#ForAll

I have sworn (for personal reasons) that I wouldn't get to political this election season.  Who am I fooling?  I guess that means I should resort to Twitter and Blogger, and leave Facebook for pics of the kidling and other stuff.  I have lately been ignoring Twitter and Blogger, so I guess I need to find a way to use them for my political outlet. 

First off, the Obama campaign came out with this little number here:

 

Look, hip movie stars and a bunch of random people talking about how Obama is for All of us, as they pledge their vote to Dear Leader.  Looks creepy to me.  It does remind me of an earlier phenomenom that also incorporated movie stars.
 

Not pledging to the country, but specifically Obama.  Nothing creepy about that, if you're into dictators. 

Even more ironic that they made a flag "to say there are no red states or blue states, only the United Obama States" FIFY!

I had to respond, only to discover Gov Perry beat me at my idea. 

I think @governorperry beat me to it (but I thought it before I saw it) 16 Trillion in Debt #ForAll @barackobama twitter.com/risawn/status/…
— Kami Donnelly (@risawn) September 20, 2012

 

Well, was looking for a good reason to wear that shirt. 

Stop with the Gas Criticism Already

Yeah, I know, I have been out of the blogging business for a while now.  I guess life has just been getting the better of me. 

However, I want to bring up a point to my fellow conservatives who like to point out that gas was $1.85 when Obama took office on Jan 20, 2009 versus today's prices of roughly $3.85 or so a gallon.  Ok, I am not an Obama fan, I am not defending him remotely, but stop it already. 

You are comparing apples and oranges, the cost of gas is cyclical.  Gas is ALWAYS cheaper in the winter time, if you want to compare prices, you have to compare gas on jan 20, 2009 to Jan 20, 2012, not what gas prices are in the height of their price.  And I don't know about you, but I remember what gas prices were in the summer of 2008.  I remember driving through New Jersey and finding prices at $3.15 a gallon and was amazed by how cheap that was.  A couple of times that summer I did pay near $4 a gallon.  Then they came crashing down in price that fall, i was thrilled when gas was under $2 a gallon again. 

The point, gas was expensive back in the summer of 2008, but they sunk in price that fall and winter.  We have't seen the price that cheap since, but if you are going to leverage criticism of the gas against Obama, at least use comparible time frames.  Meanwhile, when you use criticisms like this that are easily negated by people who actually remember what gas prices were in 2008, they are less likely to pay attention to your legitimate criticisms against the president thinking you are just going to throw blame any chance you get and shut you down.  This is not a legitimate criticism, so please just stop it already.

Current Baby Trends

So I have a confession to make.  I'm one of those moms.  Yeah, one of THOSE moms. 

I was doing a church activity last night, I think I was the only one there who brought their baby along, and the topic of babies came up and the current trends of mommy hood.  One that was thought of as ridiculous by some of these women was the idea that the baby should only be on formula or breast milk for the first six months.  They were commenting on how they were feeding their babies rice cereal at two months and introducing solids much earlier then that to help the baby sleep.  In fact, my mom recommended that I give Kaia a little rice to help her sleep at night when I was still a new mom (not that I'm an old hat at this now that I've been doing it for a whopping five months).

Well, I just made a casual observation, as Kaia is very healthy and happy, how she's nearly five months old and has only been breast fed.  In fact, I'm pretty proud that everything my baby has digested has come from me.  I may have to introduce solids a little earlier than I would have wanted, the army is taking me away from my baby for three days before she turns six months old and I want to make sure I have other options in case I can't get enough milk pumped, but I am in the camp of giving my baby no solids before six months. 

