How I did with 2024 Goals...

Goal 1.  Eat meatless twice a month.

    Didn't make the twice a month goal every month...but we ate meatless more than we had at anytime previously.

Goal 2.  Stop buying "baby" carrots.

    Complete success!

Goal 3.  Find a volunteer opportunity.

    I found it difficult to schedule volunteer days with my kind of erratic on-call schedule of work.  However, as of today (12/31/2024), I am fully retired, so will be trying for volunteering again.

Goal 4.  Send 52 letters in 52 weeks.  

   I did not do well at keeping track this year, but I'm pretty sure I met this goal.  And I got some nice phone calls thanking me for the notes I sent.

Goal 5.  Read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and perhaps work on the daily journaling.  

    Gave it a try, but it really wasn't for me.  Fail.

Goal 6.  Visit at least one friend I haven't seen in years.  

    This was a huge success!  We had a great visit, and I managed flights and airports quite well.

2018 year in review...

Best Read of the Year:

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Best Buy of the Year:

My Victorinox paring knives.  For fifteen years I've had one paring knife that I loved, and kept buying others that I hoped would live up to that one.  This year I decided to research my fave, buy more of them, and get rid of all the rest.  Sooooo happy I finally did this.

Best decision of the year:

Decided to give Weight Watchers another try.  I've tried their plan several times over the years, and this newest version makes the most sense to me and is the easiest yet.  I've lost 20 pounds.  

As far as how I did on goals:
     Being more productive?
          I worked a lot, and I created a lot.  Success!
     Getting jobs done that needed doing around the house?  
          Not so much.
     Healthier diet?  
          Yes.  Increased fresh fruit & veg; 
          decreased sugar and unhealthy fats.
     Reset sleep patterns?  
          Utter fail.  Must work on this.
     Eat breakfast?  
          Yes and no.  I definitely do it more often than before, 
          but I'm not consistent.
     Write it down?  
          Love my to-do list!
     Finances?  
          Did pretty well here, but rethinking methods for 2019.
     Home projects?  
          Utter fail.  House always suffers when I work more.
     Reduce possessions?  
          Utter fail.  
     Read the One-Year Bible?  
          Complete!
     52 Letters in 52 Weeks?  
          Complete!
     Quilting -- complete 10 projects?  
          Seven of ten projects completed!  Not too bad.

All in all, I am happy with how 2018 went.  NEXT!

2017, the highlights...

My 2017 year in review!  

✫  RUDY:  Such a good boy!  Could not ask for better.  Still working on things like jumping on visitors and barking at squirrels and deer, but it will come.

✫  HOSTING:  My best friend since childhood came for a brief visit.  Oh!  I hope she had as much fun as I did!

✫  TRAVEL:  We logged 5000+ miles on our fall vacation.  It was lovely.

✫  COOKING:  Still doing a lot of cooking, and packaging individual servings to freeze for Carey to take to work.  I came across a new family favorite with Dublin Coddle, and I even tried my hand at Egg Rolls this year (not that I serve those two things together).

✫  WORK:  I worked 270 hours this year.  Doesn't sound like much, but works out to about a month and a half if I had worked them straight instead of a day here and a day there.  I'm required to work a minimum of 100 hours annually to keep my part-time status, so I did two-and-a-half+ times that.

✫  QUILTING: 

My 2017 goal was to get ten projects completely finished this year.  I finished up four projects: a throw, a baby quilt, a twin quilt, and a table cover.  Several others are very close, but those will be held over for next year.  

✫  BLOGGING:  I posted 169 blog posts.

✫  READING:  I slightly more than doubled last years reading with 67 books this year, 52 of which were part of the Popsugar 2017 Reading Challenge.  It was definitely challenging with categories that I would not have chosen on my own.  I did really enjoy the challenge, but I need a break, so I'm not committing to a reading challenge for 2018.

My favorite book read this year was...The Old Man by Thomas Perry.  I rated it 10/10.
Others that I rated 10/10:
     The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
     Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
     The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas (this was a re-read)

There were also quite a few that I rated 9/10.  And unlike 2016, there were very few clunkers this year.

And that's another year completed.  It was a pretty good one; glad I was here for it.

