Remember these? I copied and pasted the questions from my 2005 LiveJournal entry! They're skewed a little young for me now, I think, but still kinda fun.

1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?
Take my kids on vacation all by myself (not to visit relatives). It was just an overnight trip.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any last year. I find goals more helpful than resolutions, although I don't remember setting goals last year either. I might make resolutions on a monthly or weekly basis this year. I don't have any at the moment.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
I didn't leave my own country.

6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?
Enough energy to tackle more of the little projects I have in my head... especially the ones for which I have supplies lying around.

7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The date my honey left on his extended business trip.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my kids and myself through the year with mental/emotional health intact, the house in fairly good repair, and regular day to day activities continuing as normal.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Losing my temper or giving way with my kids, failing to connect appropriately.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing worse than a cold.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A pair of bright blue Soft Star Merry Jane shoes. Also, the money I spent to take my family traveling was definitely money well spent.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My kids.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My kids.

14. Where did most of your money go?
After rent and utilities? I did buy a fair amount of new clothes this year. Also, extra-curricular activities for the kids, and take-out food.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
This *is* my excited face. No, I don't get "really, really, really excited;" but I did get somewhat excited about crocheting again, after not doing it for years. Also about taking the kids to the beach last summer. Oh — and having both kids in full day school.

16. What song will always remind you of 2018?
Dunno, I don't keep up.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i) happier or sadder?
At this particular hour, New Year's Eve, sadder.

ii) thinner or fatter?
A little thinner.

iii) richer or poorer?
Not sure.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Talk to people, invite people to get together. Declutter.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Read Facebook, surf the web.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
My parents came to visit.

22. Did you fall in love in 2018?
No, but I remained in love.

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Voltron: Legendary Defender; The Great British Baking Show

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate people. I sometimes hate situations or circumstances.

26. What was the best book you read?
How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Juice Box Hero by Mindy Hester & the Time Outs

28. What did you want and get?
A camping trip (thanks, love!). A new pocketknife. A living room rug. Some dresses.

29. What did you want and not get?
A games night for grown ups, or a casual dinner party.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
"Incredibles 2." I think the only others I saw this year were "Teen Titans Go to the Movies" and "The Grinch," so there you go.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
On my birthday, I took the kids to a fall festival. I did hire a babysitter the next day so I could go to a painting workshop. I'm... old enough to have two kids in full day school.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Regular chats with friends in an unstructured setting.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?
Colorful casual, with fewer screen print tee shirts than in college.

34. What kept you sane?
My "church ladies" group; my kid's counselor.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
And here's the word choice that gives away the British origin of the questionnaire! But, regrettably?, I can't think of anyone. I just don't take in enough media to crush on a celebrity or public figure.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Immigration.

37. Who did you miss?
My husband.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
There are a few women from my "church ladies" group who come to mind.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018.
Take initiative. Ask for help. Often, a little is better than nothing. These aren't new for 2018; I've been working on this stuff for years.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"And the days go by / water flowing underground"

Today, Sunday, I:

Finalized a Christmas trivia quiz to try to keep the kids — all the kids — occupied while offstage at Christmas pageant rehearsal.
Sourced and printed some Christmas coloring pages for the same purpose.
Fed the kids breakfast with no bickering.
Got the kids dressed and at church only a couple of minutes late.
Reinstated an incentive scheme for good behavior at church that allowed me to keep my emotional balance when #2 decided to use crayon on my boot and spend half the time lying down on the kneeler.
Walked the dog. Brought the trash & recycling bins in from the curb.
Experimented with a new way to season chicken breasts (marinated in pickle juice). The kids didn't like it, but at least now I know.
Got us through Christmas pageant rehearsal in relatively good spirits. Chocolate may have helped. Coached #2 through a little stage fright. Helped monitor the kids in the "waiting" room offstage... green room?
Made a fairly quick stop at the supermarket to pick up sushi for dinner for #1 and strawberries for #2. Cooked ramen at home for #2.
Got the dog to eat all his meds and all his dinner.
Got the screen time limits on the Kindle to kick in on schedule at bedtime.
Changed a bedsheet stained from a nosebleed last night.
Held my peace and minimized fighting when #2 decided to attack #1 and me and roll around naked instead of getting ready for bed.
Read a story and poems to kids for half an hour.
(Barely) stayed awake in the darkened room for another half hour.
Washed the saucepan and skillet, programmed the dishwasher, started the bloodstained bedsheet in the washing machine.
Browsed the web for a little while.
Typed this post.

