December 2021 Wrap Up

We made it to the end of another year. But everything feels so different with covid, right? I feel like time passes differently. 

It's been a busy month: end of Hanukkah, birthday, Christmas, and the New Year. I thought a bit about New Year's resolutions, but I may forgo that this year and stick with a few personal goals with no pressure. I will set a reading goal. I managed to get through 58 books this year, even with wedding planning and so on. My 2022 goal will be 60. I will adjust it (up or down) if I feel like I need to.

My other reading goal was to finish/continue some series that I haven't gotten around to yet. I managed to read Silvered Serpents and the Obelisk Gate to continue those series (maybe I can finish them this year). I read the Night of the Dragon and finished that series. I started reading Winter at the beginning of the year and haven't managed to finish it... not because it isn't good, I just haven't been feeling it. I wanted to read Vengeful, which is still high on my list once the new year starts. And I seriously need to finish the Three Dark Crowns series. I love the books, I think I am just scared to read the last one.

And I decided I am actually going to put together some DIY wedding posts. I have remained part of a couple wedding planning groups on Facebook and I actually have helpful information, apparently. I will get to work on those in the new year, too.

Another goal will be to get at least a couple new disease posts up. It has been a while and I do so love infectious diseases!

And December is the time for holiday reads! And I have a whole list of ideas for holiday reads and I read none of the ones on my list because I just wasn't feeling them, but that's alright. I'm a big mood reader and this year it has been extra hard to read books I am not in the mood for. So here are the books I read this month.

Title: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

 

Synopsis: (Copied from last year's post.) Georgie loves her husband, Neal. And she know he loves her. She's pretty sure, anyway. At the last minute, her job requires her to stay in LA to work and Neal takes their daughters to Nebraska for Christmas. Georgie all but moves back in with her mother, who thinks Neal left Georgie, though Georgie argues that this is not true. Desperate to connect with her husband, she keeps calling but can never get through. Until she tries her old yellow rotary phone in her childhood bedroom to call Neal's landline. And she gets through! To Neal in the past, during the Christmas week he had broken up with her and gone to Nebraska alone. Georgie hadn't talked to him the whole week, but he showed up to propose on Christmas morning. But now she is talking to past Neal. Is she supposed to change something? Fix something?

Thoughts: I still love this book. It is one of my very favorites. I usually cry all the way through the last few chapters and it makes me hopeful, I think. I just love it so very much. After I finished listening to it, I read/listened to some other books and then turned around and listened to this one again... So technically, I read it twice this year. I did that last year, too. I'm not sure what that says about me, but oh well.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Tim Curry

 

Synopsis: I don't think I need to describe this classic! Christmas ghost story. A bit spooky and otherwise lovely.

 

Thoughts: One of my annual re-reads. I still love it and I still imagine the characters as Disney mice and ducks. And Tim Curry's narration is just awesome, I highly recommend it.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: If the Fates Allow

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

 

Synopsis: In the midst of the Covid pandemic, Reagan prepares to spend Christmas with her grandpa. She is great at social distancing and has made sure she couldn't expose her grandpa. Maybe if they can spend Christmas together with grandma's traditional Jello salad, things will feel normal again.

 

Thoughts: This is a short story that Rainbow Rowell released this year. I enjoyed it (even if the idea of Jello salad horrifies me). It was a nice, short holiday read.

 

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: Christmas Every Day

Author: Beth Moran

Narrator: Helen Keeley

 

Synopsis: Jenny's life has just taken an extreme turn for the worst so she decides to start over. She has inherited her grandmother's cottage in a remote village. And she certainly has a project on her hands to make the cottage livable. Meanwhile, she tries to make friends with the locals, including her handsome and cranky neighbor.

 

Thoughts: This was actually better than I thought it would be. And while I cared little for the main romantic story line, I did like Jenny's friendship with Mack and I enjoyed the side characters.

 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 

 

Title: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

Author: Jessica Townsend

Narrator: Gemma Whelan

Synopsis: Morrigan Crow is a cursed child, doomed to die by her twelfth birthday and blamed for any and all bad things that happen anywhere near her. Just before she is due to die, she is rescued by the eccentric Jupiter North who spirits her away to Nevermoor. Once she arrives, Jupiter enters her into a competition to enter the very prestigious Wonder Society. But she doesn't even know what her knack is. But she knows that if she doesn't get in, she is as good as dead.

