2009 Review
Dec. 20th, 2009 03:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
squeefulfishThe questions in this are increasingly irrelevant to my life, but sure it's a sorta tradition now so
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Suture! I love suturing, even if I haven't got to practice on a real live human yet I'm so looking forward to getting signed off as competent on that one. Suturing and cannulation, two biggest skills I neeeeeeed to learn properly.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Next year I'm going to sleep at least 6 nights out of every 7 and for more than 5 consecutive hours each night I do sleep. That would be a significant improvement on the way things are. (Currently 2-3 all-nighters in 7, usually only 4 hours sleep in bed, another 2 grabbed on the bus.) Oh, and no nookies with people who don't cherish me. I deserve a helluva lot better than I've been accepting lately.
Sleep: so not accomplished. Very very nearly though. There were nowhere near as many all nighters this year as in 2008. Most nights did get at least 5 hours sleep and some nights as many as 12, which were fabulous.
Nookie: Totally accomplished. I win at nookies.
Next year: More time with friends. That'll do.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No-one I'm emotionally close to. Unless I've forgotten. In which case, oops. Oooh, no, wait, Katie-in-my-class popped out Ben.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Too many. Two of my kin, one of my blood.
5. What countries did you visit?
Midwifery nerdery in Edinburgh meant actually leaving the island! Woo! First time in years. More next year. Lots more.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
MONEY! I am getting money soon! I cannot wait to have MONEY! Money money money! Graduating without debt is looking increasingly unlikely given the various cuts to salary but we'll see.
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
31st October, Mark's birthday. Not many people give others presents of happiness on their birthdays.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Properly calling things off with someone who was very much not good for me.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Schol? Unexpected outcomes exam? I dunno, I mean Schol was a stupid thing to sit 7 days after burying a member of my household so not getting it isn't a failure and the work I put in for that has and will be very useful. Other exam I passed on the resit so I'm not bothered. There could be worse failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
More UTIs, more nosebleeds, did serious damage to muscles and ligaments of left leg when chasing after a runaway cat. Wasn't able to walk for most of the summer with that one. Fainted tons while studying. Generally accident prone, but usually in a way that's amusing for others to hear about, apparently.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Purple coat! Keeps me warm, makes me easy to spot. Mmm warm. I'm a gal of simple tastes, really.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The usual lot. B, for not being easy to push away; Liz, for having similar reference points; Christian, for Cake and kitteh therapy and MEAT and being there.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Too many to list, but no-one who means anything to me.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Commuting, same as every year, leaving me with a grand total of 20 quid a week to spend on everything else. Except next year :D Sick of being broke and not having time to get part time job. But passing the course is too important to lose study time, seeing as it already stole most of my sleeping time.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving. Back. To. Dublin! Sooon! Oh God, you have no idea how good it feels to be moving back after years of losing 5-7 hours a day to commuting. Vroomycycle next, too. Need to poke someone about lessons and poke work about parking permit for vroomies. VROOM!
16. What will always remind you of 2009?
Demands for kittens and rainbows. Lack of same. Generally feeling crap and some very bad situational stress that made me be an utter idiot towards people I love.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Overall, probably about the same though there have obviously been some days of extreme happiness and extreme sadness.
thinner or fatter? Clothes say about the same. Few kilos I lost over summer have plonked back on. It's called "finals."
richer or poorer? I owe as much as I did last year, so I'm gonna say richer. I have no idea anymore. Exponentially richer in 5 weeks!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise, seeing friends.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Commute of Doom. Study. Being sulky moody cow. Being lonely. Believing people who said they'd visit with 6 years previous evidence to the contrary.
20. How will you spend Christmas?
This doesn't change ever. At home with family after spending most of Christmas Eve night prepping veg and making stuffing. Christmas Eve means traditional dinner with dad and the sisters (stemming from "Wanna, get these kids out of here while I wrap presents" from when we were little.) Popping up to the graveyard to drop off flowers.
