New Year Meme

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Raced in a single. Its been something I've wanted to try for a while and finally worked up enough nerve to try it. It was actually fun even if my finish time sucked badly.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?



Actually I don't make new year's resolutions so none to keep or fail to keep. I doubt I'll make any this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?



My nephew's wife Erin gave birth too a baby boy - Cameron.

4. Did anyone close to you die?



No,thank goodness.

5. What countries did you visit?



None.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?



Ideally, I would love to retire in 2010, but we'll have to see on that one. I'm eligible, but it's whether I can afford to.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?



Daughter#1's wedding in May.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?



Wow, nothing really stands out even after reviewing my archives for the year. I guess I could say completing another year of rowing even while in my late 50s, including competing a 5,000 meter race in a single.

9. What was your biggest failure?



The inability to reduce my credit card debt. I haven't gotten in any deeper, but I haven't gotten any better either.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?



Nothing serious unless you consider the recurring skin infections and my screwed up eyelashes that keeping scratching my corneas.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Daughter#1's wedding. It was a great wedding/party, but man was it expensive.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?



Nobody in particular comes to mind.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?



The right's continuing attacks on the President. Not born in the US! The birthers need a new life. He's a Muslim! Oh please. It seems the right will say anything to keep the masses in an uproar.

14. Where did most of your money go?



The mortgage, credit cards and other various loans.

15. What did you get really excited about?



My new bike that I got last Christmas. I couldn't wait to try it out. I had some great rides over the spring and summer.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

The Beach Boys 

"God Only Knows" It was the father/daughter dance at Daughter#1's wedding.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


– happier or sadder? Happier, I think.
– thinner or fatter? About the same.


– richer or poorer? Financially maybe a tad richer, but not by anything substantial.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?



More day or overnight trips. There is so much to do in this area that I don't take enough advantage of.

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



Wasting time and being so disorganized.

20. How did you spend Christmas?



At home with Ann and The Son. The girls and their husbands joined us the day after.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

Not with anyone new. I'm still in love with my wife of 33 years.

22. What was your favorite TV program?



Probably Fringe.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?



No.

24. What was the best book you read?



I usually read several books while at the beach. This year we didn't make it to the beach and therefore I can hardly recall reading any books at all. I did finish one while on travel in December - "Scarpetta" by Patricia Cornwell. Entertaining enough.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?


Can't think of a single one.

26. What did you want and get?



A year of being with my family, no serious illnesses, of seeing all the kids employed after all had lost their jobs at some point during the year. Walking Daughter#1 down the isle.

27. What did you want and not get?



I didn't get to retire.

8. What was your favorite film of this year?



Star Trek. Great movie for both Trekkees and the general public.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?



My birthday was on a Friday so I was at home and I'm sure i went for a row, but nothing extravagant for my birthday. I turned 58.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More work at home days.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?



Business casual for work days. Jeans and t shirts or sweatshirts depending on the temperature.

32. What kept you sane?



Getting out on the water or biking on the W&OD Trail. Working at home.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I think I’ll go with Amy Adams (she's just so cute) and Anna Torv (Fringe).

34. What political issue stirred you the most?



The bailouts. Necessary I know. It's scary how close the country came to going under.

35. Who did you miss?



My kids, my Dad and at the 25th anniversary of her death, my Mom.

36. Who was the best new person you met?



Hmmmm...I'm drawing a complete blank here which speaks volumes on how much I stay in my own comfort box and really don't meet many new people. Maybe Daughter#1 can help me out with this one.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.



My entire family was together for the first time in many years. We are scattered to the four winds and it's hard for all of us to get together any more. We did that this year celebrating my Dad's 80th birthday. It made me appreciate the family that I do have. It also makes me realize what I miss by not having them close by. It's said you can pick your friends, but not your family, which is true. I got lucky and have a great family. Even better, Daughters#1 and 2 have married guys with great families of their own. Its been wonderful adding their families to our own.