2016, the highlights...

I was going to rerun the format I used last year for the year-end review, but man were my first posts of each month boring!  So I'm going straight to the year's highlights.

✫  RUDY:  Nuff said.

✫  HOSTING:  The other Kathleen came for a whole week!

✫  COOKING:  Between eating more of our meals at home for frugality, and preparing desserts for Sunday family dinners, I did a lot of cooking this year.  

✫  QUILTING:  Even though they are not quilted and bound, I did get four quilt tops assembled this year (three of which I'm still thinking about adding borders to).  

My 2016 goal was to get six completely finished this year.  Yeah, that didn't happen.

✫  WRITING:  I got my name (and article and photographs) in print and was paid for it!

✫  BLOGGING:  I posted 192 blog posts.

✫  READING:  I read 33 books this year; down from 37 last year.

The best book I read this year was...The Widow's War by Sally Gunning.

I gave up on so many books this year.  Some I was really enjoying, but just couldn't concentrate on reading long enough to finish, but I may give them another try in the future.  Some were just too bad to waste time on.  I can't pick a worst.


And that's another year completed.  It was a pretty good one; glad I was here for it.

2015, the year in review...

I always enjoy the year in review posts on blogs...particularly Caroline's, who did hers via vlog this year.  When I saw that Pamela had posted an idea for a year in review post, I decided to copy her (again), and will follow that with a few other highlights.

From the first line of the first post of each month this year...

Jan 1, 2015:  I wish everyone a fabulous new year ahead! My word for this year is 'action.'

Feb 1, 2015: I decided to forego a flu vaccination this year. Perhaps not my best decision.

Mar 3, 2015:  I love imaginative advertising.  I love Alfred Hitchcock.

Apr 6, 2015:  Today was our monthly quilting day at the library.

May 5, 2015: Tip of the week.  This tip is another one that saves fingernails/manicures.

Jun 2, 2015:  It always surprises me, this bright color of green when the sun shines through the leaves of the tree outside my kitchen window. 

Jul 1, 2015:  Holy cats, I can't believe it's July already! 

Aug 5, 2015:  I've been on the reserve list for this e-book at the library for a long time. 

Sep 1, 2015:  As is my usual, last night somewhat after 10:00 post meridiem I got a spurt of energy to do a few little chores before turning in for the night.

Oct 2, 2015:  I just put two chickens in the oven to roast.

Nov 1, 2015:  At about 2 a.m. this morning I decided to get an 'early' start on making today's dessert. 

Dec 1, 2015:  I snagged this photo-a-day challenge from Pamela at The Lady of the House Speaking. 

Hey, that is pretty representative of my life...reading, cooking, and quilting are mentioned; as are random observations and talk of my insomnia.  :) 

Now a few highlights...My word for the year was ACTION, and though I can't say I got a ton of things done, I did accomplish some things.

*REMODELING...the kitchen remodel was completed!  Yippee!!!

*REDECORATING...We completed the guest room.

*HOSTING...Carey's mom was here for three weeks.

*WORKING...I logged a lot of work days in the first half of the year.

*READING...I read 37 books this year (down from 58 the year before).  I found a new favorite author, and read four of hers, three of which I rated 10 points out of 10 (which pretty much means I would take those to the proverbial deserted island if I was expecting to get stuck there.)

Best books:   The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss, Falling From Horses by Molly Gloss, The Jump Off Creek by Molly Gloss.  I also rated The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo a 10/10

Worst books:  The Memory Thief by Emily Colin and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North...these were each rated by me as 2 points out of 10.

*GOODBYING...We lost our sweet Minne, but were blessed to have her for thirteen years.

*QUILTING:  I completed piecing 2 tops and had them machine quilted;  I got 1 vintage quilt basted and ready to hand quilt.

*BAKING...I made lots of desserts for Sunday Family Dinners.

*WRITING...I fell down on the job with my 52 letters in 52 weeks challenge...only 36 letters were mailed this year.

and of course

*BLOGGING...I posted 161 blog posts.

So that wraps up another year.  I'm so thankful to have been here for it.  Each day since the car accident a few years ago, I find myself counting every new day as a bonus.