Last Random Dozen of 2009

It's 11:30 p.m. and we're sitting in front of the oscillating fan. We just finished watching a movie and now we're all checking e-mails and blogs and facebook on the computers. Family time! lol  After a full day of cleaning house and doing laundry, I'm tired but happy with what was accomplished. Even if there is already another load of clothes in the hamper and dirty dishes in the sink.

Time for the last Random Dozen of 2009! Seeing as how it's late and I'm kinda tired, I'm just going to go with my first impulse on each question. 

1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? TOTALLY GROSS. I was never one of those moms who finished what her kids didn't eat. YUCK!

2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.)  That I do not have the aptitude for language that my initial testing indicated.

3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? Usually around the 6th of January.

4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is: Not a thing.

5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)?  Not applicable (since Christmas is in summer here). BUT...in general, I DO NOT LIKE WINTER. It is COLD in winter. I have a strong aversion to COLD. And COLD IS COLD, whether you're in the northern hemisphere or in the southern hemisphere.

6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? In years past, absolutely. They don't have after-Christmas sales here. How sad is that?!

7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? Yep. We're going to drive up one of the nearby hillsides to a spot overlooking the city and watch the fireworks at midnight. The city is planning a 20-minute fireworks demonstration; plus there are always clubs in town that have their own fireworks shows. From our vantage point on the hillside we should see most of it.

8. Is there anything special awaiting you in January? A trip to Mendoza in the Andes!

9. If your life this year was a movie, what category or genre would it be? (Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Suspense, Farcical, etc.) Dramedy.

10. How much time per day do you spend blogging? Please do not lie. I will know.  Define blogging. Is that only the time we spend writing on our own? Or does it include reading other people's? On days when I have time to blog, it generally takes an hour to write a post although I've been known to whip out a short one in 30 minutes or less. Project 365 always takes a few hours due to uploading all the photos on a.really.slow.internet.  Some days I have no time to read any blogs, other days I get to maybe half a dozen to a dozen. It's rare these days to get through my entire blogroll in one day. Can't remember the last time that happened.

11. Who runs your household? It runs me. Absolutely ragged! Living in a dry climate means there's a lot more dust to contend with than I was used to in Michigan.

12. Share one hope/dream for 2010. That I'd be able to communicate with adolescents in Spanish. Trust me, they're the hardest to talk to -- between the slang, the mumbling (teens are teens the world over) and the sheer laziness with language (dropped word endings are the norm rather than the exception), I find it IMPOSSIBLE to understand a word they're saying. I had a major meltdown not too long ago, at which point my husband admitted he has a hard time understanding them too -- and he's completely bilingual, having grown up here. That made me feel a little better but it would be great to be able to carry on a conversation with the boys who play soccer and hang out at Centro Esperanza every week.