Average Jane: Average Jane's 2007 Summary

I found this meme via SueBob (and others) and decided it was a good way to end the year. Tomorrow I'll start the new year with the photos I keep promising.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before? 
Dyed my hair blue. Gave up caffeine and STAYED off it.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not one for making resolutions, but I thought the year went pretty well as far as meeting general goals.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? 
Cagey had Anjali.

4. Did anyone close to you die? 
No humans, but we lost our cats, Kato and Friday.

5. What countries did you visit? 
I only traveled within the U.S.: Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose and St. Louis.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? 
Well, more money would always be nice. I'd also like to do my best to NOT fill up every moment of spare time with activity. Some downtime would be good and healthy for me.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 
My birthday celebration was notable and memorable. I also really enjoyed BlogHer (it was my first trip to Chicago) and the Ford-sponsored trip to L.A.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
I'm pretty happy with all of the home improvements we did. They're not a direct achievement in that I paid someone else to execute them, but I love the way they turned out.

9. What was your biggest failure? 
Letting my original band project languish. There's no excuse for my not having finished the lyrics to the first two batches of songs.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? 
The chronic acid reflux is still an issue, but it's under control with medication - particularly since I stopped drinking caffeine.

11. What was the best thing you bought? 
Most of my coolest new things were gifts: camera, iPod Shuffle, Xena the (former) kitten.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? 
My husband is really making me proud with his recording studio business. In less than a year, he's taught himself an enormous amount about the technical and artistic aspects of recording engineering and production and he's slowly but steadily building a client base on word of mouth alone. I think this coming year will be quite positive for him.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 
Every politician in power right now, including the ones we recently elected to put a stop to all of the craziness of the past seven years.

14. Where did most of your money go? 
Bills, bills, bills. And food.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? 
Three reallys, huh? I don't think I'm capable of getting that excited about anything.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? 
I was actually more into new music this year than usual. Some memorable songs: "Side of a Bullet" by Nickelback, "I'm Not Going Away" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva, and the whole "Ten Thousand Fists" album by Disturbed.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:  a) happier or sadder?
Happier.
b) thinner or fatter?
Probably fatter.
 c) richer or poorer? 
About the same or possibly slightly poorer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? 
Songwriting, vacationing and reading.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? 
Procrastinating.

20. How did you spend Christmas? 
Hanging out with the family at my sister's house.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? 
Yes, with our new kitten, Xena, and our new cat, Velvet.

22. What was your favorite TV program? 
My favorite new TV program is Pushing Daisies.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? 
No. I like to follow my Great-Aunt Edith's dictate, "We don't hate anyone...except Hitler and the Devil."

24. What was the best book you read? 
I wasn't as involved in book clubs this year as last year, but I remember enjoying "Water for Elephants" and "Special Topics in Calamity Physics." That's cheating, though, because those are both books I've read recently and I can't really remember what I read earlier in the year.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? 
I'm enjoying Lacuna Coil, whom I didn't discover until this year.

26. What did you want and get? 
One of my goals was to cook dinner at home more often, and I achieved that (up until the past few weeks).

27. What did you want and not get? 
I wanted my grandparents' estate to be settled once and for all, but it doesn't seem to be happening before the end of calendar year 2007.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? 
I didn't see very many movies this year, but I noticed that I'd reviewed "Grindhouse" quite positively.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 
This was actually the weekend before my birthday, but I went with my sister and two friends to a town about an hour away and spent the night at a bed and breakfast in an old mansion. We had a great time. As for my age, that's not something one asks a lady.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? 
An hour more sleep per night.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? 
14-year-old boy (t-shirts, jeans and Converse sneakers).

32. What kept you sane? 
Family, friends, blog buddies, co-workers and kittehs.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 
I've got nothin' for this one.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? 
I'll steal SueBob's answer: Access to health care.

35. Who did you miss? 
My late grandparents and mother.

36. Who was the best new person you met? 
Even if you're only counting bloggers, I met dozens and dozens of cool people this year. It seems the older I get, the more I enjoy meeting new people.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Good things come to those who wait.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I'll go with Joe Walsh, "I can't complain but sometimes I still do." That's a lyric that'll always be appropriate and timeless.

Linda at Sundry Mourning is tracking the responses to this meme, so if you decide to tag yourself, head over and let her know.