Thoughts: This was a re-read. I was going to try to wait until 2022 to re-read these books, but I was impatient. And I still loved it. It was unique and fun and kept me interested the whole time.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

 

 

Title: The Fire Rose

Author: Mercedes Lackey

 

Synopsis: A twist on the Beauty and the Beast story. Rosalind Hawkins is a recently orphaned and destitute scholar recruited by reclusive rail baron Jason Cameron to read and translate obscure books for him. But then Rose starts to wonder if all this magic the books talk about might actually be real.

Thoughts: I loved this book when I was younger and had not read it for nearly 10 years. It is still not the best and a bit contrived. Once I get into the story it bothers me less. But it is still kind of a fun take on the beauty and the beast tale.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Favorite read this month: Landline (always)

Least favorite read this month:  probably the Fire Rose

And now on to the new year. I hope it will only get better.

December 2020 Wrap Up

 Wrap up and send off! 2020 has been a pretty crazy year. Hopefully next year will be a little better.

Let's start off with some short book reviews.

Title: These Ghosts are Family

Author: Maisy Card

Narrator: Karl O'Brian Williams

 

Synopsis: Stanford Solomon is getting on in years and he decides to share his secret with his family that will affect all of their lives--he is actually Abel Paisley who was pronounced dead decades ago. His daughter from Jamaica turns up to be his home health aide and is under the impression that her father is dead. The stories of several different people meet and entwine together.

 

Thoughts: This was a book club selection. It was strange because it was hard to define a plot line, but it was very good and it was interesting. We discussed it and the consensus was that those of us who read it (we have two selections every month and most of us only read one) liked it. The ending was interesting to discuss. And the narration was very good!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V. E. Schwab

 

Synopsis: Addie is desperate to change her fate, so she makes a deal with one of the world's darker entities for total freedom. But he twists her wish (as they do) so that she will always be forgotten. She perseveres through 300 years and ultimately arrives in New York in the present day. It is here that she meets someone who remembers.

Thoughts: I have been hearing raves about this book all year so I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I generally love her books, so I expected to like this one. And I did! It was strange and interesting and went much faster than I expected. It was a very interesting book and I liked Addie's creativity in finding ways to leave her mark.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Title: Mr. Dickens and His Carol

Author: Samantha Silva

Narrator: Euan Morton

 

Synopsis: A fictional story about Charles Dickens. He is coming off of a book which was a flop and ends up more hard-off for money than he is used to. In order to bring in some money, his publishers convince him to write a Christmas story.

 

Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this one. I didn't enjoy Charles' character very much and had a hard time getting through to the end. But I really enjoyed the last few chapters of the story.

 

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Title: Booked for Christmas

Author: Lily Menon

 

Synopsis: Sophie is a romance writer and preparing to throw her annual Christmas party in her remote cabin. One unexpected guest shows up, the critic Evan Wolfe. Evan has written several reviews of her books that have been less than complimentary. But a huge blizzard traps them together in the cabin for the weekend. What starts out with harsh exchanges turns into something else.

Thoughts: So, I enjoyed most of her young adult books. I thought I would give this a try. It was really not for me. I don't love romance stories and books, this one was no exception. It felt contrived mostly, but it was a short story so I stuck it out.

Rating: Generously 2 out of 5 stars (Sorry, I will stick to her YA in the future.)

Title: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Tim Curry

 

Synopsis: I don't think I need to describe this classic!

 

Thoughts: One of my annual re-reads. I still love it and I still imagine the characters as Disney mice and ducks.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

 

Title: Landline

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Narrator: Rebecca Lowman

Synopsis: Georgie loves her husband, Neal. And she know he loves her. She's pretty sure, anyway. At the last minute, her job requires her to stay in LA to work and Neal takes their daughters to Nebraska for Christmas. Georgie all but moves back in with her mother, who thinks Neal left Georgie, though Georgie argues that this is not true. Desperate to connect with her husband, she keeps calling but can never get through. Until she tries her old yellow rotary phone in her childhood bedroom to call Neal's landline. And she gets through! To Neal in the past, during the Christmas week he had broken up with her and gone to Nebraska alone. Georgie hadn't talked to him the whole week, but he showed up to propose on Christmas morning. But now she is talking to past Neal. Is she supposed to change something? Fix something?

Thoughts: I LOVE this book. It is one of my very favorites. I cry all the way through the last few chapters (they are short chapters, its OK). I just love it so very much. After I finished reading it, I turned around a listened to the audiobook. So technically, I read it twice this year.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

Title: Royal Holiday

Author: Jasmine Guillory

Narrator: Janina Edwards

 

Synopsis: Vivian is convinced to travel to England with her daughter who has been hired to do holiday design work for some of the English royalty. While she is here, she meets handsome Malcolm, who has been working for the queen for years. An unexpected romance blooms between them.