Selection box for breakfast Christmas morning. Always. Tradition again, you see. Visiting the ancestral home after Mass and seeing aunts n uncles n cousins n explaining that yes, still love my job, yes, still a student. Then home to presents and Roses and sherry. It's traditional, spinster aunts drink sherry and now I am that spinster aunt. Dinner with at least three types of stuffing.
21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
In a pretty dress with a glass of splishy splashy and damn fine company.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Ehh, nope. One of these years that might change, but for the time being I don't have time for that sort of thing. Brief discussion over drinkies recently with Liz in which we decided that I'm fundamentally flawed in some way regarding the "girlfriend" word, having run away screaming in a panic twice this year when it was used about me.
23. How many one-night stands?
None. Haven't had any in years. At least, not by my definition.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
What is this TV thing of which you speak?
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I still don't do hate, pointless reaction. Anyone who offends me or hurts me that badly isn't worth me spending time and energy hating. I've better things to be doing.
26. What was the best book you read?
Finally finished Jo Murphy-Lawless' "Reading Birth and Death: A History of Obstetric Thinking." I love that woman.
27. What was your greatest discovery?
Cheap stockings from Penneys are a false economy. Sure, this is something I should have known, but on a cost per wear basis they're ridiculously expensive seeing as I only get 1 wear out of them before poking fingers through them.
28. What did you want and get?
A new coat? Crap. Surely I did better than that this year? Ah, well, apart from getting some very good news about a family member.
29. What did you want and not get?
Schol? Yeah, Schol. At least I can't answer this the same way next year.
Social life would have been nice, too. But that's for other people.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Uhhh... I think I saw about 4 new movies this year. I'm gonna go with Star Trek, purely for the nerdgasms.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Breakfast with the mammy, bunked off morning lectures, arrived in for afternoon ones and got sung at, lots. Gave blood. Got 20th donation pin. Chatted with Niamh outside afterwards for the usual amount of time and the usual amount of weirdos (we get Attention for some reason.) Came home early due to lack of interest in pubbage, had chips and cake, got an early night. Turned 32.
Sulked for quite some time afterwards (we're talking weeks here) about lack of interest in pubbage (and hence, I felt, me) and was determined once again not to bother even attempting to celebrate it next year. But some lessons I never learn.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Same as last year: Schol, time with friends. Less inability to walk would have been nice, too. Not being able to work over summer means having a grand total of €20 a week tops after travel costs. Less UTIs, the last one was so ouchies that there was severe difficulty walking.
Being less of an idiot in late November/early December would have been good, too.
Clearly I'm not good at only picking one thing. This... might explain a lot about 11 years of being single :)
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Lazy. Jeans, t-shirts, fleeces featured heavily. And crocs. I love my crocs. Need more crocs, especially now I've learned that they're making ones with enclosed heels.
34. What kept you sane?
Cake. Cark. Kittehs. Hugs. Moar Cake. One particular walk round Trinity.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Daft question. I only fancy people I've some vague chance of bonking.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I can't actually remember, though it's been a year of annoyances they've all melded into one amorphous blob of "sod off FF."
37. Who did you miss?
Everyone who isn't in my class. Srsly, have seen most people about twice this year. Mostly cos I was a moron who got sick of making arrangements to meet. Haven't even been to Cark since damaging my leg in July.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Ummm.... I'm sure I've met new people this year... Help? Commie Boy gave me a couple of giggles until he started getting weird.
Actually, no, I met a wonderful couple when I was working in NICU but won't talk about that. They were great though. Gave me hope.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Choose your communication medium wisely. Texts are grand for quick messages, but not for trying to explain just why you're upset about something. Likewise, when sending texts, check the recipient and double check if there's a chance of getting into trouble by sending to the next person in phonebook. That one gave me a good giggle.
They're also a crap medium for telling someone that a member of their family has just died.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I daren't, it's a song that drives me crazy and would possibly be incriminating. I'll just hum it to myself instead. And giggle.