Yep, I am one of those moms.  The mom that goes through labor with no drugs and a midwife, doesn't want a c-section, and breast feeds as long as possible *though I'm not into the extreme breast feeding gig, I think Kaia will be weaned by two at the latest*.  I think some of the women got a little bashful when they realized I didn't use any of those old techniques they raised their children on that worked for them, and I do have my own mother on board because I think she sees how Kaia is growing and knows I'm doing something right.  Heck, I'm one of those Co-sleeping mamas, I try to get Kaia in the crib for at least part of the night but more often than not I end up in bed with her because we're both happier and we both sleep better when we sleep together.  I hear a lot of women who talk about the lack of sleep with a newborn and I'll be honest, I haven't really had that.  Why?  Because I sleep with my baby, I breast feed her, and I try not to let her cry for long when she gets fussy.  It's just worked.  I have had a couple sleepless nights but I don't feel like a walking zombie like many woman comment on. 

I'm not saying every woman needs to do what I do, I just found that it works for me.  I went by my gut after researching what I needed to do.  I basically fell into co-sleeping because it just felt natural and I like my sleep.  What's interesting is a lot of these birthing trends that are coming to light are not really new at all.  In a lot of third world societies, babies sleep with their mama and it isn't considered the enormously dangerous thing that it is like some people claim it is here, though i admit I haven't told my pediatrician that I co-sleep.  Most of these people in other countries don't have the option of feeding their babies formula, they only have breast available, which is considered the best thing to give your child.  I was watching this documentary recently called Babies that shows four different babies from around the world and how although this one baby is born in very rough circumstances, playing around in the dirt and what not, he is happy and thriving.  He's got his mama there and all of his basic needs are met. 

Kaia is happy and thriving, and I don't want to toot my own horn or anything but I think it's because of how I put a lot of things to the side to make sure her needs are met.  Right now, she has been my primary focus in life and everyone comments what a good baby she is.  Now I have to focus on making sure my husband isn't feeling neglected either.  And keeping on top of the house.

Of course, Kaia has got me lulled into this sense of security that makes me want to have another one, and I'm wondering if they are going to be nearly as easy as she is

Life After Childbirth

Where do I begin? I think I'm starting to finally feel the need to get out do things, and having an infant that you have to lug around everywhere you go does put a damper on your style. I felt pretty independent and free before becoming a mother and now, not so much, but still, at the same time, I do love my daughter and I love being a mom.

One of the strange things about the whole event, I felt through most of my twenties I couldn't figure out what I wanted to be and now I know. I'm going to school part time, my bachelor's degree is actually accessable for the first time in, well, ever! Going into education and teaching, which I just keep going back too, my other educational endeavours were just going nowhere but now I feel like i might just get something accomplished. It feels good.

Animalwise, I had three chickens and twelve chicks april of last year, every one of those chickens is deceased. It actually makes me kind of sad to think about that I lost all of my chickens, because you grow rather fond of them. I started with fifteen chicks now, though one of those chicks didn't make it. A little adaptation to my chicken coop should keep the predators out. Also we have a haveahart trap to catch anything that might want to munch on chicken flesh. Already got a raccoon with it, and a friend is making a coonskin cap out of its carcus. I love the rural life though. Getting to and from town however, not so much. I also had one of my beloved barn cats disappear. This made me a little sad, so I adopted a couple 'feral' cats that are sweet as can be to replace him.  It's kind of sad that I have to consider my barn cats expendable, because we do have a coyote issue.  The next task, getting my dog an invisible fence so she can help keep the pests away, and hopefully add to the lifespan of my other animals. 

I'm down to two horses, one being Breezy and the other being a pony that is a work in progress.  It should be fun putting miles on him, but I don't know if I'm going to keep  him, otherwise I might try to trade him for a pony that is a little more tame.  He's got some spunk, and it looks like it will be a while before my daughter can use him. 

Working out is a work in progress. We had sun a few weeks ago and I went running for the first time in, well, over a year. I am out of shape. We also started P90X and lasted a whole two weeks.   But weather has been very bipolar, yesterday was glorious son, today is wet and snow.  Bleh.  Husband's work schedule and my life being dictated by an infant has a lot to do with that. That also goes for having time to clean and upkeep house. Not to mention blogging. You mean I have a blog that at one time was semi-successful? Whodathunkit?