Thoughts: This was a book bail for me. As I said, I don't really enjoy romance, but I wanted to try it because it was the holidays and it seemed nice and appropriate. But I just couldn't do it. It was contrived and convenient, which I don't much care for. I have heard good things about it though. If you like romance stories, you might enjoy this one.

Rating: None

Least favorite book read this month: Not counting Royal Holiday? Booked for Christmas

Favorite book read this month: Landline (of course)

It is also the end of the year. I read 87 of 80 books this year, which was great. I didn't quite complete the alphabet challenge, but that is alright, it was a bit of fun.

In 2021 I hope to read 75 books. My main reading goal next year is to finish some series that I never got around to reading the last book. 

And in January, I hope to participate in this Instagram challenge (or parts of it) hosted by a person I follow and a couple of her acquaintances. Check it out here and feel free to participate and/or follow!

I wish I could say I had other New Year's Resolutions, but I don't really. I want to say I will work out or I will eat better, but with my job the way it has been, I know I can't keep those. So I guess I will say that I will try to do better.

2020 was a strange year. In some ways, my life didn't change too much since I had recently moved here and didn't know anyone or any places to go. So I didn't go anywhere. And then the pandemic happened and I still didn't go anywhere! My work life blew up to insane levels though. On one hand, I suppose it is good job security, but on the other hand it is exhausting. Luckily it is mostly work that I enjoy doing.

 

Because of the pandemic, several of my friends started meeting virtually and we have been meeting every week since March. While I would love to see them in person or be able to grab dinner or a drink, it has been really nice to feel so connected to them. We haven't been so involved in each others' lives for quite some time I think. That is something positive that came out of all of this and I am very grateful.

On Christmas Eve Kevin proposed to me and I said yes (obviously). He is the best person I have ever met and just the type of person I want to spend my life with. I feel very lucky. And it was a nicer way to help ring in (unintentional pun) 2021.

I hope 2021 brings good things (better things anyway) to everyone. We survived 2020. Happy New Year!

December Wrap Up and A New Year

Books read this month:
Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. Interesting take on the Baba Yaga story, but it wasn't my favorite.
Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds by Rick Riordan. Fun, quick read.
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I need to read more of her books. I liked this one (though I loved This Savage Song more).
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I read this as an audiobook narrated by Tim Curry, which is awesome. I really liked it and it's about time I read this classic. Though I grew up watching Mickey's Christmas Carol, so I kept imagining the characters as mice and ducks...
Landline by Rainbow Rowell. A re-read for Christmas. It's a great Christmas story and one of my favorite books.
My True Love Gave to Me by Stephanie Perkins and various others. This was a collection of 12 Christmas love-y stories. A couple of them were a little meh, but I really liked a few of them!
The Chimes by Charles Dickens. I thought this story was rather strange and occasionally confusing (though this might be more because it got repetitive and I got bored and stopped paying as much attention as I should have and less because it was actually confusing). A Christmas Carol was much better.

My book reviews have not been posted this month. I got a little busy and overwhelmed. I hope to get at least a few of them up within the next week or so.

Reading goals completed:
A book released the month of your birthday (December): A Christmas Carol

I completed my 2016 reading challenge!

Favorite book read this month:
Is it cheating to pick Landline since it was already a favorite? 

Least favorite book read this month:
Vassa in the Night or The Chimes

Well, I managed to read 77 books this year. My goal was 75. I am going to keep the same goal for next year. If I can surpass 75 again, I will try raising it.

My brother got me a Kindle for Christmas, which I didn't think I would like as much as I do. It's pretty great so far (though I'm not going to stop buying and reading physical copies because I love them). I think it will help me reach my reading goals.

I wanted to re-post my resolutions from last year:

"Due to the breakup, most of my resolutions fell completely by the wayside. The only thing I accomplished was my reading goal. It was 40, I raised it to 50, and read almost 70.

Next year I hope to read 75.

So I failed all of my other goals. And on top of everything else, that makes me feel discouraged and indifferent (but defensive) by turns.

I guess I need to start form scratch. And I need a new year. This year has been such shit and I'm still so caught up in it. If only a new year was as clean a break as I would like it to be.

My goal this year is to get better. I am trying to eat a little better (mostly), keep going to counseling, and just get my life back in order and on track. I need to buy a new car and I need to start seriously saving towards getting my own place. That is my ultimate goal. It won't happen this year, but it is what I want more than anything right now."

