~ What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? Finally changed my way of thinking. Started believing in myself, and creating the life that I had always wanted to have but somehow never did.
~ Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I resolve to stop making resolutions. I suck at them. They last about 20 minutes into the New Year. This year, I figure if my resolution is to make no more resolutions, I'm good to go.
~ Did anyone close to you give birth? Like, physically close to me? No, I have not actually witnessed childbirth this year. My immediate family has not expanded, but I have nieces and nephews getting to that age where the thought is undoubtedly crossing their minds!
~ Did anyone close to you die? Amazingly enough, no. My Mom is still with us, and we never dreamed she would be, They sent her home from the hospital in June with "two days to two weeks" to live. It's been six months now and yet it's truly still just a day to day thing at this point. She's more than ready to go. I just wish God would listen to her prayers.
~ What countries did you spend time in this year? Um, I'm pretty sure I've been landlocked this year. My passport has nothing on it. (That will change in March though!) Went to Vegas in May, and that was pretty much my only vacation this year. Work kicked my ass and kept me too busy to take time off.
~ What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? A booming real estate business so that I can pay off bills, for helping Jordan with college, and adding stamps to my passport. Continued growth with my "change your thoughts, change your life" as some days I still revert back to negative thinking out of habit. And my love relationship getting better and better every single day.
~ What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Well, I re-met the love of my life in August, and in September my son went off to college. Those were two pretty big events in my life this year. Both life changing but in good ways.
~ What was your biggest achievement of the year? Letting go of my past finally, and making room for true love to come into my life. I wish it hadn't taken me so long, but everything happens when it's supposed to, and clearly this was the right time. I walked away from that situation in May, and spent the summer learning to be happy with just me. And then I started dating Michael August 7th. And the rest is history!
~ What was your biggest failure? I don't believe in failure. Some things may not have worked out the way I planned or hoped, but some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
~ Did you suffer any serious injury or illness? Nope. Feeling good!
~ What was the best thing you bought? An early plane ticket home from Vegas...it was the end of an error. It was by far the best $400 I have ever spent in my life.
~ Whose behavior merited celebration? My son, of course. He's doing great at UC, maintaining his mega weight loss from last year, and just makes me proud every single day to be his Mom.
~ Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed? Who am I to judge? My ex was always the source of appalling behavior for the past ten years, and earlier this year was no exception. But in retrospect, I am grateful that he is who he is, because he did me a favor by acting in ways that were so unacceptable to me that I had no choice but to move on. And in doing so I fell madly in love with "the one that got away" 13 years ago. So, for that I thank him. And I wish him well. Bwahahahahhahaha.
~ Where did most of your money go? Credit card bills. And Starbucks. I have an addition to iced caramel macchiatos, skinny, upside down. A big chunk went to getting my kid out the door and off to school, and now I pay child support to him. LOL It was cheaper to keep him at home!
~ What did you get really, really, really excited about? I was very excited for Jordan to go off to school, only because I knew how excited he was about it. I was afraid the empty nest might kill me, but turns out that it wasn't empty after all with my new man here all the time!
~ What do you wish you'd done more of? Live in the moment. I'm a worrier, always have been, but it was even worse this past ten years with my ex because I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop
and my life to explode around me again at his diabolical hands . Once he was out of the picture, it took me a long time to just...relax. Especially being in a new relationship. Rather than constantly looking for land mines, I wish I'd just been able to trust right off the bat that he wasn't going to do the things my ex did. It took me several months before I could exhale. And now I trust again, I believe in love again, and I will get married again. Six months ago I don't think I could have said anything of those things honestly.
~ What do you wish you'd done less of? Working. I mean, I need the paycheck, but I discovered this year that a lot of my "on call" status at work was simply due to me not having a life! I made work my 24 hour a day job, and this fall when Jordan left for school and Michael and I were cementing our relationship, I lost all motivation to make my job anything but a 9-5 deal. No more staying late, no more responding to emails on nights and weekends. I've even stopped some of my textual relationships. LOL I have better things to do with my time now!
~ Did you fall in love in 2010? Oh. Yes. I. Did. Madly, truly, deeply! And I am thankful every day for it. He's an amazing man, he makes me laugh and treats me like a queen. He's everything I ever imagined my partner to be (which is why he was always my "one that got away" for the last 13 years) and I'm so grateful to have a second chance at happily ever after. Long Live Turtle Power. (It's a private joke.)
~ How many one-night stands? Duh, just one. It's on the right side of my bed. Oh wait, not that kind of night stand? Then the answer is a proud "NONE".
~ Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't hate. That level of internal poison causes wrinkles that I can't afford to have! There are a couple of people that I am not overly fond of but karma will take care of them. Meanwhile, for me, living well is the best revenge!.
~ What was the best book you read? 'Infinite Possibilities: The Art of Living Your Dreams' by Mike Dooley. It's all about changing your thoughts and creating a new life for yourself. I am living proof that it works.
~ What did you want and not get? Botox. And Restylane. Hey, I'm being honest. My face has fallen further than Obama in the polls.
~ What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Well I was 49 on my birthday in March, and I have no idea what I did! But I can tell you where I'll be on March 22, 2011. I'll be turning 50 on a cruise ship in the Caribbean! Woohoooooooooooooooooo!
~ What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If I'd lost the rest of the weight I started losing in 2009. I fell off the wagon, and haven't been able to get back on.
~ What political issue stirred you the most? Don't get me started. We are all entitled to our opinions, but I don't force mine down your throat and I'd really appreciate you not forcing yours down mine. Thank God for the delete button in emails. For the record, I am a registered Democrat. I voted for Obama. If you have a problem with him, discuss it with the rest of your Republican friends, and keep your conspiracy theories to yourself. I didn't forward a bunch of shit about George Bush to everyone back in the day, so give me the same courtesy please. Thanks. In a related note, if God forbid Sarah Palin gets elected President, I will be relocating to another country. But no worries, I won't email you about it. You'll be getting enough from your friends wondering what kind of mess you've gotten yourselves into and how to get out of it!
~ Who did you miss? I miss my sister all the time. So many things I want to share with her. I want her to see Jordan and be as proud as I am. Life is just not the same without her. I also miss seeing my son every day! We talk on Face Time (it's a Skype like thing on our iPhones) a couple of times a week when he's away at school, but when you've seen somebody every day for 19 years, going a few weeks without seeing them is tough. Especially on a mom who's life has revolved around her kid for so long. But I survived it, and even learned not to text him every night to make sure he was safely in his dorm room so that I could go to bed and actually sleep. LOL
~ Who was the best new person you met? OK he's not a "new" person, but after 13 years apart, and each of us being in long term...."unsuccessful" relationships (that's a nice way to put it!), Michael and I are not the same people we were back when we dated before. So meeting up again was in a way like meeting a new person, who just happened to be very familiar. It was great not having to go through the awkward "getting to know you" phase of dating, though!
~ Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010. Anger and bitterness ages you faster than anything. This year I have really let go of my past, forgiven those who wronged me, and started looking forward with excitement and anticipation. My life has done a 180 this year, and while there have been a lot of changes in it, I can honestly say I have never been as happy as I am right now.
~ What sums up this year? (a word, a quote...?) Joy. Bliss. Happiness. At Last.
Happy New Year, readers! My wish for you all is that 2011 brings you the life you've dreamed of, and that you have a healthy and prosperous New Year!!! Thank you for the light you shine into my life and I hope that I bring something to yours as well.
