High and Lows of 2011

This morning I was tagged. I didn't know what tagging was. The person who tagged me is a new friend.  I've only known her for a few weeks. She makes me laugh daily, but I wouldn't recognise her if I passed her on the street. I met her on Twitter. Yep. I know, how odd, for actual grown-ups to...what is it...Tweet?! But Twitter is a modern phenomenon, and before I started Tweeting I, like many, believed it to be a vacuous hole of inanity, concerned with statements of digestional intent, proclamations of bowel movements and celebrity stalking. None of this goes on...um...at all... Okay, it might a bit, but Twitter is also a glorious melting-pot of quick-fire banter, breaking news, bizarre viral films, unbiased and biased opinion, open debate, and a large smidge of celebrity/politician lampooning, plus live X-Factor talk, and a lot of rude words, smut and innuendo. What's not to like..?!

Anyway, I met this girl. She blogs funny stuff at Motherventing (warning: she does OCCASIONALLY write about muff and getting the horn when watching Sherlock...). Anyway, bless her, she tagged me today, which is the blogging equivalent of 'it'. Except there's no homey, and no risk of falling over and skinning your knees. You must accept the challenge. Blog's Law. I usually blog on a Monday morning, but now I have to blog today, on a Friday, in the afternoon. So wrong. I'm panicking mucho but, the Law is the Law. This tag is a Q and A regarding last year and what it meant to me:

WHAT HAS BEEN THE HAPPIEST EVENT OF 2011?
There have been oodles of things that have made me happy, the usual I-have-to-say-this-or-else-I'm-a-bad-person-headed-straight-for-hell stuff such as family and friends doing scrummy things. But one of the happiest, from a purely selfish point of view (I DO possess other points of view, I promise) was seeing the cover of my book, Sworn Secret, for the first time. Suddenly the book-dream became real.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE SADDEST?
One of our oldest friends, Myles, who C and I were at university with, died. Myles had the spirit of a thousand men - fiercely bright, funny, kind, a mighty athlete with a smile that literally lit the room, and the best looking dude you ever laid eyes on. This all-round modern-day hero finally lost his battle with cancer, leaving his wife and small son without him. His funeral was a tragedy, and watching one of our dearest friends carrying one corner of his best-friend's coffin is the most poignant memory of last year. RIP Big Man. x
ONE UNLIKELY THING YOU WENT AHEAD WITH AND DID?
Blogging! Until the end of October 2011 I thought people who blogged were weirdos. Ok...most of us (see? I belong to a new club! Squeal with excitement and belonging) are a bit weird. Whatevs. I'm really glad I started. It's uber-fun and uber-rewarding. Especially when people comment. (Did you catch the wee hint there? No? *hits you in the face with a brick*)
WHO LET YOU DOWN?
The only person who let me down was...well...me. Ahem, ahem. Everyday. On the hour... Sometimes the half hour.
WHAT MADE YOU LAUGH?
It's important for your health to laugh every day. I think doctors prescribe seventeen laughs a day, MINIMUM, for basic well-being. However, I can actually think of one particular moment. Me, on a plane, watching Bridesmaids - a film I'd resisted for months because I thought it looked crap. It isn't. Kristen Wiig is a comic genius. I sat, earphones in, tears rolling down my cheeks, guffawing as other passengers looked on in abject alarm, which of course made it even funnier.
WHAT MADE YOU CRY?
I cry every day. Today I cried because I stubbed my toe. Yesterday I cried because I thought my book was a pile of cack. The day before I cried when two babies were born on One Born Every Minute. It goes on, the crying, every day, right back to the day I was born, when I cried (as newborns do) and everyone cheered - because back then that meant the baby was alive. Maybe the cheering is to blame?
TELL US ONE THING THAT MADE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF.
Can I tell you one thing that made me proud of someone else instead? Thank you. My sister, Melissa, being awarded an RHS Gold Medal for her phenomenal conceptual garden at Hampton Court Flower Show. She had no budget and a big idea, and boy, was it sensational. She's amazing. Reeeespect, lady.
TELL US ONE CHALLENGE YOU OVERCAME.
I assembled a dressing table. It had screws and everything, and those instructions you can't read. And an Alan key. What's that? Oh, it's an Allen key? Ahhhh, well if I'd known THAT, then maybe it would have been easier. I did it anyway. Whoop whoop me.
IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE IN 2012
No, and I am thankful for this every day. I wish you, one and all, the very best for the year ahead. I think it's going to be a good'un.

That'll do. Motherventing, I picked up your gauntlet. And now, I tag, right? Cool.
Off you go @bryony32 and @cathydreyer.

Mwaaaaaahhhh. xx