1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Held a baby leopard, stood in the Pacific Ocean, attended graduate school, applied for a loan, started house-hunting...

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I apparently did not do a 2007 survey, so I have no idea what my resolutions were. This year, I'm sticking with the basics: lose weight/get in better shape and pay off the credit cards (or have a damn good reason why not).

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
2009 will be a big birth year. I have two close friends currently knocked up, and my sister and Chris are apparently aggressively trying.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Ernie's grandpa died early in the year at the ripe old age of 102, but I had never met him. Also, my great uncle Leon, whom I visited a lot as a kid, passed away in November. He and my great aunt lived in rural Florida, and our family visited them several times when I was younger. It was always fun because he was very outdoorsy and we went fishing a lot and ate at these dives straight out of the Dukes of Hazzard. My grandfathers didn't live long enough for me to meet them, but he was probably the most grandfather-ly person in my life. I hadn't seen him in probably 15 years, but I had written them on occasion throughout college.

5. What countries did you visit?
None this year, and probably none next year. 2010 will be a traveling year, maybe. We did make our semi-annual pilgrimage to the west coast, however.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A home of our own

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Specific dates would be July 7, our first wedding anniversary, and November 4, a day I looked forward to probably more than any other in my adult life.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting into Hopkins and getting A's (not A-minuses) in all my classes thus far.

9. What was your biggest failure?
The ups and downs of first year teaching and being too sensitive within teacher/administration politics. And not putting much of a dent in those credit cards.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing more than the usual flu. I did have a terrible fever for the first time in ages, and Rocky has left my arms scarred with scratches.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Awesome cheap stuff from IKEA! And all my Indy toys that I really do play with.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The American people, for standing up for peace and morality and electing a Democrat into the White House. And also all those people that gave China such a hard time with the Olympics. I'm all about nations coming together in the spirit of sportsmanship, and that political matters should not interfere, but I'm glad that there were some people out there reminding China, hey, your human rights are awful and we all know it and you're not off the hook. I don't think the Olympics should have been disrupted, but I'm glad there was talk, and that the flame encountered some trouble. Just a reminder.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I filled this out from the bottom up, so see #25.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Sigh, who knows? We spent a lot more on car repair this year than in years past. We both got new tires, I had new brakes, and had to get my heating and thermostat fixed. These however were the first major repairs I've ever had on my eight-year-old pickup.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
em>Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</em>, and all various toys on the subject of

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
This is tough. Songs that didn't merit an immediate swtich in radio stations were "Small Town Southern Man" (Alan Jackson), "Waiting on a Woman" (Brad Paisley) and "Don't Blink" (Kenny Chesney). And of course, the soundtrack from Indiana Jones and KOTCS. Oh yeah, even thought they're not from 2008, "Happiest Girl in the Whole USA" (Donna Fargo) and "All These Things That I've Done" (The Killers) were in my favorite Olympics commericals, so I'll probably always remember the '08 Olympics when I hear them.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? hard to say--I was pretty happy and optimistic at the end of 2007, and I still am. That's a good thing, right?
ii. thinner or fatter? way fatter
iii. richer or poorer? richer in a sense--credit card debt is down, though not gone yet, our salaries are higher, yet the bank account remains the same.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Saving money and paying off the credit cards.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating fast food. Ugh. I had McD's probably twice a week, at least.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With family, as always. Ernie's family on the 24th, followed by midnight mass, then breakfast with my parents on Christmas morning. This year we switched it up a little ans went to my sister's new house after breakfast and opened gifts and had lunch. It was a lot of fun to watch the girls open their presents and be excited about Christmas. It's just magical to see them walking around wearing every piece of new clothing they received and get immeasurably excited about a baby doll or "Fur-real pony."

21. What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2008?
Hard to saw what was embarassing. I think the most humbling things revolved around getting chewed out by the administration at school for things that were and were not my fault. I'm used to being a "star" at my job, so it was difficult--and embarassing--to have my boss tell me I suck a little.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
With my sweet little Rocky cat--one of the best surprises I've ever had come into my life.

23. How many one-night stands?
...zero...

24. What was your favorite TV program?
I got into watching Family Guy, but I think that's the only new show I was interested in. Intervention, which had been fading slightly, came back into my life with a vengeance. I never missed an episode, but I had been starting to become less interested. But it's back!

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
2008 surprisingly was a year in which I got back into pacifism. Not that I ever left, so to speak, but I took conscious efforts to examine my feelings and beliefs towards certain people and ideas that I dislike. I took my anti-Bush stickers off my truck and decided that devoting energy and thought to hatred does me no good, and brings little change to what angers me so much.

That being said, I was continually disappointed by racist and immoral activities of the Republican party, and the inability of those in charge to call them on it.

26. What was the best book you read?
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. I read a lot more books in 2008, which is good.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don't know that there was any one song or artist that I discovered this year, but I expand into more rock bands and even game current country a re-listen. I still think most of it is horrible, but I did find a few songs and artists that I enjoyed. As per #25, I tried this year, and continue to try, to keep my mind open to new thoughts and experiences.

28. What did you want and get?
Into graduate school and thereby a stable future for the next five years.

29. What did you want and not get?
Um, again, hard to say. The first house we bid on. A winning lottery ticket. A full-time job at one school. but really, I try not to dwell on things like that, because whatever is meant to happen, will happen. My belief in that comes from a religious standpoint, but it's not really a religious message. I do my best to avoid hoping and praying for certain things to happen (e.g. Please let us get this house) and instead wish for us to find happiness with the results (e.g. Please let us buy a home that we love).

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
The one I looked forward to the most was obviously Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I loved it, of course, and it got me back into doing more Indy-related things. We also saw The Kite Runner at the very beginning of the year, and that was my favorite movie of the whole year. Second favorite, probably No Country for Old Men.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 28, and celebrated by losing to Oakland Terrace by one run in softball, which was our only loss of the season (they went undefeated). Afterward, I met up with Ernie's softball team at Friday's and had fun. At school, the kids all sang Happy Birthday to me and made me cards.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having our offer accepted on this house last week. Other than that, things have already been immeasurably satisfying.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Uh... sweatpants? I did cut back a lot on the Jordans, mostly because my students were too young to care and it wasn't worth messing them up at school. Overall, I would say my shoe interest in other types of sneakers and shoes has taken centerstage, and I only bought one pair of Jordans in 2008, the XXIIIs.

34. What kept you sane?
Having great conversations with friends and getting support from my classmates at Hopkins. Through our crazy summer of work and school and summer teaching, we all kept each other sane.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Rediscovered my love for Josh Brolin (Goonies/The Young Riders forever!), and Barack Obama slowly captured my heart. Wouldn't say I fancied him, though.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The Presidential election, of course.

37. Who did you miss?
I really missed loving baseball and the Orioles this year. I barely know this team anymore, and it makes me sad. I still love them, but I'm holding out for better days.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Hard to say who was the "best" but I'm really happy that I made some awesome new friends at Hopkins in the ESOL program, Anne and Meredith. We'll be taking all our classes together until 2010, so it's a good thing we all get along! Also I made a few "teacher buds" at Viers Mill, which is a plus. It usually takes me awhile to find a group, so it's nice to already have a few pals.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
Being a grown up is hard work.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I've tried and tried, and I can't come up with one. I should probably just delete this one from the survey.