1) What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Training for the public.

2) Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't remember making any new year's resolutions.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousin did, but we're not close.

4) Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.

5) What countries did you visit?
Just the good ol' US of A

6) What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008.
Order

7) What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 11, 2008 - started my new job

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
See #7

9) What was your biggest failure?
housecleaning....

10) Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nope

11) What was the best thing you bought?
My iPod Touch

12) Whose behavior merited celebration? 
No one's 

13) Whose behavior made you appalled? 
No one's 

14) Where did most of your money go? 
bills, dining out 

15) What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My new job and my iPod

16) Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Very much happier

ii. thinner or fatter? Fatter

iii. richer or poorer? About the same

17) What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising

18) What do you wish you'd done less of? 
Driving to work 

19) How will you be spending Christmas?
II spent it at home with my family.

20) Did you fall in love in 2008?
Not newly

21) How many one night stands?
um, none

22) What was your favorite TV program?
Watched very little TV

23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No

24) What was the best book you read?
Stardust

25) What was your greatest musical discovery?
nothing new this year

26) What did you want and get?
my iPod and my job and my food processor

27) What did you want and not get?
Wii Fit

28) What was your favorite film this year?
I don't know. Wall-E maybe?

29) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
starting my new job earlier

30) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Me? Fashion? I guess...whatever's clean.

31) What kept you sane? 
My family and friends 

32) Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Don't know

33) What political issue stirred you the most?
The election.

34) Who did you miss?
My Mississippi family

35) Who was the best new person you met? 
Some of my new coworkers 

36) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Sometimes a better schedule and more "freedom" doesn't equal more happiness.

Where I slept in 2008:

Meadows Place, TX
Dallas, TX
Austin, TX
Brenham, TX

Not very exciting life, huh?

It's been a long time since I've done something like this. I'll take advantage of the slow night in telephone reference.

<lj-cut text="Meme behind cut">
The things I have done are in BOLD!

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (high school band)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (both)
8. Climbed a mountain (I'll count hiking up small bits in the Smokeys)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language (Does studying a foreign language in school count?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (I've overdrafted way too many times, but the check has never officially bounced.)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (my ankle)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper (many times as a kid - that happens in small towns...)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant
</lj-cut>

 I'm watching the election results, and it is just so exciting! History in the making!

I was checking out a new search engine called Kosmix and used "Kosciusko, Mississippi" (my hometown) as a search term. I found a bunch of Flickr photos and this one has great memories associated with it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deepfriedkudzu/35065237/

When I was a kid, we were at my grandfather's house one day and somehow the conversation ended up in a discussion of a local grave. This grave has a large statue of the woman buried there, which was commissioned by her husband when she died. Their house was in the process of being built when she died, so her husband had a 3rd story built on the house so that he could see her grave from his home. My dad decided I needed to go see this grave that day and told me that if I stared up at the statue and asked, "What are you doing up there, Mrs. Kelly?" she would say, "Nothing at all." So he took me to the local cemetery and put me up on his shoulders, from which I hollered (it was Mississippi, of course I "hollered"!) "Hey, Mrs. Kelly! Whatcha doin' up there?" and sure enough, she replied with...nothing at all.

As a kid, I visited that cemetery often to see Mrs. Kelly. It was especially creepy driving through at night. I really need to take my kids to meet Mrs. Kelly, too.

Laura: Mom, scientifically speaking, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Me: Scientifically speaking, waves are created, but if there is nothing for them to vibrate, a sound can't be created.(Yes, I know this a simplification, but she's 12!)
Laura: So, really, if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it really matter?

 Here's Jimmy's update, no need to repeat it all:

http://newtonsenigma.livejournal.com/436721.html

Things are ok. I would definitely prefer to live the rest of my life without ever going through another hurricane. And this was a minor hurricane.

 We just lost our gate! We're getting some pretty strong winds, but nothing that bad. The gate post had rotted through, and we didn't know it. Luckily it fell early on and we were able to move it. It's flat on our covered patio and hopefully won't be a problem...

 Jimmy's cousin e-mailed him from Ocean Springs, MS and told him that they are getting 40-65 mph winds and lots of flooding from Ike. They have flooding at the end of their street, but their house is dry. Some of their neighbors already have water in the bottom levels of their homes. Crazy!

Besides my book blog (http://somereads.blogspot.com), I have now started a food blog at http://holdtheonions.picavulpes.net. For your reading pleasure. :-) 

 I've been watching the news all day. I just saw the most infuriating thing. These idiotic people with youngish children who "wanted their kids to see how vicious the sea can be." Yeah. Duh. Now they have no way out of the city. They have CHILDREN. The one stupid lady said, "The storm's still 14 hours away. What were we supposed to do?" You were supposed to leave YESTERDAY! The younger child, about 5 or 6 years old, was standing next to her mom with her fingers in her ears, obviously terrified. I can't even imagine ever putting my children in such danger.

Um. There's a person in a bear suit walking along the beach. Idiot. What an idiot.

I grabbed this off one of the bookish blogs I read:

* Where is your cell phone? Purse
* Your significant other? driving
* Your hair? Clean
* Your mother? Gardener
* Your father? Judge
* Your favorite thing? Books
* Your dream last night? Ginny
* Your favorite drink? Margarita
* Your dream/goal? Happiness
* The room you’re in? Den
* Your hobby? Needlework
* Your fear? Death
* Where do you want to be in 6 years? Successful
* What you’re not? Tall
* Muffins? Chocolate-chip (a hyphen makes it 1 word, right?)
* One of your wish list items? Yarn
* Where you grew up? Mississippi
* The last thing you did? Talked
* What are you wearing? Shorts
* Favorite gadget? Computer
* Your pets? Fewer
* Your computer? Dell
* Your mood? Mixed
* Missing someone? Yes
* Your car? Corolla
* Something you’re not wearing? Make-up
* Favorite store? Target (can't do that one in 1 word)
* Like someone? Yes
* Your favorite color? Green
* When is the last time you laughed? Earlier
* Last time you cried? Dunno

I'm participating in an online read-a-thon today. You can watch my progress at my book blog, SomeReads if you want!

Who knew knitting washcloths could be so fun?

Headed to lunch. Can't decide whether to read or knit...maybe I'll do both.

Why do Fridays always last so long?