There is often issues I want to comment on, but it's just getting to a point where I wonder what my priorities are, and right now, my priorities belong to my daughter.  Having only one child and living out in the boonies makes doing anything kind of difficult, but we'll manage I think.  Just keep an eye on the blog, I facebook much more and when i do blog, I tend to comment on my facebook about it.

Justice and Gun Rights, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last week or so, undoubtedly you heard about the case of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.  I heard about it through an email petition on behalf of Martin's parents seeking justice for their son's murder, but I didn't know the full details so I didn't bother signing it.  Then it just escalated from there, becoming an issue of race, class and MSM bias.  I couldn't help but follow on the story because EVERYONE was commenting on it, looking at it from both sides and seeing where justice had failed and what not. 

So after remaining mum on the topic, this is what I think happened.  Pardon some errors, this is all pure speculation as I do not know all of the details. 

George Zimmerman is part of a neighborhood watch program.  Trayvon Martin was visiting some friends or family from out of town.  Martin had walked to a corner store and picked up an ice tea and some skittles and was talking to a female friend on the phone on the way back.  Zimmerman was driving along, seeing a 6'2" black kid that he was unfamiliar with walking down the street of his neighborhood. 

And this is where a big fat misunderstanding starts to happen.  In a responsible situation, Zimmerman could have just went straight up to Martin and asked him who he was and what he was doing without being confrontational about it.  Martin could easily explain who he was visiting and what he was doing, if Zimmerman had any questions about it, he could have kept an eye on the kid until he reached the house he was staying at.  No bloodshed would have happened.  Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.

Zimmerman decided to call 911 to report suspicious activity on a strange kid walking down the street, knowing nothing about the kid.  Meanwhile, Martin notices some guy is following him and relates this to his friend on the phone.  She tells him to get out of there, run or something.  he throws his hood over his head, kind of a defensive posture in my mind suggesting he wants to be left alone.  Whatever action he did, it made him look suspicious to Zimmerman.  Zimmerman, meanwhile, wants to engage the kid in a sort of vigilante nonsense and the police specifically tell him not to engage the kid.  Zimmerman assumes since the cops aren't there that they don't have a good handle on the situation and decides to take matters into his own hands.  Martin is already suspicious of Zimmerman and wondering why he is following him, likely feeling threatened himself. 

Whatever happens at this point escelates the situation.  Zimmerman likely confronted Martin.  Martin, being a seventeen year old kid, probably got defensive.  Both saw the other as a threat, even though there was no threat there to begin with.  I don't know about you, but teens can be volatile, and Martin was likely already on edge, Zimmerman said something to him that got his blood going and Martin likely defended himself by jumping on Zimmerman. At this point, Zimmerman was in a self defense situation and shot the kid. 

Conclusion, both did actions to escelate the situation to the point where it ended where it did.  I don't think Zimmerman went into that situation with the intent to murder Martin, but that's what happened.  Poor judgment and suspicion lead to a tragic incident that could have completely been avoided if the two of them communicated better.  Is Zimmerman guilty?  Hell yeah he is.  Is Martin?  He is not without fault, but he didn't deserve to die, he shouldn't have been shot, and there is that window of time before Zimmerman shot Martin that we do not know for certain what happened. 

The issue of controversy is that Zimmerman was not arrested due to the Florida Stand Your Ground law which provided a loophole that let him off the hook.  Zimmerman was in deed defending himself at that point.  The problem?  So was Trayvon Martin.  The further problem was that Zimmerman was armed with a gun while Martin was armed with an iced tea and a bag of skittles, as well as his fists.  In a case like this, the gun will always win. 

