There are only three Saturdays left in 2022, so it’s time to take a look back at what was, is, and will be in the New Year.
I have published 760 blog posts since moving to this forum from another platform that lost my business because they made changes I didn’t like. Since then censorship has been a bigger obstacle this year for me than it should have been, considering the fact that my content is not lewd, riot-inciting, obscene, or provocative. The ones who do post such things wheedle their way around the safety nets, and that’s just the way it is. If I can’t spread the word on some social media, it’s their loss as well as mine.
During the summer, I managed to go almost two weeks without television. Last month, I completed my second year in a row of National Novel Writing Month, and wrote 50,000 words during November, from the first day to the last inclusive. It wasn’t easy, because so many distractions kept me from focusing on the task. However, I chose to “adult up” and got it done, paid the bills on time, performed quite a few unpalatable household chores (including wall cleaning), did several home repairs, and hired out the tasks to those who could do some of them better.
One of the things I didn’t do is read any novels. Still regularly read three newspapers and four magazines, and completed several courses through a popular online class site. My crafting has fallen temporarily off to the side, but that has happened before, so I’ll pick it up again. Gave up some gaming apps, but stuck with three because they keep my brain from the perils of atrophy.
I did a lot more work on my planned four novels this year than I have in a while. When the home repairs are completed, I will have a more dedicated office space to cocoon myself and concentrate on the process. It turned out that the replacement windows I ordered will not be installed until spring; until then, the space is simply too cold to work in. Honestly, though, the space in which I have been working–both when at my job from home and after hours–is still awaiting the upcoming chance to warm up a bit more.
I discovered a brand of teddy bears that brought me joy, so I started a collection. To date, I have also gotten rid of some past relics and made an effort to discard the savings of my Depression-era parents, such as those boxes that “you never know when you might need them.” If only the fast food chains would stop giving me twenty napkins and two dozen sauce packets, I could get ahead of it.
Baking and cooking have been enjoyable, though my best efforts to be healthy about it have not shrunken me at all. I’m starting to believe that there really is a point of no weight loss without drastic measures.
My town lost a service station and a quick mart, but we’re gaining a food market and added a martial arts school.
Through it all, we have tried to dig out of the messes made over the past five years, and tried to make the coming one start off better. Next week we’ll look at the present state of things and see if we can’t make some things work better by planning for what the future holds in 2023.
That’s right: I’m still going to post on both holiday eves. I kept that resolution.
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