2009 was a whirlwind. In some ways, it feels like the year came and went all too quickly; in others, it seems like too much happened to possibly be contained in a mere 365 days. Shall we take a walk down memory lane?

After a mostly quiet January (except for some historic inauguration during which I wept like a baby), February saw the birth of my son, Alex — our fourth child. At a prizewinning 10 pounds, 13 ounces (it hurts just to think about it….) he is the current family record-holder for birth weight. After battling my own health problems during the pregnancy, we ended up having to induce labor. There is nothing on Earth quite as frightening as seeing the look of utter and complete relief on your OB’s face when it’s all over and everyone’s come through safe and sound….

Alex, home from the hospital.

March was spent figuring out how to write, blog, garden, and be a mom to four kids, two of whom were under a year old at the time. It was exhausting (and still is, a lot of the time )

In April, I started my 2nd year as About.com’s Guide to Organic Gardening. It is the most fun I’ve ever had for a paycheck, and I hope to continue with About for years to come.

May. On Cinco de Mayo we celebrated Elizabeth’s first birthday. A week before that, we received a box of author’s copies of my book, Edible Gardening for the Midwest, in the mail. Holding that first copy of my book was the realization of a childhood dream. I still get a little giddy when we go to Barnes & Noble or English Gardens and I see my book on the shelves!

The summer was full of gardening fun. We grew our best tomato crop ever, and I even finally accomplished a long-time goal of canning some tomatoes for winter. As a bonus, I also made several jars of pickles, green tomato jam, and dried tomatoes. The front garden was much improved, and is finally starting to look like the garden I’ve wanted since we bought this house.

The new side yard garden bed, AKA the jungle.

I blogged for The Detroit News‘ Garden Blog this summer. It was a lot of fun, and again, it was a thrill to see my name associated with something I grew up with.

I also started writing for Planet Green in July. It’s been fun branching out into more aspects of living the green lifestyle, and I even had the honor of seeing one of my posts, 50 Ways to Never Waste Food Again, go popular on Digg. It (and a few other articles of mine) were also picked up by the Huffington Post. Kind of weird to see oneself referenced over and over again by people you have a ton of respect for. I could get used to it, though.

Oh, speaking of being quoted: I was quoted by The Nation when I wrote about big agriculture’s opposition to the First Lady’s White House Kitchen Garden. That was kind of cool.

My oldest daughter started Kindergarten in September, and I have not had the easiest time adjusting to having to leave the house on time and with everyone dressed. I also volunteered to redesign and replant the school’s gardens. You know…in my spare time.

The end of the year has been pretty quiet. I’ve managed to annoy a few people this year, but I’ve also managed to help some as well. I’ve wasted too much time on Twitter and Facebook, and not spent nearly enough time trying to write for magazines. And we won’t get into all of the baby weight I need to lose.

Before I close, I want to say thank you to everyone who visits, reads, or comments here at ITGO. You make it fun to blog here. I also want to thank my friends who support me both here and at the other sites I write for, and who I can always count on for a good laugh or wise guidance  on FB or Twitter: Katie, Mr. Brown Thumb, Chris, Doug, and Kerry – you all rock. Thank you for everything.

All in all, it was a good year. I can only hope 2010 can live up to it