Well I completed my reading goal. And I do not think that 2016 was a very good year. There were a lot of losses and turmoil all over the world. To be honest, losing David Bowie still gets to me.

The end of my year was pretty rough, with Carina getting so sick for so long and having to put her down and having Nugget follow her over the rainbow bridge within the week. And it was the week of their second birthday. And of my 29th birthday. I miss them like crazy.

Despite all of this, I definitely feel much better now than I did last year. I haven't had many set backs recently. Sometimes I still get a bit sad and lonely, but not for my ex anymore. Usually I am just missing friends and feeling isolated due to my schedule. I don't long for that relationship anymore, even if I do miss companionship. I also had some realizations in the past few months about the types of things that I endured, during the break up and before. I realized that there were some pretty toxic things going on that I definitely couldn't see at the time. Now that I have, I feel much better about where I am at now. And it is an amazing relief. Finally.

I'm not sure if I have eaten a whole lot better. I would definitely say that I'm not eating worse, so I'm going to call it a win!

I did get my new car. And I love it.

I didn't make nearly as much progress towards saving for my own place as I would like. Mostly because of unexpected car costs, Nugget's surgery and vet visits, Carina's MANY, MANY vet visits, medications, and hospitalizations, along with other vet bills to make sure that Nova, Pixie, and Sprite had clean bills of health following the losses of Carina and Nugget. I spent way more money on vet bills the last few months than I would have ever expected. Despite that and the fact that Carina and Nugget still didn't make it, I wouldn't have done it differently. Their little lives are worth it to me.

I also had various successes at work. I was promoted to a full time position and given a raise in January. A couple months later, I was promoted again to a technician, which also came with a raise and has been awesome! I joined a travel response team at work and was accepted. I am authorized to carry a company card (though I never actually carry one) and I am being sent to Memphis this month to help with the launch of our computer program. I recently got another small raise and may be getting another one once the end of the year reviews are in. I feel like I am valued as an employee, I am loving my job and the people I work with. My job isn't always perfect, but I'm really liking it overall.

Besides my reading goals, I hope to continue to do well at work and keep advancing.

I hope to start being more physically active this year. I am not going to set strict goals, I just need to start getting in better habits. Dancing helps, so I will keep doing that, too.

I want to keep saving for my own place. It won't happen this year, but I need to be working towards that goal.

As for more tangible goals, I need to file for divorce and get the joint bank accounts sorted ASAP. I am tired of having those things hanging over my head. It is past time.

And that is about all! I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve and here is to 2017 being better than 2016!

A New Year

Usually I like to take this time to review the last year's resolutions and make some new ones.

Due to the breakup, most of my resolutions fell completely by the wayside. The only thing I accomplished was my reading goal. It was 40, I raised it to 50, and read almost 70.

Next year I hope to read 75.

So I failed all of my other goals. And on top of everything else, that makes me feel discouraged and indifferent (but defensive) by turns.

I guess I need to start form scratch. And I need a new year. This year has been such shit and I'm still so caught up in it. If only a new year was as clean a break as I would like it to be.

My goal this year is to get better. I am trying to eat a little better (mostly), keep going to counseling, and just get my life back in order and on track. I need to buy a new car and I need to start seriously saving towards getting my own place. That is my ultimate goal. It won't happen this year, but it is what I want more than anything right now.

To this end, I went through and completely organized my planner for next year. I will try to look forward more and not solve all my problems by buying books. That's where all my money goes right now instead of saving for car/home.

So that's that. Happy New Year everyone.

A New Year, A New Year's Resolution

Last year, I had a couple of goals. One was to read 38 books. I managed to surpass my goal. (I highly recommend Goodreads to my friends who like to read. They keep track of goals, books, ratings, and make recommendations.)

I also said that I wanted to continue to work out and improve my financial situation.

I worked out fairly regularly up until I ran the BolderBoulder, which hurt my ankles pretty badly. I was out of commission for nearly three months. I have done little since then. I count that as a fail...

Financially speaking, I am doing much better. Some of that has to do with getting a better job, but also habit and necessity. I have to pay health insurance and my student loans came due a couple of months ago. I have nearly paid off my credit card debt! I feel pretty good about my financial standing right now (even though I am still very much in debt).

Next year will be a little different. Mainly, I have not been feeling very good about myself. There are numerous reasons for this, and I will not go into all the details. Part of it is my physical appearance, but a good portion of it actually my self-esteem and self-confidence. I had a short period of a few days before my birthday where I felt very consumed by self-doubt and inadequacy. And then I did some research. And I created a plan. I want to include some of these things only because I think it might benefit other people.