Apparently Zimmerman is feeling a lot of guilt for what happened, as he is still free, but the public outcry on this case while everyone is jumping to conclusions is probably putting a lot of pressure on him.  He should turn himself in most likely, since the New Black Panthers has issued a bounty on his head for $10,000.  Do I think this was a hate crime?  No, Zimmerman over reacted to a percieved threat that wasn't a threat at all, he saw a stranger on the street that looked suspicious and took matters into his own hands.  He instigated it and used poor judgment.  He should have known better.  He should also choose his words a little wiser next time as well, because goon sounds a lot like coon over the phone. 

This case has been getting a lot of attention and people are crying foul that other cases that were serious are not getting half the attention that this one is.  There was an issue of a white kid getting set on fire by two black kids, which was definitely racially motivated.  There was also another case where a white couple was raped and brutalized by a gang of black people, who were later arrested.  To me, they are both horrific and unnecessary, but its not the issue of media under reporting earlier cases, where justice was met because the guilty were arrested.  The case with Martin and Zimmerman is that Zimmerman killed a kid and was released by the police of any wrong doing.  The precedent to me is what this will do and how it will be used against the second ammendment.  Because for every Zimmerman/Martin case, there is the other side where somebody who is actually evil wants to do harm to another.  Channon Christian and Chris Newsom would be alive today if they had a gun to defend themselves.  Zimmerman should have known better and not taken the matter into his own hands, especially since he had a gun.  I am an avid defender of gun rights, but that doesn't give you a license to take the law into your own hands.  The Stand Your Ground law is a great law in my opinion, it has been misused here.

Of course, to bring Politics into it all, President Obama had to weigh in, suggesting that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.  *le sigh*  Why does Obama have to always insert himself into every situation he weighs in on?  The issue was tragic and should have never occurred, but it doesn't matter who Trayvon looks like, if Trayvon had been a Irish kid with red hair and freckles, does that mean Obama wouldn't care because he wouldn't look like Obama's son?  The concern was he was an innocent kid in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I think the issue is communication here, and an incident could have been completely avoided if Zimmerman hadn't decided to play vigilante. 

2011 - quick rundown by month

I know a few people who do this.  I thought I would start doing it as well.  Here is a rundown of my month to month activities, the highlights and main events.

JANUARY

P90X going strong, trained for UPL with the Military that sent me to Texas for a weekend.  Got attacked by a feral cat and had to get rabies shots.  A couple of weeks of trying to trap cat with no dice.  Cat still at large.  Briefly go back to work at the air port cleaning airplanes.  Husband surprises me with tickets to Hawaii for our one year anniversary.  Snowmobiling!

FEBRUARY

Continuing series of Rabies shots.  Husband leaves for the first time for a week.  Finish working at the airport and put in my two weeks notice for good.  Decide to see if I can make it work as a photographer and work on my portfolio.  More Snowmobiling!

MARCH

Go train to be a Unit Computer Tech in Vancouver, WA for a weekend, spend some time with my Aunt Renee.  Get my first suspicions I am pregnant while there.  Come home, take a pregnancy test, have it confirmed at the hospital.  Because of miscarriage, don't tell anyone about it except for husband.  Get in to see Midwife right away.  No longer snowmobiling, brother figures out I'm pregnant.  A few horse friends figure it out too.

APRIL

Find out last minute that Husband has to go to Military school during the week we are to be in Hawaii, trip gets delayed.  Wait until week 8 to inform the family of pregnancy.  Learn that cat naps are a beautiful thing, also experience Morning Sickness.  Find baby chicks at Big R and bring home six.  Two weeks later, bring home six more.  Spend the next six weeks away from hubby.  Not happy about it but deal.

MAY

Lots of sleep.  Trouble finding things to eat.  Pregnancy continues.  Make the Facebook announcement at 12 weeks along.  feel the baby kick at insanely early.  Husband returns from school at end of month and heads out of town promptly thereafter for work.

