Meme stolen from Beep

I do have something better to do, but want to let my just-finished frozen pizza settle first. Therefore, 40 questions, stolen from Beep's entry on her Livejournal.

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before? Take an animal to the vet to be put down.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? My New Year's tradition is to spend a moment on New Year's Eve, meditating on what I want for the year ahead. I actually found my note for 2005, cleaning up. It reads in full:

Over the years, I have prayed for many things every New Year's Eve. It really boils down to this: God, always be with me. For 2005, I want God to always be with me.

And was God always with me? Well, actually, yes. That resolution is definitely worth repeating and keeping in 2006!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Oh, boy, yes. My sweet grandma, in July. I no longer cry myself to sleep, but I just realized that I'm not going to watch the New Year's concert from Vienna on January 1 with her. That makes me all sad again. And I put my cat to sleep in February.

5. What countries did you visit? The US. I was back in California for the first time since I left it in 1981.

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005? More patience. Less irritability. I'm already on my way to getting that.

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? July 17, the day Grandma died.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Improving relations with my mother (she helped), and achieving a huge change in behavior at work (something I was given a big compliment for by upper management today.)

9. What was your biggest failure? Two: Not being more patient and less irritable with Grandma, and not being able to find another solution for my cat (I miss her, too).

10. 10.Did you suffer illness or injury? No. Except for a cold this month (which is just my immune system saying it works great), and an odd rash earlier, I actually have the best of health and haven't been accident-prone since childhood.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Oh, where to start. :-) Plane tickets to the US. All the meals I shared with my mom when she visited me this summer. My new DVD-recorder with hard drive. Frames for paintings Grandma made.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mine! :-)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? The US government's handling of the Katrina disaster. Didn't make me depressed, though. Made me pissed off.

14. Where did most of your money go? Who knows? Such is the mystery of life. (I have actually toyed with the idea of setting up a budget for 2006, just to find out.)

15. What events did you get really, really, really excited about? Changing my behavior at work.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005? "Rock and Roll All Nite" by KISS. Old song, but sung loudly with my friend Ann as she drove me to the airport. So it gives me happy memories.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. Happier or sadder? - Happier.
b. Thinner or fatter? - Thinner.
c. Richer or poorer? - Definitely richer, both financially and spiritually.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Foot massages for Grandma.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Watching television. (Hmm... Another New Year's resolution?)

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Christmas Eve with Torleif and his kids; Christmas Day with Torleif's parents. I'm really looking forward to it!

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with? Torleif.

22. Did you fall in love in 2005? Not in a person, but in life. I rediscovered joy.

23. How many one-night stands? This year? None. As for the other years, I ain't tellin'. ;-)

24. What was your favorite TV program? "Law & Order" and all the flavors of C.S.I. Again.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I have never hated anyone.

26. What was the best book you read? All sorts of Emmet Fox books (I read several) and one I'm still reading, "Creating Miracles".

27. What was your greatest musical discovery or rediscovery? Eric Clapton's "Back Home". I have never listened to Eric Clapton before, but really like this album.

28. What did you want and get? Warm gloves. Got them for my birthday.

29. What did you want and not get? More time with Grandma and Grandpa. Weird that, how I had more than 30 years with both of them, and it suddenly wasn't enough.

30. What were your favorite films of this year? Seen on TV: "Purgatory" (the way a western should be). "Favorite" in the sense that it made an impression and I want to see it again.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I served pumpkin pie at work the day before (since my birthday was on a Saturday), and on Sunday, I went to the aquarium with Torleif and his kids (wearing my nice, new warm gloves). I can't believe I'm 45!

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Knowing sooner what I know now.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005? "Does this look good with jeans?"

34. Who kept you sane? I'm never not sane. That's why I manage to drive myself crazy.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most/least? The most: Noboby I can think of, off-hand. The least: Madonna and her kabbalah kick and her awfully boring song with the ABBA-sampling as its only positive trait.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? Nothing stirring happened in Norway that I noticed.

37. Whom did you miss? Douglas Adams. Re-read all of the "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books over again and wished he were still around, writing.

38. Who were the best new people you met? Sidsel, a woman I tried to start an astrological club with this year.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005: People are not out to make my life a misery.

40. Do you have any lost feelings of others? Uhm, I think I have a lost feeling of linguistics or something. Or maybe that's "last feelings or others" that is supposed to say. No, that didn't make sense, either. Ah, another life mystery!

(Thanks for playing!)