actual "vacation" of a week or more, but I went to Iowa, Wisconsin,
S. Missouri, and Oregon on long weekends.

8) What did you purchase that was over $500?
A recumbent bike for ohari. As of last week, a couch-sized
"beanbag" (stuffed with foam not beans).

9) Did you know anybody who got married?
beckyzoole's daughter.

10) Did you know anybody who passed away?
No.

11) Have you run into anybody you graduated high school with?
No. I skipped the twenty-year reunion.

12) Did you move anywhere?
Yes, back to Rivendell from the Lake House.

13) What sporting events did you go to?
Two Cardinals games, I think.

14) What concerts/shows did you go to?
Melissa Etheridge. Les Miserables.

15) Are you registered to vote?
Yes.

16) If so, did you do your patriotic duty on Nov. 7?
Absolutely!

17) Where do you live now?
Rivendell House, St. Louis, Missouri

18) Describe your birthday.
I hardly remember it. We were in the midst of home remodeling and
packing/moving insanity. But I think I got a lot of new clothes.

19) What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2006?
How far back does the "never thought" go? I had two attempts at IUI--but
that was planned since '05. I took fertility drugs.

20) What is one thing you regret from this year?
Didn't exercise.

21) What do you want for Christmas?
Good health for me and all my loved ones.

22) Any new additions to your family?
No, but we're trying! Matter of fact...another attempt at 2:00 this
afternoon. *eep!*

23) What was your best month?
Hmmm. In July we met ona_tangent and scottak...also
reannon, come to think of it. November had ACNW in it.
February we got our commitment rings...It's been a good year all round,
really.

24) What from pop culture will you remember 2006 by?
At the moment, I'm guessing "Code Monkey".

25) How do you plan to did you ring in 2007?
At Rivendell, surrounded by family and friends, with a big pot of
wassail and lots of yummy noshes.

Resolution recap

From Jan 3,
2006, my plans for '06

Family
======
Move to City House
Done, mid-May.

Straighten up finances
Eh. Some improvement, some backsliding.
Back on the list for '07

Make a baby
We're bloody well trying, but no luck yet.
Stays on the list for '07

Better organization at home
Getting there

Eliminate unneeded "stuff": craigslist? ebay? bookcrossing? freecycle?
We got rid of a lot. Yay!

Dance lessons for Rosa
Yes! A fully-completed goal!

Buy Tammie a car
Nope, but the van is still serviceable, and we bought her a scooter
instead.

Housecleaning service
No.

Monthly or bimonthly game nights
No. Plans exist for rp'ing with Becky & Woof, and now that the living
room is free of boxes we'll probably move back toward
regularly-scheduled game nights. Assuming we can find the games.

Unpack everything
A lot of boxes still remain packed. The garage is full of them, and
we've still got the POD.

Me
==
Get a different job
No. Didn't even try.

Write. Specifically, finish "La Llorona"
No. Didn't even try.

Attend at least one Ambercon
Yes! ACNW rocked! And I'm planning on ACUS in March, too. Better
register, eh?

Come out to Mom & Dad
No.

Lose thirty pounds
About ten.

Exercise
Just now restarted yoga.

Maintain and build friendships
Made some cool new friends this year! *waves at ona_tangent, scottak and reannon*

Make more time to spend with lovers
Sorta. Not really quantifiable.

Get back on instant messenger services
Yes, a little bit. I installed them on Chris's laptop and have
chatted a bit with a few people when using it. Need to install them on
mine.

Draw or paint
Custom stained glass designs.

Play the piano more often
No.

Track and review books read and movies viewed on fionas_books
I did this semi-faithfully for the first half of the year. Kinda
petered out later on. Maybe my membership in Library Thing will help.

Post more on LJ
Maybe. I'm not really interested in counting posts to find out.

So...'07? We'll see. I think I'll keep mostly the same set.

Family
======
Straighten up finances
Make a baby
Better organization at home
Eliminate unneeded "stuff"
Housecleaning service
Monthly or bimonthly game nights
Unpack everything

Me
==
Write. Specifically, finish "La Llorona"
Lose another twenty pounds
Exercise
Maintain and build friendships -- specifically, recontact Kirk. Be a
better correspondent with Britton. Hang out with Christine.
Make more time to spend with lovers
Draw or paint
Play the piano more often
Track and review books read and movies viewed on fionas_books
Post more on LJ

RIP Gerald R. Ford

I was running later than usual for work today, and I heard the first
half-hour or so of President Ford's funeral on the radio. What I can't
explain logically is why it had me crying.

I don't really remember his presidency. I can remember--almost--the 1976
election, and I remember some of the bicentennial pomp of that year (but
not the actual Independence Day celebrations--I was at summer camp. I
had a big grudge about that for a long time: the fact that my sister got
a Bicentennial pen at the Fourth of July parade and I didn't.) I
remember, also, that November 1976 was the year my family moved into the
house my parents still own, and that we went to visit my Ozark cousins
for Thanksgiving that year, only to come back to a driveway filled 12-18
inches deep with snow.

But presidential politics? Pretty foreign to my 6 to 8 year old self. I
have said before that Nixon's resignation is one of my earliest
memories, but again, it's from a child's perspective. We didn't have a
television in our house, and the whole family went to a neighbor's place
to watch the event. The TV-watching is what's made it stand out in my
memory, not the issue itself.

So what filled my eyes with tears? Was it the emotional music? The
emotional texture of the whole event? Sympathy for Betty (whom I had
thought dead herself...I won't be surprised if she doesn't outlive him
by much)?