JUNE

Husband returns from out of Town, we got to HAWAII!!!  See my cousin on Oahu and then head over to the big island where I meet his extended family.  Tour the big island by Camper Van.  Awesome time!

JULY

Fourth of July in Hilo HI.  Come home and find out we're having a girl!  Husband leaves again.  Balderdash.  Cheney Rodeo, lot's of fun!  Family reunion in Seaside OR where Husband shows off his impressive wind surfing skills.

AUGUST

Helena MT for the Army, I still fit in my ACUs?  Start Hypnobirthing classes.  Start school, since I have nothing better to do.  good friend gets married, Husband best man

SEPTEMBER

Impromptu maternity session.  Husband in and out.  Bleh. 

OCTOBER

Baby Shower!. . . get's promptly canceled when I find myself having preterm labor.  figure baby's arrival is imminant.  Aunt comes and visits.  Halloween is lackluster this year, I dress up as a pregnant girl.

NOVEMBER

Impatince is the story of my life first half of month.  Fed up with Roosters beating up my hens and butcher them.  Baby comes at exactly 40 weeks, right on schedule.  Healthy and beautiful.  Try to go to Portland for Thanksgiving, can't make it.  Decorate for the holidays.  Spend rest of month at home recooperating with baby.  Husband has time off.  I get pampered.  Life is good.

DECEMBER

Holidays are approaching, difficulty shopping for christmas on account of newborn.  Christmas low key.  I feel better.  New Years at Wolf's Lodge with the family.

Maybe next year i'll go into greater detail, complete with pics, but that just about does it.  I guess with a baby, life is just a little more busy for me right now.  :)

Resolutions 2011/2012 edition

This year started with all sorts of hopes and goals, I started with 15 resolutions. Turns out one trumped the rest. How did I do for 2011?

Well, the first four are related.

1. Run Bloomsday at close to an hour - I didn't even run bloomsday.

2. Leadman - A triathlon that is ski/bike/run.  Was tempted to try, glad I didn't. 

3. Pattern Racing - You take a horse and do various gaming events on them.  I have the horse, but other obstacles were in my way.

4. Trail Challenge, Ride and Ties - Another horse related set of events. 

5. Concealed Weapons Permit - Really no excuse, but I think I will have this one written down so I don't forget.  I really need to get this knocked out.

6. Motorcycle License - It will be some time before I get this task done.  I still want to do it.

7. Finish P90X - We made it to week 6.  Then a couple of events happened that put us on hiatus and then ultimately quitting. 

8. Go Canyoneering - We were planning a trip to Southern Utah, this sounds like a lot of fun.  But alas, just didn't happen.

9. Start writing a children's book - have an idea, but it just didn't materialize.  Maybe one day I'll sit down and do it. 

10. Employment - This is amber, because it wasn't a true job.  I worked my graveyard shift for a couple more weeks and than ultimately quit.  I also put my camera to work, though only a handful of jobs.  I didn't actively pursue my photography, but I really would like too.  I do need to look for an actual, steady job.  Still have the army reserves, though that didn't pan out like it usually does.

11. Learn to cook at least one new meal every month, if not every week - I actually was able to learn a few meals this year, but it wasn't as frequent as I would like.  I kept going back to old stand bys. 

12. 24 hour comic - Do 24 comics in 24 hours, from start to finish.  I don't think it will ever happen.  If I do it, I do it.  I'm just not going to do it any time soon.  No use putting it up as a resolution.

13. Get back into painting - I got the paints out, planned a painting, and put paint to canvas.  I then gessoed over what I did because it was awful.  I at least got into my paints.  Maybe I'll do better next year?

14. Organize my studio space - This is a constant work in progress, but it is further along now than it was last year. 

15. Get Pregnant - To explain last year's resolution, let's just write down what I wrote last year.  "Depending on when this happens, this might but make a lot of my other resolutions go red."  Indeed it did.  I got pregnant within two months of writing this list and everything about went red.  But it was worth it.  I got an adorable little munchkin to show for it.