I searched for and read articles about things like body image and self-esteem issues. After gathering enough information to feel like I had a grasp on what was going on, I wrote things down.

First of all, I realize that there are some things about me and my appearance that I cannot change. And I need to come to terms with that. Some days are better than others. So I wrote down some of the things that I CAN change. Mainly, that I wanted to have regular exercise. I plan to get some sort of gym membership and start running again and working out. Despite what people may think, I am not concerned about my weight nor will I ever have an eating disorder (because I love food!). I know it will help with toning and strength. Plus, a healthy body is a happy body!

Then I wrote down good things about myself and my body. Overall, I am healthy. There are many things that my body does and can do for me, et cetera. In almost every article I read, they made this suggestion so that you realize that your body is important and it does do so many good things. Plus, I am proud of my education and my self respect and sensitivity. I wrote that I am lucky because I have tons of loving and supportive people around me. And that makes me feel good. I also wrote down things I liked about my appearance. It is good to keep in mind that not everything is "bad" (I use that term loosely, because nothing should be bad).

Then I wrote down what I can and will address and how. I also wrote down the things I need to come to terms with.

Lastly, I did a section about why a good self-image and self-esteem is important to me. I hope that this will help keep me on the right track.

I made sure to leave space to write more, because as I go through these processes, I hope to fill out more things that I like about myself and my image.

There is a bigger picture here, but this seems to be the root of my problems, and I feel like this is where I need to start in order to make things good for me (and the people around me). I know that is vague, but my over all problems are very complicated, deeply layered, and personal. And I'm not sure I'm quite up to sharing. The point is, there are things I can do to change my attitude, and that is my goal. I hope that others with similar issues may find help in this post. I will say, just doing the research and writing everything out and making a plan helps me feel better because I feel like I am actually in control. Small steps!

Aside from this, I want to read more. My goal will be 40 books. I want to craft more and blog more. I will continue to look for a career in my field. I will spend time with the people I love. I will continue to better my financial situation.

Good luck to everyone in the new year and good luck setting and completing goals of your own!

I hope all of you have a very happy New Year!

To 2013!

A new year once again. The time when we have to cross out the year every time we write the date because only after 2012 is on the page do we remember that it is 2013.

So, New Years' resolutions. People are funny about these, I think.

The idea is great. It's a new year! Turn over a new leaf! Gym memberships skyrocket! Dieting is the rage!

And then it's back to normal come March.

I think having a New Years resolution is great, but two things: be reasonable and stick with it.

I am making a promise to myself this year: be better with my money and get in better shape. If you are like me, relative goals work. I am not going to set specific goals right now, I just want to see how far I can get.

Last year I did not have a resolution but both years before that it was to improve my diet (both years in a row because there is always room for improvement and because I always had such bad eating habits. It took a while for me to get to a good spot.) Both years I did improve and looking back, I am proud and satisfied. And maybe a bit healthier. The way I ate was horrifying. I think I made entire meals out of junk food. Those days are, thankfully, over. So now I need to focus elsewhere.

I have been trying to get my finances under control for a long time now. I'm not great with money and I had and still have a decent amount of credit card debt. On top of that I really don't make a whole lot. Being a home-owner and possibly in need of a new car soonish means serious budgeting with my small earnings.

I have cut back my spending a lot within the past several months, which is great, but it never seems to be quite enough.

Most of my spending is when I go out with friends. So I need to place limits. More staying in, less going out. With friends or without. Another goal is that I do not go out more than once per week (unless there is a special occasion, friends visiting or some such). For my friends who are reading this, I hope you understand that I am not intending to blow you off, just to curb my spending. This is gonna be huge. And difficult.

As for working out--I am the lucky kind of person who hides weight well. I don't tend to gain a whole lot nor show what I do. Overall I am pretty slim. I am not doing this to lose weight. I need to be in shape. I have no stamina whatsoever and no strength. I used to, but it is all long gone.

Today a friend of mine and I started Insanity. Yep, that is happening. I also purchased an app called "Couch to 5k." I used it briefly (the free version) last year and liked it so I made an investment. I can't afford gym memberships so I am going to stick with Insanity for now and then do other workouts until it is warm enough to run outside (I will post what little workouts I find; I already have some lined up). That's the plan. I think I can handle it. If I get in better shape and save money, maybe I can start ballroom dancing or vaulting again. That's the idea. I hope you all will hold me to it.

What are your resolutions? And what are you going to do to stick with it?