Hey everyone.
It's been another spin around the sun. What a tough and interesting year.
Like I always do, I like to look back and reflect on my New Year's Resolutions and see how things went.
Last year I pledged to:
Read 25 books
Watch 2 hours of television a week
More yoga
Learn some Spanish
More gardening
Mending every Sunday night
Yes, did it. Read 37 books. I read a lot more romance books this year - I really enjoyed the first few Bridgerton novels.
Did I watch 2 hours of television a week? Probably more like 1 hour a week. I watched a lot of YouTube videos. Some sci-fi and some K-dramas on Netflix. Some Doctor Who. Star Trek: Lower Decks. King the Eternal Monarch. Bridgerton. Caught up a bit on The Crown. I loved Wheel of Time! How amazing to see one of my favorite book series finally realized in a television format. I'm not counting hundreds of hours that I've probably watched of children's TV shows. I find I'm a little happier when I watch at least a little TV. It gives my brain something to chew on.
I did a non-zero amount of yoga.
I feel like I picked up a little Spanish by osmosis, just living in Texas.
In the gardening department, I had meant to garden in my yard, but was delayed by continuing debate over where we shall have a fence installed. I attempted to grow a bean tipi in my backyard, but was foiled by accidentally having planted bush beans instead of pole beans. At least they were very productive! I did acquire and care for a number of new houseplants though!
Mending? Not every Sunday night, but I did a bit. I always enjoy repairing something that's a favorite instead of just tossing it. I did a lot, a lot, a lot of thinning down and de-cluttering this year though. My current house is half the size of my old one, and getting rid of a few big ticket items helped, but did not get me nearly where I needed to be in terms of simplifying my possessions. I probably donated about half of my wardrobe last year.
What's up for the year ahead?
I'm not sure if I want to set a number on how many books to read. I could go for something easy, like 12? Or something challenging like 200? No. I think this year, for the first in a very long time, I'll just read what I feel drawn to and see what the numbers look like at the end of the year.
I'd like to blog a bit more. Maybe an entry every month?
2021 was a tough year - COVID-19 raged on. The Texas storm last February was difficult. I was lucky not to lose power, but was without running water for some time, and my library pivoted to distributing water to families in need - a laudable, but grueling task. I worked at a mass vaccination site - tracking data for patients, and directing parking lot traffic. I think 2022 will be a year that encompasses more self-care, more slowing down, and more self-reflection.
And of course, my big project of 2022 will be finding a new job. I'm doing a lot of soul-searching about what kind of librarian I want to be, how I want to give back to the community, and what I want to get out of a library position.
Onwards!