All About Christmas

Because I'm a follower and coming up with new things to write about is hard for me, I present to you the Christmas meme that someone started and I'm happy to copy.

Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate. I can't say that I developed a taste for eggnog, but I've only ha it when i was young. With some booze in it, it might be a whole different story.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Of course Santa wraps the presents.

Colored lights on a tree or white? Colored lights for the tree. White lights for the bushes outside.

Do you hang mistletoe? No, but only because we never buy any. Nothing against it personally.

When do you put your decorations up? It varies. usually the outside lights go up the weekend after the Thanksgiving weekend. The tree might go up that same weekend or the following weekend depending on when we get around to buying it.

What is your favorite holiday dish? The turkey! Mmmmmmm.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No. We wait until Christmas Morning to open presents.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Colored lights - non-blinking. We have a mixture of ornaments. Some of the traditional glass bulbs, ornaments from the various colleges represented in our house - Auburn, Ohio, VA Tech and Radford. We also have some ornaments that mark important dates, like baby's first Christmas (1980 and 1982), the Atlanta Olympics courtesy of my sister, the new Millennium, some of religious nature and some crafty ones, a dog one, a Harpers Ferry (from a Girl Scout visit by Daughter#2) one and then a few made by the kids in school over the years. We have an Angel that sits on the top of the tree and we finish off with some garland of popcorn and cranberries.

Snow: love it or hate it? I love snow - in moderation, of course. I love watching ti fall and how quiet everything is. Makes everything look beautiful. Hate to shovel it, of course.

Can you ice skate? I can although not that well anymore. When I was younger and lived in the wilds of New Jersey (yes NJ has some gorgeous undeveloped areas in the north), I use to ice skate a lot. Not in any fancy rink, but on frozen ponds and reservoirs. There was a Girl Scout camp not far from us where we use to go to skate most of the time. Of course it wasn't open during the winter so only the locals went there. I remember we use to go there without any parental supervision whatsoever. It was left to us (mostly preteens) to test to make sure the pond was frozen enough to hold us. Our usual testing methodology was to find the biggest rock we could find and hurl it out onto the ice. If it didn't go through, we figured we were could to go. Can you picture that happening these days?

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Give me that Apple Pie, warmed up with Vanilla Ice cream on top.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? We watch "One Magic Christmas" every Christmas Eve.

Candy canes: yum or yuck? They're not bad, but take to long to eat. I get tired of them about a third of the way through. I don't usually buy any.

Favorite Christmas show? A Christmas Carol. Oh that we could all be visited by the three ghosts and s the benefit from the lessons they can teach us.

Interview - By Fannie

The Questions:

1. I don't think anyone gets the childhood they THINK they deserve. Because parents are human and they make mistakes. That being said; what did you lesson(s) did you learn from your parents that you used when raising your own children?

I was lucky to have a great childhood with exceptional parents. I like to think I learned from my parents to be fair, loving and be involved in your kids lives.

2. I find myself caught up in the lives of people I only know through blogging. Who have you "met" through the blogosphere that you would like to meet in real life and why?

I have many blogs I check in on almost every day. Here are a few:

Tantrum Warehouse - Elizabeth is funny and a fairly new Mom.
Keep Up with Me - Zandria is local, which makes many of her posts of interest since I know the setting, etc.
So the Fish Said - Beth is also local and encouraged me to start a blog. She's sort of overwhelmed these days with two young children.
A Quiet Life - Laura lives in Alaska and has a lot of cats. We connected through Holidailes last year. We both work for the Government so we had that connection. She takes great pictures as well.
True(ish) Story - Tess is just plain funny.
This Isn't What I Ordered - What can I say? Fannie is witty, has a cute terrier and agreed to interview me.


There are plenty more I follow. Just ask.