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Suture! I love suturing, even if I haven't got to practice on a real live human yet I'm so looking forward to getting signed off as competent on that one. Suturing and cannulation, two biggest skills I neeeeeeed to learn properly.
2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Next year I'm going to sleep at least 6 nights out of every 7 and for more than 5 consecutive hours each night I do sleep. That would be a significant improvement on the way things are. (Currently 2-3 all-nighters in 7, usually only 4 hours sleep in bed, another 2 grabbed on the bus.) Oh, and no nookies with people who don't cherish me. I deserve a helluva lot better than I've been accepting lately.
Sleep: so not accomplished. Very very nearly though. There were nowhere near as many all nighters this year as in 2008. Most nights did get at least 5 hours sleep and some nights as many as 12, which were fabulous.
Nookie: Totally accomplished. I win at nookies.
Next year: More time with friends. That'll do.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No-one I'm emotionally close to. Unless I've forgotten. In which case, oops. Oooh, no, wait, Katie-in-my-class popped out Ben.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Too many. Two of my kin, one of my blood.
5. What countries did you visit?
Midwifery nerdery in Edinburgh meant actually leaving the island! Woo! First time in years. More next year. Lots more.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
MONEY! I am getting money soon! I cannot wait to have MONEY! Money money money! Graduating without debt is looking increasingly unlikely given the various cuts to salary but we'll see.
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
31st October, Mark's birthday. Not many people give others presents of happiness on their birthdays.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Properly calling things off with someone who was very much not good for me.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Schol? Unexpected outcomes exam? I dunno, I mean Schol was a stupid thing to sit 7 days after burying a member of my household so not getting it isn't a failure and the work I put in for that has and will be very useful. Other exam I passed on the resit so I'm not bothered. There could be worse failures.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
More UTIs, more nosebleeds, did serious damage to muscles and ligaments of left leg when chasing after a runaway cat. Wasn't able to walk for most of the summer with that one. Fainted tons while studying. Generally accident prone, but usually in a way that's amusing for others to hear about, apparently.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Purple coat! Keeps me warm, makes me easy to spot. Mmm warm. I'm a gal of simple tastes, really.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The usual lot. B, for not being easy to push away; Liz, for having similar reference points; Christian, for Cake and kitteh therapy and MEAT and being there.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Too many to list, but no-one who means anything to me.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Commuting, same as every year, leaving me with a grand total of 20 quid a week to spend on everything else. Except next year :D Sick of being broke and not having time to get part time job. But passing the course is too important to lose study time, seeing as it already stole most of my sleeping time.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving. Back. To. Dublin! Sooon! Oh God, you have no idea how good it feels to be moving back after years of losing 5-7 hours a day to commuting. Vroomycycle next, too. Need to poke someone about lessons and poke work about parking permit for vroomies. VROOM!
16. What will always remind you of 2009?
Demands for kittens and rainbows. Lack of same. Generally feeling crap and some very bad situational stress that made me be an utter idiot towards people I love.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? Overall, probably about the same though there have obviously been some days of extreme happiness and extreme sadness.
thinner or fatter? Clothes say about the same. Few kilos I lost over summer have plonked back on. It's called "finals."
richer or poorer? I owe as much as I did last year, so I'm gonna say richer. I have no idea anymore. Exponentially richer in 5 weeks!
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercise, seeing friends.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Commute of Doom. Study. Being sulky moody cow. Being lonely. Believing people who said they'd visit with 6 years previous evidence to the contrary.
20. How will you spend Christmas?
This doesn't change ever. At home with family after spending most of Christmas Eve night prepping veg and making stuffing. Christmas Eve means traditional dinner with dad and the sisters (stemming from "Wanna, get these kids out of here while I wrap presents" from when we were little.) Popping up to the graveyard to drop off flowers.
