Happy New Year’s Eve! After I told my friends that we’re too young to spend New Year’s Eve in front of a television, we decided to go party! There’s a new place that I had wanted to check out in the summer but forgot promptly about when the winter hit, and it appears that they’re going to be having some sort of delicious dinner/dancing combo and we will be partaking in both aspects. We’re to dress to impress so I take it that my usual “no style style” is out of the question. I have no idea what I’m going to wear but I’ve got big hopes that things will fall into place in the coming hours.

In the meantime, I’m taking the time to reflect on 2008. This is my fifth year doing the following survey. Feel free to check out my responses in previous years (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007) to see how much I’ve grown (or not).

01. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Run/walk a 5K.

02. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No but I always set goals (that I never seem to accomplish) for the year. I’m sure I’ll do it yet again. I see now why they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, Jovana gave birth to this adorable munchin. Here we are the last time I saw him:

04. Did anyone close to you die?
Not close to me, personally, but the son of a couple that are very close to my parents did pass away. RIP Diran.

05. What countries did you visit?
Nigeria! We had a stopover in Amsterdam but did not go exploring so I don’t think it counts.

06. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A boyfriend. (Please note that this was my reply last year.)

07. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Perhaps 08-08-08, only because it was my dad’s birthday and it’s a cool date. We didn’t even do anything special for from what I recall.

08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Buying a house.

09. What was your biggest failure?
Not losing weight (yet another repeat answer from last year).

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious, thank God, just an annoying stye that has reappeared (which happens in about 30% of cases I found out).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My digital camera and my laptop (although the enter key situation that I mentioned briefly is bothering me).

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Nobody that I can think of.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Again, nobody comes to mind.

14.Where did most of your money go?
House related deposits. The trip to Nigeria.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Nigeria and seeing family I hadn’t seen in over a decade again. Bringing back loads of souvenirs (though it didn’t happen) and getting some Nigerian clothing made while I was there.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Song by a Nigerian artist: Gongo Aso, 9ice
Other song: I kissed a Girl, Katy Perry (though I find the song silly and annoying, it has the ability to stick in your head really easily!).

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

happier or sadder?
Happier.

thinner or fatter?
Thinner, but not by up to one pound.

richer or poorer?
Poorer.

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

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

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family, doing what we usually do.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
No.

22. What was your favourite TV program?
I do not like tv that much.

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 really enjoyed Cecelia Ahern’s Thanks for the Memories.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Nigerian artists 9ice and Banky W.

26. What did you want and get?
A digital camera and a laptop.

27. What did you want and not get?
A car (though the plan is to wait until Fall 2009). A good deal on a house.

28. What was your favourite film of this year?
27 Dresses. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the genre!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I must be getting old because I cannot remember what I did. I turned 29. And literally two seconds later I turned 29.5 + 12 days.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Losing a significant amount of weight. Having someone fall in love with me (and I with him).

(Jummy = broken record)

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
To call it a concept is going too far. I remain woefully unfashionable and wear entirely too much black.

32. What kept you sane?
Prayer, sleep and blogging.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
None. I don’t waste my time fancying those sort of folk. I much prefer to fancy folk that I have interacted with.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Obama for the president of the USA. I am very apathetic to politics so the word “stirred” is a bit strong, even in this case. We were in Nigeria when we found out he had won and the way my mom was rejoicing you’d think Obama was her son. I don’t even think I pumped a fist in victory, though I am glad he won.

35. Who did you miss?
When we were in Nigeria I missed not seeing my cousin Joseph who had passed away in 2007. We had such similar interests (internet, blogging) and I never got to discuss those in person with him. The fact that he’s gone really hit us when we saw his family. Since we’ve been back in Canada I’ve been missing my second cousins in particular, and my cousin (Joseph’s sister), because we didn’t get to spend much time with her.

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

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008
I’ve been trying to blog it but I learned that you should not let the fact that something has already been done prevent you from doing it. The rhetorical “what’s the point of reinventing the wheel?” question can be a bit misleading because I truly think that there is value in looking at the wheel and thinking of how you can make it work better or look better and we as humans should not stop trying to do so. Brilliant ideas can come from building on existing ideas! So, I personally am going to challenge myself to not be so afraid of trying something because of a fear that I won’t do it as well as others have done it. The fact that I’d be the one doing it means I will bring my own flavour to it and it’ll be awesome.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Perhaps Nickelback’s Gotta be Somebody speaks to me:

This time, I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life, the one we all dream of
But dreams just aren’t enough
So I’ll be waiting for the real thing, I’ll know it by the feeling
The moment when we’re meeting, will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen
So I’ll be holding my own breath, right up ’til the end
Until that moment when, I find the one that I’ll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There’s gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they’re not alone
There’s somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there

Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight
And dammit this feels too right, it’s just like deja vu
Me standing here with you
So I’ll be holding my own breath, could this be the end
Is it that moment when, I find the one that I’ll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There’s gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know they’re not alone
There’s somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there

You can’t give up, looking for a diamond in the rough
You never know, when it shows up, make sure you’re holding on
Cause it could be the one, the one you’re waiting on
Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There’s gotta be somebody for me, ohhh

Nobody wants to do it on their own
And everyone wants to know their not alone
There’s somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
There’s somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There’s gotta be somebody for me out there

Filed under: Introspective by jummy