Merry Christmas 2022/Happy New Year 2023

We’re ending 2022 soon. The week between Christmas and New Year is a good time to reflect on what’s happened and what’s to come.

I managed to finish my degree. I should be getting my diploma in the next few months. This week, I am anxiously awaiting final grades for 3 more classes. They are supposedly due at midnight tomorrow. I’m not terribly worried, but I still am anxious. I am happy that I don’t have to worry about writing in MLA or Chicago format anymore. I am not going for my master’s degree. I decided.

I finished my annual reading goal. I set a goal of 125, but I did a little more than that, and I still have a few days to go. I should finish one or two by New Year’s Eve. If not, then they will count for next year.

As usual, I am not making any resolutions. I plan to work on time management and adding gym time to my routine. I also am hoping to not allow procrastination to get the best of me.

Maybe in 2023 I will get my car cleaned out. I have been driving several projects around with me for months. Maybe by mid-January I will finally get them delivered to their actual locations.

I have to set my reading goal for 2023. Because I don’t have school reading, I hope to be able to read more stuff that I want to read instead of assigned readings. I still have bookclubs, so some of the books will be somewhat assigned. I am trying to decide if I should keep the same goal that I had this year, or if I should add a book or two or five to the 2022 goal. I have a few days to decide.

I plan on setting a swimming goal. I have several people willing to help me by swimming with me. I just have to get everything and everyone scheduled.

I also plan on a daily step goal increase. I have been close to meeting my goal for several months, but now that I don’t have to be in classes or doing homework, I hope I can increase it.

Thank you, 2022. Here’s to a great 2023!

Black history month, 2022

Welcome to black history month! As always, I will have several posts about black history this month. I have waited to post my book reviews on the topic until this month, so some of the reviews aren’t from books that I read this month.

This year’s theme for Black History Month is “Black Health and Wellness.” The link to an article about the theme is in the first sentence of this paragraph. It discusses segregation in the hospitals in the Jim Crow era and the difficulties that the black community continues to have in present times. We as a nation need to do better.

I hope you’ll join me for the blogs small glimpse into black history.

7 of 125 completed

I’m getting a jump on my reading challenge. I’m finishing up some books now since I have a little time before school starts again.

I’m planning on getting my school books read early, too, or at least started. Once school starts, I’ll be dealing wth mostly those.

I have several bookclub books going, as usual, but I’ve taken on the organization of nonfiction and contemporary books.

I’m also trying to get some projects done at home. School begins on the 24th, so I have a little time. Wish me luck!

Soylent Green (spoilers?)

I read an article today about how much Soylent Green got right about 2022. Halfway through the article was “We won’t spoil the ending, though if you know anything about the film, it’s probably the horrifying revelation about Soylent Green.”

If the movie was made in 1973, is it still considered spoiling the ending 49 years later? I think even those who haven’t seen the movie might know that famous last line, without knowing what the rest of the movie is about.

Soylent Green Article

Happy New Year! Welcome, 2022

Now that 2021 is behind us, it’s time to set my goals.

I plan on hitting the gym more often. I need to get it on the calendar. If I could afford a trainer, I would so that I could be accountable to getting somewhere on time in the mornings since I’d be meeting someone. I can’t afford it, so I have to figure out a different plan.

I have lists set up for daily and weekly routines. I plan on checking them daily, and seeing how far I can get.

I have set my goal for the annual reading challenge at 125 books since I have been receiving free kids books a lot. I read 112 in 2021, so adding a few more won’t hurt.

I hope to finish up my degree this year. I have 2 required classes and 3 electives to finish up between summer and fall semesters. I hope I can get everything I need.

I hope to get better sleep patterns established next year. Regular bedtimes and wake up times need to be set.

Meal planning was started and ended in 2021, so we will pick that up again for this year. It’s been better when school has been out, since everyone isn’t doing as much as they do when school is in session.

It’s a lot to look at all at once, but it isn’t so bad when you realize it covers so many different parts of my life. Small chunks at a time. Here’s to 2022!

Happy NYE! Goodbye, 2021

2020 and 2021 started off all wrong. 2022 seemed like it would be more likely to be a better year, but, judging by the way 2021 is oozing out, we might have a little slippery start to 2022. I’ve learned from past experiences to not tempt the universe and say “well, it couldn’t be worse. ” because we know it can.

I’m spending today doing a little prep work for next year. I was going to spend part of it doing laundry, but the washing machine had other ideas. I went to the laundry mat yesterday, so we’re good to go for a while.

I finished my book goal last night and actually finished two other books after meeting the goal. I’m close to finishing another book, so I might do that today. Otherwise, it’ll be the first book that I finish for 2021. I’ll be thinking about what reading goal I’ll set for next year. I’ll decide by morning.

I’ll be working on preblogging so that I’ll be able to try for a post a day again, even with school in session. I know that I’ll have to get the blogs for final week up and going early so I’m not even giving it a second thought when I’m supposed to be finishing the semester.

I have 5 classes next semester. I got the reading list for 3 of them and I’ve received the books already. I might start reading them this weekend. I’ll at least attempt to clean off my school work area so I’ll be all ready for the beginning of the semester. I did a little room organizing and found a lot of things that belonged in the school area, so I have to get all of those things into place.

My goal for the year is to purge a lot of what I have hanging around. I’ve gotten several bags of papers taken to the shredder and gotten several other bags and boxes of papers ready to be sorted through. I’ll get to them throughout the year, not all at once.

I need to come up with a better exercise routine. I fell out of the gym habit when the gyms closed, so I am going to actually put gym time, menu planning, and grocery shopping on the calendar so that they will be written in pen (digital pen). It’s not quite stone, but better than pencil.

I’m not going to end this with a promise for a better year or even with a dare for 2022 to show us what it has in store for us. I’m just going to end it with the visual of 2021 oozing out and making room for 2022. Thank you, 2021 for giving us a year that was not dull, but you’re just about done. That’s all.

Most Anticipated books of 2022

2022 Anticipated books

According to Goodreads, the books in the above linked article are the most anticipated books of 2022.

I am interested in several of them. The one about Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance looks interesting, as does the book that is described as a cross between Rebecca and Mexican Gothic.

It looks like 2022 will be a great year for reading, judging by this list. Happy reading!

Blessings for the New Year

I found this from author Gemma Correll. You can find her on Facebook, and she has an app where you can read all of her comics. I loved her versions of 2022 blessings, though.