2012 in Review

I stole this from Drew years ago...

1. What did you do in 2012 that you'd never done before? 
I walked to another country.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Not sure if I made it this year...if I did, then no. I haven't made one for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? 
No one really close, but people I know did.

4. Did anyone close to you die? 
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012? 
Disposable income...or at the very least, a job in DC.


7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 

April 21, August 10, August 18 - weddings

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
Being in a relationship for over a year.


9. What was your biggest failure? 
Not finding a job


10. Did you suffer illness or injury? 
I'm so old that I hurt myself sleeping - I couldn't straighten my neck, and need steroids and muscle relaxers.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
An awesome red dress


12. Whose behavior merited celebration? 
My bf - he drove up to take care of me when I was sick, and other random times I wasn't expecting


13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 
Mass shooters


14. Where did most of your money go? 
I'm not really sure - I did spend a lot on weddings


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? 
Chicago, a whole week in Chippewa


16. What song will always remind you of 2012? 
Here Comes the Bride?
On a Pontoon


17. Compared to this time last year, are you: 
a) Happier or Sadder? Happier
b) Thinner or Fatter? Fatter
c) Richer or Poorer? Probably a little poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? 
Travel


19. What do you wish you'd done less of? 
Paying loans

20. How did you spend Christmas? 
I spent Christmas Eve at my parents, then hung out there all day.


21. Did you fall in love in 2012? 
No, already fell in love :)


22. What was your favorite TV program? 
Grey's Anatomy

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? 
Not that I can think of.

24. What was the best book you read?
I don't really remember, so I'll say one the Kathy Reichs, Temperance Brennan books


25. What was your greatest musical discovery? I don't think I had any

26. What did you want and get? 
Green Day Tickets (but the concert was postponed, so I don't know when we'll get to use them).


27. What did you want and not get? 
A million dollars

28. What was your favorite film of this year? 
Breaking Dawn Part 2 was good (but I really can't remember what other movies I saw this year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 
I had dinner with my parents and bf on Friday, then I had a joint celebrations with Whitney.  I turned 28.

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

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012? 
Same as the past few years : Causal--jeans and a cute shirt; Work--business casual...is it time for a change?  Going out, I dressed up a little more.

32. What kept you sane? 
Sane? If anything, my friends.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 
John Stamos - I even tried to turn my bf into him for 5 seconds by eating Oikos.


34. What political issue stirred you the most? 
The election was pretty stirring


35. Who did you miss? 
Danny, but in the later months we go to see each other alot


36. Who was the best new person you met? 
Dan's friends and family


37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012. 
??

2011 in Review

I stole this from Drew five years ago...

1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Have a long distance relationship.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Not sure if I made it this year...if I did, then no. I haven't made one for this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No one really close, but people I know did.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes

5. What countries did you visit?
None :(

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
Good travel stories

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

June 18 - First Kenny Chesney tailgate

September 24/October 7 - First Kiss/First Date

December 14 - Pop-Pop died

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving it?

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not accomplishing anything

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Colds; smashed my thumb in the car door - I ended up losing my nail after the swelling went down.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
SmarTrip Card - much easier than using those paper things on the Metro all the time.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My bf - he drove back and forth between Philly and DC multiple times in a week, so he could be there for me at my grandfather's funeral.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I'd say Kim Kardashian with her 72 day marriage, but that wasn't really that surprising. Oh, that whole Charlie Sheen thing was pretty surprising (and entertaining).

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Temple vs. Penn State game

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Friday

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or Sadder? The same
b) Thinner or Fatter? The same
c) Richer or Poorer? Probably the same

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Travel

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Paying loans

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I spent Christmas Eve at my parents, then hung out there all day.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yes

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Grey's Anatomy

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of.

24. What was the best book you read?
I don't really remember, so I'll say one the Kathy Reichs, Temperance Brennan books

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Autotune?

26. What did you want and get?
A Coach bag. I spent a little more than normal on my last purse and it fell apart after 6 months, so I took Ashlee's suggestion with the higher quality Coach. I've had it for about a year and it it's still in almost new condition.

27. What did you want and not get?
A million dollars

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I can never remember which movies I saw throughout the year, so I'll go with a recent one - The Muppets

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I had a joint celebrations with Ashlee at a bar. I turned 27.

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

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Same as the past few years : Causal--jeans and a cute shirt; Work--business casual...is it time for a change?

32. What kept you sane?
Sane? If anything, my friends. In recent months, also Danny.

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

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Michele Bachmann - so glad that psycho isn't running anymore.

35. Who did you miss?
Celie, but since she graduated, we've gotten to see her a lot more :)

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Danny

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
I should not be friends with all my exes.

2010 in Review

I stole this from Drew five years ago...