Monday:
Walked the dog.
Spent three hours on a huge grocery shopping trip.
Served pasta.
Ran dishwasher.

Tuesday:
Attended church ladies' meeting.
Booked someone to deep clean the house.
Set dates for crochet meetings.
Took kids to tae kwon do.
Cycled laundry, unloaded dishwasher.

Been reading a whole lot of Facebook lately. It's become something of a guilty pleasure, like junk food. I've noticed people "need" a lot of things... for example, a weekend trip to someplace warm and scenic to counter the gloom of damp and dim autumn; a particular hair color and style; a particular item of clothing. The word "need" is tossed around a lot.

My dedicated diaper bag that I've used for the past 2+ years is dirty and worn, with the faux leather losing its shiny coating. I don't need to haul around so many diapers anymore, so I'm switching back to a real leather tote. It's an unusual opportunity for me to review exactly what I'm carrying.

My bag contained:

• four diapers, small pack of wipes, small tube of Desitin
• rubberized sheet — the changing pad that came with the bag was much too small for any child bigger than a newborn
• plastic grocery sack for containing dirty diaper
• spare shirt & pants for little bro
• spare pair of underwear for big bro
• cloth prefold diaper that was originally used as a burp cloth, now for wiping messy faces
• handful of individually packaged Purell wipes that big bro keeps collecting from Chick-fil-A
• blank notepad
• assorted gift cards to restaurants
• sustainable seafood quick reference guide
• rosary and pocket prayer book
• thumb drive on a key chain
• two generic BandAids and one alcohol antiseptic wipe
• miniature bottle of hand sanitizer
• folding miniature hair brush
• maxi pad and tampon
• three pairs of ear plugs
• two lip balm sticks: a minty one for me and a plain one for the boys
• pocket pack of tissues
• baby nail clippers, regular size nail clippers, tweezers
• wallet
• my eyeglasses and contact lenses prescriptions from 2012
• big bro's handwritten/stamped vaccination record, not updated since 2012
• nine postage stamps
• three pens
• package of large crayons
• coupon for ice cream from today's supermarket trip (free samples!)
• key chain with keys, pocket knife, frequently used store tabs
• extra key ring filled with lesser-used store key chain tabs
• string bag in case I need to carry even more stuff

Browsing Apartment Therapy in between clearing away dirty dinner dishes.
Article by-line is "4 People, 500 Square Feet: How We Make It Work." Item #1 is "Start by getting rid of almost everything you own."
Promoted story under the article is "Every Woman Should Have These 10 Pieces of Jewelry" from Macys.com.

The only real times I have free to compose blog posts, I'm not in the right headspace for it. I think I might be able to write right now, but considering that it's 12:30 AM and I have to take the kiddo to school tomorrow, staying up any later isn't wise. Suffice to say I'm feeling down.

Since last November, I have:

• December — Moved, with child and dog, across the country to return to our old location of 2011
• March — Moved back across the country to the same state where we lived in 2012,  two hours' drive away from my parents' house
• April — Had a baby (another boy)
• July — Traveled some thousand miles to visit my grandmother, together with my parents, husband, and both sons

Life was a bit hectic for me, December through May.  Now that we're unpacked again and I'm starting to adjust to life with two children, maybe I'll find a bit of time here and there to write journal entries; but the greater portion of any writing time must go to my mommy blog.  Babies grow and change so quickly.

I've been doing the no-shampoo thing for about a month.  I cut my hair boyishly short over the summer, and I thought it was a good opportunity to try this method of cleaning my hair with baking soda solution and apple cider vinegar solution.  I was a little apprehensive about the baking soda and used only two teaspoons instead of three teaspoons (one tablespoon) dissolved in eight ounces of water.  What I found is that this proportion is very mild for me, and after a couple weeks I stopped using the apple cider vinegar.  I've been washing my hair once or twice a week, applying the baking soda solution to my crown and then rinsing out, and the only difference I can tell from when I used shampoo and conditioner is that it takes longer for my hair to get greasy, hence the infrequent washing.  (The bigger difference was from cutting my hair short: it reduced my time in the shower by around 66%.)  So, I'm sold.

The puzzling thing, though, is that the baking soda solution actually lathers up a little bit as I scrub it into my hair.  I see suds.  What causes that?  There are no suds in the bottle.  Is the baking soda reacting with my hair oil?