Not sure how to explain this, but on a personal level, "when my mom was laid off" references a specific point in time, while 11-ish references a period of potentially years.
"11-ish" is likely more useful to everyone else, but "when my mom was laid off" is far more accurate, researchable time measurement.
2) Initially, I learned from http://www.icodeblog.com before switching to Unity.
3) Juggle It is actually my second game.
Thanks for your support.