What a year. We didn’t go a moment without a GIF, said final farewells to Andy Griffith, Neil Armstrong and Big Tex (tear) and the S&Mish Fifty Shades of Grey staved off publishing’s decline. (I wasted money on two of the books before totally losing interest.) In other news, I paid more attention to Twitter outrage over the Olympics than the actual games and all my post-election day reading was rudely interrupted by General Petraeus’ soapy sex drama.
I guess the dominant headline of my year was spending 75% of 2012 in a state of pregnancy, oddly appropriate during what often seemed like the Election Year of the Womb (Uteruses up, y’all!). By fall, Baby Eva arrived. There are finally the same number of humans in our house as cats.
Great ’12 Distractions: The return of animated .gif’s. Spotify. Soups. TripIt Pro (continued). Breaking Bad. Blogging about Mad Men after it finally came back (check out my ’08 distractions to see how little has changed), pub trivia at The Argonaut (we still haven’t won), being on airplanes (again), The Accidental Chinese Hipsters Tumblr, which might be the best Tumblr ever.
Fave YouTube Finds: Aaron Paul’s appearance on The Price Is Right many moons ago. The 11-year-old Ryan Gosling’s amazing dance moves.
Recurring Themes: Not drinking alcohol, OMG. Motherhood. My denim jacket, originally purchased in 12th grade. Turning 30. Being unsure whether I’m ready to be an adult. Being unsure whether I should be doing what I’m doing with my life. Watermelon.
Noteworthy Discoveries: Weather.Ericson.net, @PimpBillClinton, Uber, Hipmunk, Dr. Weissbluth, the amazing baby sleep doctor
Happy Places: Those starry nights in Costa Rica. Trivia at Nellie’s with the gays. My pals Virginia and Keith’s badass renovated house in Austin.
Disappointments: Not visiting all the countries I wanted to in my New Year’s Resolutions. Fantasy Football performance in both leagues. Not getting to go see my parents — sure, they came to us, but it’s more fun to visit them in Europe.
Most OUTRAGE-inducing people and situations of 2012: The entitled Washingtonians who just cross Rhode Island Avenue at any point and in any place. DC Water. I STILL GET A PHONE BOOK, WHY!!?
Biggest Victories: Delivering Eva without meds. Winning the battle against DC Water. A 3.2% interest rate on the house.
To Rewind in the Form of a List, This Year I…
Bought and moved into a DC house.
Got in epic, life-wasting battles with DC Real Property Tax office on their tax mistakes with said house.
Got feted by 10 of my favorite people in Costa Rica for my 30th birthday. That was amazing, ‘yall. Made some videos about it.
Watched my boss kill it on “Come Sail Away” at an epic private karaoke night at SXSW.
Saw a mindblowing Radiohead show in an intimate setting.
Saw Jay-Z live a few days later in the same intimate setting.
Photo-bombed Tobey MacGuire.
Tried elk meatloaf in Idaho.
Attended a live taping of The Daily Show.
Ended up in a back and forth with Jon Stewart about the possibility of Richard Nixon being gay.
Went to my first White House Correspondent’s Dinner and met Tony Romo.
Modeled the NPR maternity shirt for the store.
Threw two book parties, one for Michael, one for Robert. Met members old and new, of Styx, backstage cause my boss’ brother is the drummer.
Saw some really random live acts, including Brian McKnight.
Got a massive $516 water bill which we challenged with a letter that included six exhibits and a request for an administrative hearing.
Won the water challenge. It was their bad.
Got summoned for jury duty for the first time ever. Live blogged it. Didn’t get picked.
Read way too much about duck vaginas and duck corkscrew shaped penises.
Got attacked by a gazillion sandflies in Honduras, still have the scars to show it.
Took the fetus on 27 trips to 24 different cities, four countries and logged 60,339 miles in the air together.
Was given a “Girls and Gays” baby shower, which I recommend for any expectant mom.
Delivered a healthy eight pound girl, but not before mom made me down half a rotisserie chicken, between contractions, before heading to the hospital.
Took lots of pictures of that baby.
Became an excellent swaddler.
Finished five seasons of Friday Night Lights in a week.
Sustained human life exclusively with my fun bags.
While always appreciative, I realized just how much my parents love me.
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