Lists lists lists

Everywhere you look there are lists right now! It's funny how people like to categorize and rank things. All of these lists everywhere have had me mentally ranking my own past year, and this is as good a place as any to write it all down. :)
So here are some of the things I have especially liked (and disliked) about 2009.
Favorite books (new to me, not necessarily new to 2009, and in no particular order):

• Traveling with Pomegranates by Ann Kidd Taylor
• Sandra Dodd's Big Book of Unschooling by Sandra Dodd
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (yes, I was an English major, and no, I had never read it!)
• Nerfertiti and The Heretic Queen, both by Michelle Moran
• My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes
• The Welsh Princes Trilogy by Sharon Kay Penman
• The Sharing Knife Trilogy by Lois McMaster Bujold
• The Farseer Trilogy, The LiveShip Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy, all by Robin Hobb

Least Favorite Books (please please do not waste your time or money!!)

• Tutankhamun and the Daughter of Ra by Moyra Caldecott
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (I may try to revisit this one, but I will have to be very bored.)
• Changelings by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Favorite Internet Finds:

• my leather Kindle cover from Oberon Designs

• Gwynnie's awesome fleece-lined bonnet from etsy seller UrbanBabyBonnets:

Favorite memories (only some, obviously):

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  Rhanna sledding on Christmas Day, her face full of such joy and abandon.
  
  
  
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  Thane waking up to join us on Gwynnie's Birthingday.
  
  
  
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  Listening to Into the Wild during my birth.
  
  
  
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  Watching the Tour de France all during July while we waited for Gwynnie to be born.
  
  
  
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  Watching Emrys experience the Winnie the Pooh ride at Disneyland.
  
  
  
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  Feeling so proud of Abe on his one-year-sober anniversary.
  
  
  

Favorite New Song: Exactly by Amy Steinberg

Favorite New TV Show: The Tudors (Maria Doyle Kennedy is an amazingly perfect Katherine!)

Favorite New Doll: Califia, Goddess of California

Most Grateful For: My healthy pregnancy, homebirth, baby girl, and milk supply. :)

Biggest Bummers: Missing Harry Potter in the theater in July, not getting to The Passion of Mary Magdalene (which isn't available on Kindle, so was hard for me to read), and missing Big Sur this year. I think it's the first whole year since I was born that I didn't get to visit.

Biggest Regrets: Most of my real regrets still revolve around Emrys, but I do regret not eating more croissants and bear claws when my gluten intolerance was in remission during my pregnancy. I also should have had more faith that I would lose the baby weight (45 pounds!!), because now all my new pants keep falling down, lol.

Biggest Attitude Adjustments: My feelings towards household chores changed a lot after reading Sandra Dodd's ideas about chores as a gift freely given. I'm not sure this change is noticable on the outside, since the same chores get done in the same way by the same people, but there's a change in my mind, which is nice. Life also re-prioritized itself enough to make my interest in other people's choices a lot less (in other words, I am less interested in influencing other people to make better decisions).

Nicest Surprise: I think one of the nicest surprises last year was the positive interaction I experienced on Facebook with friends old and new. Sharing our pregnancy and BabyWatch with everyone was really fun. And I was honestly touched by the outpouring of love I felt on my birthday from so many different people.

A New Year, New Dreams

I started actually writing down some of the things on my 'bucket list' today (they're in the left-hand column, with links). Beginning a new year is a good time to make big dreams and think about the future, don't you think?

I'm so curious about what will happen this year! So many people hated 2009, but despite our unemployment issues, 2009 was very good to us, and I will remember it fondly. Next year is a huge mystery, with big questions about employment and where we'll end up living. I'm enjoying Gwynnie so much, and it will be a delight to watch her grow this year.

I worked on dolls today, which always feels good. I hardly made any mistakes, which was surprising, since four of the dolls needed embroideries on the backs as well as the fronts, and that's a tricky business. :)

Currently reading: Anne of Cleves, which I am really enjoying. She's my favorite of the six wives, and there's not a ton to read about her!

New Beginnings on the Solstice

I changed the name of this blog to reflect a more positive attitude. I will probably always be fairly sarcastic and acerbic, but I am consciously putting forth a new positivity. Plus, since I hardly ever use this venue to rant about conformity (like I thought I would), it makes more sense to have a name that  points to more "day in the life" sort of things. (I do reserve the right to rant now and then though, heehee.)

Most people who might find themselves here (you three know who you are, lol) know that the baby *did* finally arrive. Here's Gwyneth at almost five months.

She is, quite literally, Perfection. :)

I came across this blog "challenge" while reading my friend Claire's new blog, and it looks pretty fun. I haven't officially signed up, but I might. Creative Every Day

Again, to the handful of friends who have followed me here it will be obvious that "every day" is probably a stretch (understatement can be amusing, eh?), but we'll see what happens! :)