3. What three things MUST you have to spend a night away from home?

A. A toothbrush
B. Contacts or glasses
C. Clean underwear/socks

4. In my opinion there are "Mountain" people and "Ocean" people. Think about where you would live, work, vacation, etc given the chance. Which are you?

Definitely ocean people. We vacation at the beach every year. I'd love to retire and live at the beach.

5. What adjective do people use to describe you that secretly pleases you?

Hmmm..I don't really know how people describe me other than quiet and short. I did attend a meeting in LA recently where we all had to get up and introduce ourselves including what we did for fun. When I mentioned rowing and biking my Deputy Program Manager later said to me he had wondered what type of workouts I did (he's big runner) to be in such good shape so I guess that was a pleasant surprise.

The Rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Relationship

I've seen this relationship meme making the rounds on the Internet such as at Tantrum Warehouse, Sundry, Dooce and Bitchypoo, so I'll take a stab at it.

What are your middle names?
Ann is Cecilia. I have no middle name. Weird but true. I had a heck of a time convincing my 3rd Grade teacher that I didn't have one to the point she sent a note home to my parents.

How long have you been together?
We started dating in 1975 and were married in 1976 so that's 34 years. Damn we are old.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Maybe a week. We met in a class our employer sent us to. I was living in Charleston, SC and Ann was living in Virginia, where the class was held.

Who asked whom out?
Ann asked me out during a class break. There was a Holiday Inn with a lounge/bar next door to the office building where we were taking our class. We went there after class for drinks/dinner.

How old are each of you?
We are both 57. Ann is two months older than me.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Ann's only sibling, an older brother, died in an auto accident along with his wife when he was in his 20s so we that leaves my siblings by default. Of my brother and sister, I see my sister the most.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Right now it's money and dealing with The Son.

Did you go to the same school?
No. Ann went to Ohio University and I went to Auburn. We did go to Graduate School at George Washington University together though.

Are you from the same home town?
No. Ann was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Maryland. I was born in NJ and grew up in NJ, North Carolina and Maryland.

Who is smarter?
I'd say Ann is probably smarter. She graduated with high honors. I graduated. Enough said there.

Who is the most sensitive?
Ann definitely. I'm much more laid back.

Where do you eat out most as a couple?

We eat out usually once or twice a week. Every Friday we have pizza at the Pizza Gourmet. It's our Cheers. The waitresses bring us our drinks without having to ask what we want.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Probably Miami to watch Daughter#2 play in a soccer tournament.

Who has the craziest exes?
Neither of us dated much in high school or college so crazy exes are not existent.

Who has the worst temper?
Ann by a wide margin.

Who does the cooking?
Ann does the majority of the cooking. I cook Wednesday and if we grill outside, I'll do that.

Who is the neat-freak?
Ha, if you saw our house it would become obvious that neither one of us is. We have people come in to do the cleaning for us. We think it's money well spent.

Who is more stubborn?
Definitely it's Ann. I think I see a trend here.

Who hogs the bed?

I'd say probably me, but only because Ann is not a cuddler and flees to her side of the bed to avoid contact.

Who wakes up earlier?
Ann does. She gets up at an ungodly hour even on weekends. Sleep is to be savored.

Where was your first date?

At a place called the Purple Parachute. That was the name of the lounge/bar in the Holiday Inn. Our Happy Hour date lasted much longer than either of us planned.

Who is more jealous?
I can't say either of us acts very jealous.

How long did it take to get serious?

Almost right away. We were taking a four week course together so we saw each other every day in class and went out every night and on the weekends. We knew each other pretty well by the time I headed back to South Carolina.

Who eats more?

I do by a far margin.

Who does the laundry?
I'll get the laundry started. I gather all the dirty clothes and get them down to the laundry room and starting the first load. As far as keeping things moving along, it's whomever is available. Its about 50/50 for finishing up and doing the folding.

Who’s better with the computer?

We both know the basics, but not much more. I might have a slight edge here. When things get hairy we call The Son.

