1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before? Got cancer.

To be fair, that may have actually happened in 2016. Or 2015. No one knows! It’s gone now, but that was a new one.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I gave birth, so the only resolution was “Keep small human alive.”

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes!

4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes.

5. What places did you visit? Gardnerville, mostly, and Boise.

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017? A sub-2 2K and a sense of peace and calm.

7. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Alex’s birthday. The day Doreen died. And December 12, when, in the span of one hour, Alex started walking and my doctor called to tell me about the surprise tumor in the pathology from my thyroid surgery.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I “beat” cancer? That I didn’t know I had? This is a tough one. But we did manage a road trip as a family of four and we had an incredible view for the eclipse, so that might be it.

9. What was your biggest failure? Everything got a little ahead of me this year. I tried to buckle down with my mentor about a five-year plan and realized I couldn’t see past the next six months.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Yeah. Sort of. By the time of the first thyroid surgery, the mass they removed had been causing constant hoarseness and pressing in on my trachea.

11. What was the best thing you bought? My Subaru. I feel like I’ve wasted half my life on Hondas.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? 

#1: My dad came out three times this year, twice to help during and after hospital stays and once to celebrate my 40th birthday…which I celebrated with Hamilton tickets purchased six months prior, but it was nice to see him and three visits in a year is rather a lot.

#2: My crew. I haven’t graced the dock in more than a year, but when that cancer diagnosis came down and the second surgery got tacked on, we were fed for a week, mostly by rowers.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Trump supporters. The level of hatred and willful ignorance in our public discourse is appalling, and too many of them are reveling in it. <–Still very true.

14. Where did most of your money go? HVAC replacement and expansion, plus a fraudulent contractor against whom I continue to seek remedy.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Alexander is pretty great and watching my kids love on each other is amazing.

16. What song will always remind you of 2015? The entire Broadway cast recording of “Hamilton.” Grayson got obsessed with it this year.

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

a) happier or sadder? About the same.

b) thinner or fatter? Less pregnant, but larger than I’m comfortable being. Thanks, c-section and thyroid nonsense!

c) richer or poorer? Poorer. That HVAC fraud really threw off my plan for the year.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Exercise/self-care. Erging, running, biking, whatever. It’s been hard to get out and move much this year beyond playing with the kids.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying.

20. How did you spend Christmas in 2017? Recovering from the first thyroid surgery and prepping for the next one.

21. Did you fall in love in 2017? Yes! Alex is awfully cuddly.

22. What was your favorite TV program? I’d say Discovery, but I probably mean Orville.

23. What did you do for your birthday in 2017? Saw Hamilton!

24. What was the best book you read? Probably one of the books from The Expanse series. (Also good on the screen.)

25. What did you want and get? Another healthy baby.

26. What did you want and not get? Financial stability beyond a certain point.

27. What was your favorite film of this year? People still make movies?

28. Did you make some new friends this year? Yes!

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More sleep (for everyone). Less cancer.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2017? Stretched out and ill-fitting.

31. What kept you sane? I did not excel at sanity in 2017.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? #MeToo

33. What political issue stirred you the most? Every day is another ugly lesson in the cruelty of the GOP and their poster child.

34. Whom did you miss? My crew. Every day.

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2016. The theory of concentric circles of grief is real and should be taught in school. I knew this before, but losing a parent and getting a cancer diagnosis have a way of bringing it into stark relief.