This year will undoubtedly be different from years previous because of my munchkin, and it will actually be more typical of the traditional new years resolutions.  I am realizing I'm older, I'm married, and now I have a child.  Everything changes.  My resolutions are going to be a little more responsible and oriented toward my family then before.

1. Regularly attend church - over the last decade, I've been a bit of a heathen in regards to this task.  The thing is, I feel better about myself when i go regularly, and I can totally use the networking and support it provides especially when my husband deploys and leaves me to myself.  Fortunately i do have my family, but friends are good too, and it's a firm foundation of morals and values I want to raise my daughter in.  I'm off to a good start so far.

2. Get back into shape - Yes, the infamous and infernal 'exercise' resolution that everyone puts on their list and nobody accomplishes.  Well, baby is out of the oven, I did fairly well with my pregnancy but I definitely have some toning to do.  Plus, Army mandates it, and i'll feel better about myself. 

2.5 Pass PT test first time out - I have to take a diagnostic PT test six months after giving birth.  I want to smoke that thing.

3. Run at least 5 races - Bloomsday, mud races, 5ks, half marathons, triathlons, whatever.  This year I want to get into running.  I'm using my sister and my sister in law for motivation.  I just want to get into running. 

4. Horse Events - This is pattern racing, trail challenges and the like.  I'm going to try these with Breezy this year, if munchkin allows.  I will most likely have to have either a baby sitter or somebody to assist in my endeavours.

5. Meal Planning - I actually tried couponing this year.  It ended in an abysmal failure, that and it's just quite time consuming.  I've decided to change gears, and it's just healthier in the long run, and saves money when you don't buy stuff that goes bad because you don't use it.  That's the goal at least.  And it goes with resolution 11 from last year. 

6.  Breast feed at least 6 months - that gives me until May.  I want to shoot for as long as I can, but going for 6 months minimum. 

7. Agility Training with Scooby - this dog was born to do Agility events.  I want to do them with her.  There is a local dog circuit in town that teaches agility training and allows owners and their dogs to compete.  I don't intend on doing it for anything more than for fun, but I would like to learn how to do it and teach her how to do it. 

8. Get a job that coincides with staying home with Baby - I don't want to pay a baby sitter to take care of my baby.  It doesn't have to be anything grand, making six figures a year or anything like that.  Just a little extra to supplement our income while I take care of infant.  likely a telecommuter job.

9. Get an A in classes while sticking with school - I feel I'm pretty close to getting my Bachelors for once.  Army is paying for it.  Why not?  I go to school online, so I hope I can keep up with it and a baby.  So far so good! 

10. Work on baby Number 2 - By years end, I hope to be pregnant again.  We want two kids, and we want them close in age.  Hope it doesn't happen before September, as that's when we'll start working on it.  If it doesn't happen this year, hopefully it will happen early next year.

That sounds like a good list of resolutions for me to work on.  Here's looking at a fabulous 2012!

2011 in review

Despite how little, or how much I blog, I will always do my review of my year. 

This year, I'm going to add a little extra.  A month by month account of how my year went.  Coming in a blog post near you.

01. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?

Hmm. . . thinking.  . . :P

Give birth of course, nothing anyone tells you can prepare you for childbirth, and men really can't understand

02. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

One event probably skewed a lot of my resolutions for last year (will detail in a post immediately following) and yes, I have a lot of resolutions for this coming year.

03. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Hmm. . .

Actually, I know quite a few.  a couple of cousins, a niece and a friend of mine all had babies, but one did come near and dear to me. 

04. Did anyone close to you die?

At this moment, I can't think of any deaths.  I'd feel very foolish if I was wrong on this account. 

05. What countries did you visit?

No countries other than the US of A, however, one more state was knocked off my to visit list, the great island state of Hawaii!  That brings my total to 46!

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

Exercise.