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
Went to South America and saw water spin the other way down the drain

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
For the most part, and no: I made the same resolution for the past couple years, so I decided that it was just a life resolution.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, just a co-worker

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes

5. What countries did you visit?
Brazil

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Enough money

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 17 - my uncle passed away

March 14 - first time I actually got to celebrate this day ;)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Ummm...I managed to kiss only one boy the entire year

9. What was your biggest failure?
Ummm...not really accomplishing anything

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just colds

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A pole

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I went with Cliff Lee last year for how he played in the WS, but I think leaving all that money on table and signing with the Phillies instead of the Yankees merits even more celebration.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Probably the guy I was dating (though appalled is a little strong).

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
P&S's St. Patty's celebration, PSP's trips, Brazil, and CA

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Hillibilly Bone by Blake Shelton

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or Sadder? Sadder
b) Thinner or Fatter? The same
c) Richer or Poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Save money

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sitting around doing nothing/watching TV.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I spent Christmas Eve at my parents, and then helped my mom cook dinner for us, my dad, and my grandfather.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yes

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Californication and Hung and Grey's Anatomy

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of.

24. What was the best book you read?
I re-read some Kathy Reichs books

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don't think I had one

26. What did you want and get?
A bf

27. What did you want and not get?
not sure

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Shutter Island and Toy Story 3

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I celebrated the 5th anniversary of my 21st. I went to a bar with friends, and then to a strip club.

30.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not sure

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Same as the past few years : Causal--jeans and a cute shirt; Work--business casual...is it time for a change?

32. What kept you sane?
Sane? If anything, my friends

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

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
The elections

35. Who did you miss?
Beck until she came home..and Celie, but I got to see her a lot this year :)

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Anthony

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Too many boys are pussies that aren't honest.

2009 in Review

I stole this from Drew four years ago...for some reason, I don't really remember much of 2009.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Went to Canada

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I'm not exactly sure if I made one, but if I did, I kinda kept it.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, but my aunt and uncle adopted a baby girl

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada-we tried to go bowling, but it was closed, so we ended up going to a fair.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A bf, money

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I apparently can't remember much of 2009:
September 18 - my new baby cousin was born
December 25 - My first car totalled

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Ummm...I hosted a successful (I hope) Christmas Dinner at my house.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Ummm...not really accomplishing anything

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just colds

11. What was the best thing you bought?
An awesome bra from VS.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I can't really think of anything, so I'll say Cliff Lee and his performance in the Playoffs and WS.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Jon Gosslin

14. Where did most of your money go?
Probably the movies-Beck and I went a lot.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
P&S's St. Patty's celebration, PSP's AC trip, and Becky coming home

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Party in the USA

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Happier or Sadder? Sadder
b) Thinner or Fatter? maybe a little fatter
c) Richer or Poorer? Poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Travel

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sitting around doing nothing/watching TV.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I was rear-ended by a SEPTA bus, got my first ambulance ride, had the quickest trip to the ER in history, then had my parents, aunt, uncle, baby cousin, and grandparents over my house. It started out awful, but ended very nicely.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Not even close

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Californication is the greatest show ever

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of.

24. What was the best book you read?
I Hope the Serve Beer in Hell.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I became a big fan of Taylor Swift

26. What did you want and get?
A vacation with the girls

27. What did you want and not get?
bf, a million bucks, a trip to Europe

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Since I can't remember all the movies I saw, I'll say Julie & Julia

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I did the Erin Express, and also something with the girls. I turned 25.

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

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Same as 2007 and 2008 : Causal--jeans and a cute shirt with a hoodie or sweater; Work--business casual...is it time for a change?

32. What kept you sane?
Sane? If anything, the girls.

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

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
This Health Care thing is starting to get old

35. Who did you miss?
Beck

36. Who was the best new person you met?
I can't think of anyone new, but I got to know a few people better

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Almost all men cheat

Asking for Money

Why must organizations ask for money so much/frequently? Don't the get that if you donate at their first request that you don't want to, can't afford to, or are planning on it later...in short-You're not going to? Am I the only that gets pissed off by being asked repeatly?

Here are things pissing me off:

The water company (not a donation-but along the sames lines of wanting me to give them money). Ever since I moved in, I've been getting letters from them telling me that I should by insurance for my pipes outside b/c that's not covered by homeowners' and it's really expensive to fix. After the first couple months, I called up, ordered, paid for, and received confirmation the damn insurance. I'm still getting/recently started re-getting the letters to buy the inusrance. I thought maybe my contract was about to run out, but when I checked the confirmation letter, I saw that it's good until July. Do they think I'd be stupid enough to buy it again, when I've already paid for it?

Local Fire Department-at the end of last year, we got the little plaque thingie and a request for money. We were planning on giving (especially since that had been to our house b/c our CO detector was going off in April). We still hadn't gotten around to giving money in February, when our deck was set on fire, and the FD put it out, but we were still planning on donating. The other day, we got a letter in the mail saying it was the third request for money. It's a donation, I'm not required to give, why do they keep asking. It really pissed me off. Seriously, had they not put out a fire at our house, I would not have donated anything.