Selection box for breakfast Christmas morning. Always. Tradition again, you see. Visiting the ancestral home after Mass and seeing aunts n uncles n cousins n explaining that yes, still love my job, yes, still a student. Then home to presents and Roses and sherry. It's traditional, spinster aunts drink sherry and now I am that spinster aunt. Dinner with at least three types of stuffing.
21. How will you be spending New Year's Eve?
In a pretty dress with a glass of splishy splashy and damn fine company.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Ehh, nope. One of these years that might change, but for the time being I don't have time for that sort of thing. Brief discussion over drinkies recently with Liz in which we decided that I'm fundamentally flawed in some way regarding the "girlfriend" word, having run away screaming in a panic twice this year when it was used about me.
23. How many one-night stands?
None. Haven't had any in years. At least, not by my definition.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
What is this TV thing of which you speak?
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I still don't do hate, pointless reaction. Anyone who offends me or hurts me that badly isn't worth me spending time and energy hating. I've better things to be doing.
26. What was the best book you read?
Finally finished Jo Murphy-Lawless' "Reading Birth and Death: A History of Obstetric Thinking." I love that woman.
27. What was your greatest discovery?
Cheap stockings from Penneys are a false economy. Sure, this is something I should have known, but on a cost per wear basis they're ridiculously expensive seeing as I only get 1 wear out of them before poking fingers through them.
28. What did you want and get?
A new coat? Crap. Surely I did better than that this year? Ah, well, apart from getting some very good news about a family member.
29. What did you want and not get?
Schol? Yeah, Schol. At least I can't answer this the same way next year.
Social life would have been nice, too. But that's for other people.
30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Uhhh... I think I saw about 4 new movies this year. I'm gonna go with Star Trek, purely for the nerdgasms.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Breakfast with the mammy, bunked off morning lectures, arrived in for afternoon ones and got sung at, lots. Gave blood. Got 20th donation pin. Chatted with Niamh outside afterwards for the usual amount of time and the usual amount of weirdos (we get Attention for some reason.) Came home early due to lack of interest in pubbage, had chips and cake, got an early night. Turned 32.
Sulked for quite some time afterwards (we're talking weeks here) about lack of interest in pubbage (and hence, I felt, me) and was determined once again not to bother even attempting to celebrate it next year. But some lessons I never learn.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Same as last year: Schol, time with friends. Less inability to walk would have been nice, too. Not being able to work over summer means having a grand total of €20 a week tops after travel costs. Less UTIs, the last one was so ouchies that there was severe difficulty walking.
Being less of an idiot in late November/early December would have been good, too.
Clearly I'm not good at only picking one thing. This... might explain a lot about 11 years of being single :)
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Lazy. Jeans, t-shirts, fleeces featured heavily. And crocs. I love my crocs. Need more crocs, especially now I've learned that they're making ones with enclosed heels.
34. What kept you sane?
Cake. Cark. Kittehs. Hugs. Moar Cake. One particular walk round Trinity.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Daft question. I only fancy people I've some vague chance of bonking.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I can't actually remember, though it's been a year of annoyances they've all melded into one amorphous blob of "sod off FF."
37. Who did you miss?
Everyone who isn't in my class. Srsly, have seen most people about twice this year. Mostly cos I was a moron who got sick of making arrangements to meet. Haven't even been to Cark since damaging my leg in July.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Ummm.... I'm sure I've met new people this year... Help? Commie Boy gave me a couple of giggles until he started getting weird.
Actually, no, I met a wonderful couple when I was working in NICU but won't talk about that. They were great though. Gave me hope.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Choose your communication medium wisely. Texts are grand for quick messages, but not for trying to explain just why you're upset about something. Likewise, when sending texts, check the recipient and double check if there's a chance of getting into trouble by sending to the next person in phonebook. That one gave me a good giggle.
They're also a crap medium for telling someone that a member of their family has just died.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I daren't, it's a song that drives me crazy and would possibly be incriminating. I'll just hum it to myself instead. And giggle.
