At the end of each year, I always take a moment to examine the ups and downs I experienced. What follows is my personal and professional review of 2021. I:
* Produced/edited hundreds of breaking news stories about the global coronavirus pandemic, the shifting of power in the Senate, the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump’s second impeachment, President Joe Biden’s first term, the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and the massive Haiti earthquake, the collapse of a Miami Beach condo, the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics, the fall of Afghanistan, Texas’s ban on abortion, many mass shootings and numerous celebrity deaths. Also survived yet another round of layoffs.
* Penned at least 23 journal entries.
* Maintained two Instagram accounts: @thejadewalker and @catsofjade.
* Read 62 books and completed the 2021 GoodReads reading challenge
* Subscribed and read numerous magazines, including Cook’s Country, Cooks Illustrated, Bake From Scratch, Architectural Digest, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, The Saturday Evening Post and TeaTime Magazine.
* Watched at least 48 TV programs and 63 movies and listened to many podcasts.
* Rented a movie theater for M’s birthday and saw a Marvel film with two friends.
* Participated in The Society of Professional Obituary Writers, the New Hampshire Writers Guild, the New York City Writers Group, the South Florida Freelancers Group, the Authors Guild and the Silent Book Club, Manchester, NH chapter.
* Received the coronavirus vaccine and a booster six months later. Also received a flu vaccine.
* Planted a container garden, grew herbs and flowers and veg, and updated my gardening journal.
* Completed many home repairs, including a new furnace, a new central air conditioner, a new gutter system, a new hot water heater, a new garbage disposal and a new dishwasher.
* Spent months searching for our next home (alas, not in Scotland — damn pandemic). No luck. Finally just refinanced our mortgage.
* Tried to get more sleep. Failed miserably, due to stress.
* Experienced a fender bender while dropping off treats at a friend’s house. Thankfully, the other driver eventually returned to apologize and there was no damage to either of our cars.
* Adopted a kitten named Pepper and built two very large kitty condos.
* Finally bought a pair of new glasses that I like. Two months later, I broke the frame and had to have them replaced. Been wearing glasses since the fifth grade and that’s never happened before.
* Continued to wear these damn braces (and miss the process of enjoying food).
* Decorated the front and inside of our house for Halloween and dressed up as Chuck Bartowski.
* Decorated the front and inside of our house for Christmas and mailed more than 30 Christmas cards.
* Suffered from at least 30 migraines and lost 50 days of my life to pain. Average headache duration: 28 hours.
* Worked my 31st year as a journalist.
* Celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary.
* Turned 48.
Goals for 2022
* Change careers.
* Purchase a new home.
* Improve my baking/cooking skills.
* Work on my fiction.
* Read at least 50 books.
* Sleep at least 7 hours a night.
* Practice hygge.
* Win the lottery.
3 Comments
Bob Sassone
I always feel like such a slacker after reading your Year in Review! (And thanks for mentioning You’re Lucky You’re Funny by Phil Rosenthal in your previous post, I love it.)
Jade Walker
And here I was thinking, “Gosh, I really slacked off this year!”
“You’re Lucky You’re Funny” was a hoot. I’m also hooked on Phil’s food shows on PBS and Netflix.
Emily P.
I can certainly relate to the desire to get enough sleep and not succeeding. Insomnia has been the bane of my existence since the pandemic began. But when I saw your list of goals for 2022, what really threw me for a loop was your desire to change careers. What a juicy topic that is. I hope you’ll tell us more about that (but *only* when and if you’re so inclined), as many people have had profound insights about their life trajectories as a result of the pandemic and this kind of epiphany is very relatable. Of course, if you choose not to elaborate on that, I’d understand completely, as it’s very personal and you might not want your employer or coworkers to get inside your thought process, were they to see your blog.
Speaking for myself, I’m very healthy, but I know of three people in real life who died of COVID, so this period of social distancing was kind of a wake-up call for me. Life can be short, so one may as well spend it doing whatever matters most, whatever that may be.