My faternity. I think they changed this recently but ever since I graduated in 2006, I've had to pay dues to be part of the National Alumni Assoc. and Delaware Valley Alumni Chapter, so I've always donated at least that. Last year, I gave that amount. Then at the yearly convention in August, there was an auction that benefited the frat-I gave $40 for that. Also, someone had created an new fund and asked for money for that. I donated $25. I listed to him ask for money three different times during that weekend. Recently there was a Facebook group that enough people joined, that same person would donate a certain amount of money to the Foundation. Now there is a facebook cause asking for money. I think the thing that pissed me off most about is the title: "Phi Sigma Pi just turned 93...and YOU forgot her birthday present!" First of all, how do you know if I've given this year or not. Second, the cause is now only good for one year. Had the cause been "Phi Sigma Pi (Foundation)" and not something insulting, I'd be more inclined to donate. I must have gotten 15 invitations to join this cause. Even after putting a status message of "If I get one more invite, I'm going to scream," I got two more invites. I am seriously considering not giving any money this year, other than whatever is required to be part of DVAC. Based on the national website, I think it's only $1. It's not like I'm rolling the dough, and I spend enough money just to go to PSP events; I give to charities throughout the year; I can just give to local chapters who have never asked me for money. I'd have less of a problem if they just raised the cost of my NAA dues.

F'in' Comcast

I remember the days when if I wanted to buy concert tickets, I would go to ticketmaster.com or go pick up the tickets from ticketmaster at certain stores. Well, comcast has ruined that.

Last year, a friend had told me about Carrie Underwood concert that was going to be at the Liacouras Center. So, I went to ticketmaster to check for the tickets, but I couldn't find them. I had to search her website to find them.

The day of the Metallica concert, I wanted to check to see if they had released any additional tickets, so I once again checked ticketmaster.com. The show was not listed. I thought maybe it was because it was the day of the show, but other cornets for that day were listed. I had to check Metallica's website directly to find out I had to go to the Wachovia Center's website, which is powered by comcast tix.

For Wing Bowl, I had heard that I had to go to ComcastTix.com to purchase the tickets, so I didn't have to search for them.

Tonight, I was checking to see if there were any tickets left for the 2nd Billy Joel & Elton John show (once again, I had hear they were on ComcastTix.com), but the f'ing website is not working. For those two shows only, when I click the link to check for tix, it brings me to a "cannot find page, did you mean...?" search page.

Stupid Mother Fuckers!

I guess I should just go to comcasttix anytime I need tix because it looks like all Philly (and the Sovereign Bank Area in Trenton, which I'm not sure if that's the Tweeter Center or not) are on comcast.

WTF, work?!

Even more pissed off than I am at PennDOT, I'm furious at my work. On Christmas Eve, when it was maybe a little bit slippery out, we had a one-hour delay. It was so not-bad that I didn't even think to check to see if there was delay - I didn't even find out about the delay until 9am-30 minutes after I had gotten there. Apparently, it was icy near some people's houses.

Last week, when we had an inch of snow (and PennDOT had be salting since 7 the night before), we had a one hour delay. It gave me time to stay in bed an extra 10 minutes and clean off my car.

Today, when there are FIVE inches of snow in Conshohocken - NOTHING!

My anger has nothing to do with the fact that I really want a snow day-who doesn't? I think I'm so pissed because at midnight, PennDOT hadn't done a damn thing.

Apparently, both PennDOT and my work only listen to the weather forecast and didn't bother to look out the damn window.

Because of my non-so-fun experience last night, I refuse to drive today, so I'm having my dad drive me in. He spent an hour shoveling, so we're not going to be able to get in on time. Because I'm supposed to be on the board, I had to call one of my co-workers who live near work. She said that should be able to get in on time. Not that I really care, I'm not risking my life to get there, so they'd just have to suck it up.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Driving in the Snow

SUCKS!!

Last week when the weather people were calling for snow, I saw salt trucks while driving to my meeting at 7pm and again while driving home around 11.

Tonight, when it was actually snowing, there was nothing. I got to Philly around 6:30 and that's when snow was starting to stick to the ground. Even if PennDOT didn't believe the weather people (they don't deserve the name "meteorologist" b/c that makes them sound like they're smart), they should have done something once it was actually sticking. Did they? NO! I got out of my meeting, there were a couple inches of snow on my car. It was fluffy, so it was easy to brush off. The problem was the streets were still covered with snow. Even freakin' Broad Street! One of the busiest streets in the city and PennDOT had made no effort to clear it. WTF?!

I decided it would be safest to take I-95 home. I suppose it was, but it still wasn't great. I could tell that it had be salted and/or plowed at some point, but it needed to be redone. It got worse the closer I got to home (probably because it was still coming down). The Blue Route wasn't any better. I was hoping Baltimore Pike would be clear, but it definitely was not.

After finally making it home, I was glad that parking on my side of the street isn't allowed-because that's the only reason I was able to park. There were a couple spots on the legal side, but I couldn't parallel park in this weather. And even though I have a driveway, I didn't want to risk going down the back alley.

Moral of the story: Listen to the freakin' groundhog!! Phil said there was going to be six more weeks of winter-He was right.