Who drives when you are together?
I do 95% of the driving when we go somewhere.

fell free to copy the questions and answer in your blog.

A Fishy Interview of Sorts

Beth of So the Fish Said offered to interview her readers and sent out five questions to those who volunteered. As Beth is a neighbor of sorts and one who encouraged me to start a blog, I took her up on her offer. Here are my though provoking answers to her questions:

1. Remember the movie Brewster's Millions? That happens to you, except on a smaller scale. You receive a million dollars that you must spend in 30 days. However, you cannot have any assets to show for the money at the end of the month (and you can't buy something and then destroy it), you cannot waste the money, you cannot give it away, and you cannot tell anyone what you are doing. How do you ditch the dough in a month or less?

This is harder than it sounds. I guess I would try to make the best use of it within the confines of my interests. Certainly donations to organizations doesn't constitute "giving it away", say like to relatives. So the Red Cross and the ASPCA would be in for major chunks of it. I like to get rid of it to others who share my love of rowing and to those that have helped my family with the love of the sport. So a boathouse for the Ohio University Crew Teams would be in order and one for Virginia Tech as well - as long as they share it with Radford. I'd also like to get another boathouse built on either the Prince William or Fairfax side of the Occoquan. Right now there isn't enough room for everyone and every school that wants to row. Another chunk would go to the Rails to Trails Conservancy to build more biking/jogging/skating trails on abandoned railroad right of ways/roadbeds. I love riding on the W&OD Trail as opposed to riding on the streets and the more trails the better.

2. You are locked in a toy store overnight, with no way out until it reopens in the morning. What do you play with all night?

Assuming I was alone, I guess I'd be playing with their video games, riding the bikes, playing "Sorry" against myself or creating epic battles with their stock of action figures.

3. If you could have a dinner party with any three famous people, living or dead, you would be wasting your supernatural powers on hosting dinner parties. What would you do instead?

Since I have the power to raise dead people, I'll assume I can also time travel. I think witnessing a historic event as it occurs with those responsible would be fascinating. Say watching D-Day unfold with Eisenhower, Churchill and Rommel and get their take on things as the invasion happens.

4. What's the best thing since sliced bread? Now, sliced bread ain't all that impressive, so what's the best mediocre, hum-drum improvement or advancement that has made modern life just ever so slightly more convenient for humanity, along the lines of saving yourself five seconds every time you want a piece of bread.

Having watched the PBS series 1910 House, I can say that the washing machine and dryer have done more for the cause of freeing mankind (mostly women, lets be honest) than anything. Lord washing use to be an all day or two affair. None of this loading up the machine and coming back 45 minutes later to throw the clothes in the dryer and another hour has them dry and ready to fold. It was all manual. Drudgery thy name is laundry.

5. What's your best quality? The response to this question must be a simple declarative statement. You may elaborate on that statement, provided that your elaboration does not include the words "but," "however," or "although," or any other hedging, equivocating, back-sliding, gerrymandering (which is not at all appropriate in this context, but I think it should be, don't you?) or any other type of backing down from the simple declarative statement with which you began your response.

I am a "the glass is half full" person. I'm always looking for the positive. I can remember my mother once telling me when I was quite young that I had a "sunny" disposition. I'd like to think that is still true. I don't indulge in office politics. I'm a loyal friend. You'd like me.

If you'd like to be interviewed, leave a comment and I'll send five questions your way.

YouYou

I played this over on Laura's site and part of the game is posting it on your own site so I am doing so. Because I MUST!.

Leave your name in my blog comments. Once you do that, this is what I’ll do for you…

1. I’ll respond with something random about you.
2. I’ll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I’ll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
4. I’ll say something that only makes sense to you and me.(if possible. if not, I’ll say something that only makes sense to me.)
5. I’ll tell you my first memory of you.
6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wondered about you.
8. If you play, you MUST post this on yours. You MUST. Actually I'll make this optional. Up to you.