Friday, December 31, 2021

My list of goals for 2022

Good morning!

I’m forgoing my usual Friday Links post this week in order to bring you…

My 2022 goals!

It’s good to have something to work towards, right? Life has thrown quite a few curveballs at us in the past few years, and I know it’s possible that many or none of these will get done because of that (and if that’s the case, I’ll be kind to myself; it’s difficult to live through history like this!), but I like having at least a few things in mind to accomplish as I mosey through the year. From here on out, I’ll be updating my progress on this every month, so stay tuned to see how I do (or don’t do, as the case may be!).

Ready? Here we go!

 

2022 Goals

1. Read 100 books.

This is a goal I make every year, and I’ve made it every year since but two (both years that I had very young children). Some years I hit 100 fairly early in the year; other years, it’s not until August. Just as long as I hit 100, I’m happy!

SUB GOAL: Read all the ebooks on my list! The photo doesn’t show all of them, but it’s the majority. I’ve been kind of sitting on these books, waiting to see if the library was going to close down again, but if that happens, my plan is to focus on reading some of the books on my own shelf. Some of these have been sitting on my list far too long! I’ll get started on these as soon as I finish my current crop of library books. 



2. Sew at least one thing.

This is a big one! Sewing intimidates me; I have zero training as a seamstress. When it’s safe, whenever that is, I want to take a sewing class or two, but I’ve made skirts, pajama pants, aprons, and several Halloween costumes, all fairly simple stuff. I don’t yet have it planned out *what* I want to sew, just that I want to sew at least one item.


3. Knit at least one thing.

Doesn’t matter what, but I have a few ideas.

4. Crochet at least one thing.

Crochet is faster than knitting, but it uses more yarn, so I’m careful about how often I crochet things. I have a few ideas of what I might crochet, nothing big, but whatever I make will count!

5. Finish my grandmother’s cross-stitch.

Besides reading my 100 books, this is my first priority, and I’m well on my way there! It’s been sitting here for too long, and I’d love to surprise my mom with the finished product soon. I’m just doing the backstitching now, so this really shouldn’t take me too much longer.



6. Work my way through Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way.

Another major priority. I’ve gone through Aleph Isn’t Tough by Linda Motzkin twice and I’m more than ready to move on, but the second in her series, Aleph Isn’t Enough, didn’t break down the language enough for me to feel comfortable moving past the first lesson. Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way by Joseph Anderson is a good bridge between the two books (my rabbi agrees!), so I’m resolving to tackle this whole book this year. I worked through a little of the book this past summer, but fell off when my daughter went back to school and my brain started panicking at all the alone time I had (thank you, antidepressant, for getting me back on track!). Here you can see the outside of the book, and a sample lesson.



7. Read at least one book in French

This is something I’ve done almost every year as an adult, though I’ve taken the last two years off (THANKS, PANDEMIC. Little hard to focus when everyone is home and noisy and all of virtual first grade is taking place seven feet away…). I have a HUGE collection of untranslated French novels, thanks to my wonderful Belgian mother-in-law, and it’s time to get back on track with this. I don’t have a book picked out yet, but I’ll update when I do.


BONUS

We all need about 2347893248932 more hours in our days in order to accomplish everything we truly want to, and I’m no different. I realize there’s a limit to my time, and the goals above are what I’ll be focusing my time on, but if I find myself with extra time on my hands, here’s where it will go.

A. Write something and get it published.

I accomplished this last year! Alma published an article I wrote in June, and I’m still extremely proud of that. Writing can be a hit-or-miss thing, so I may write a thousand articles and not get anything published, but…it’s a worthy goal!

B. Do at least six drawings.

Drawing is something I picked up during the pandemic. My daughter was worried about doing art class all alone, so I said I’d do art with her. It’s hard for me. I’m not a natural artist; my brain doesn’t make pictures very well (I have a hard time even clearly picturing things in my own house), so I’m still in the stages of working out how to draw based on other people’s pictures, but it’s a fun learning activity for me (even if my brain feels like soup when I’m done!). Some examples of past drawings:


 



 

C. Watch more Karl Johan

I had originally had this as watching more SKAM. SKAM is a Norwegian show that was popular a few years ago. I watched and absolutely adored the first three seasons and then never got around to watching the final season. Unfortunately, the show is no longer available outside of Norway, which is a huge bummer, because it was incredibly well-done, and I’d always meant to watch Season 4. But another favorite, Karl Johan, is still available, so I’ll watch more of that instead. This isn’t a relaxing thing for me; I’m nowhere near fluent in Norwegian and I have to pause the show often to look things up, so this is work. But it’s good work, and enjoyable, so it’s something I’d definitely like to get to if I have time.

 

That’s what I was able to come up with this year. I have plenty to read and learn and work towards. Notice that all of these things are things that can be done at home, using things I pretty much already have! I own so many books and a kindle, and I have access to many fabulous libraries; I have a HUGE stash of yarn and all the knitting needles and crochet hooks I need. I’d like to have other goals on here, like growing a larger garden, but things like that are deeply dependent on how my back is, and while it’s mostly fine now, it’s not been great through the pandemic as a whole, so I didn’t want to add anything super physical that I may not be able to complete due to no fault of my own.

It's going to be a busy year, and I’m looking forward to it!

What kind of goals do you have for this new year?

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