07. What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

A handful. Of course, one big one, November 15th.  I will write this date down multiple times for the rest of my life I am guessing.

08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Natural Childbirth.  believe me, it is a HUGE achievement.  I wanted to cave in bad, but I managed to do it unmedicated.  I can't take full credit, my friend Pam the Doula and my mother and sisters were a huge help in making me achieve this goal.

09. What was your biggest failure?

This is a tough one.  I guess not getting that stupid possibly rabid cat, which is still at large.  Also, was going to put in a garden.  It didn't happen this year.  But then again, this was a horrid year for gardening, so I have heard.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Child birth, and the consequences produced from baring an 8 pound baby naturally.  And of course, getting attacked by a feral cat. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My husband got us a trip to hawaii, definitely the best thing we bought :)

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

No idea, but I'm guessing I can say Yay me for going Natural!

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Multiple Politicians.  I am very disappointed in our current crop of presidential candidates

14. Where did most of your money go?

Towards an infant I guess.  I got into the nesting bug pretty bad.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

For November to come around so I could hold my little munchkin in my arms.

16. What songs will always remind you of 2011?

You know, there are so many stupid songs out on the radio today.  I'm focusing on oldies I think, becuase I've been listening to a lot of soft music to calm infant.  I really like Adele, I guess her music will.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Definitely happier

ii. Thinner or fatter?

Ugh, Fatter.  Granted I just had a baby so give me a break.  Overall I'm doing well, just have to lose a few more pounds and tone!

iii. Richer or poorer?

Poorer financially, (barely) just because we have more things to support, namely an infant, but we're still doing very well.  Richer in all other ways.

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

More prepping for the baby, namely in organizing the house and getting my affairs in order.  I would have also liked to have done a garden.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Slept, but it was a necessity when you are pregnant.  I spent the first trimester taking four hour naps and they were spectacular.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas eve with my folks and family, Christmas morning with my husband and daughter, and christmas afternoon with his family.  We just about missed christmas together and almost had to delay it.  Very low key holiday season, it was nice though. 

22. Did you fall in love in 2011?

Yes :)  Madly in love

23. rescinded due to pointlessness (what can I put here in place of this question?)

24. What were your favourite TV programs?

Sister got me hooked on Dexter.  Netflix has been key to introducing us to discontinued shows like My Name Is Earl and No Ordinary Family.  Watched Jericho after I had Kaia.  Been watching Star Trek, The Next Generation off and on when I have some time to kill with the baby.  Still, not much of a TV watcher, especially now that I'm getting my energy back. 

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Juvenile question.  I guess I still despise the cat that maimed me

26. What was the best book you read?

Don't read a whole lot, so I guess The Hunger Games

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Lullaby setting on Pandora (though the ads ruin the vibe)

28. What did you want and get?

A healthy pregnancy and a bouncing baby

29. What did you want and not get?

We do want a boy, but I'm absolutely thrilled with my daughter.  Also, a hypnobirth and more time with my husband
30. What was your favourite film of this year?

Haven't watched a lot, but I really liked Limitless, also Harry Potter.  Buck was fantastic. 

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

Went to a breast feeding support group with my week old daughter, then went home and my husband made me dinner and gave me a Nook.  I turned 31.

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

My husband being home more, but alas, that is part of the hazards of being married to the military.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

Lounge Pants and Oversized T-Shirts. 

34. What kept you sane?

There's always something to do.  I can't die of boredom where I live. 
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?

This is a difficult question for me for some reason.  I'm sure there was one but I can't think of any. 

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

I guess how dumb the GOP field is.  I tried to remain current without getting to stirred up with politics, being pregnant I wanted to keep myself in a mellow easy going mood and nothing gets your blood pumping like Politics. 

37. Who did you miss?

My husband, who was missing half of the year

38. Who was the best new person you met?

A little girl named Kaiana

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Family is what Life is All About

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"I got You Babe!"