All right, time to get things organized and looking forward to what I would like to see accomplished this year.
But first, an update.
This year has started a bit slow, partly due to the fact that my gym membership ran out Jan 3, and I wasn't able to renew it until yesterday, so that made things a bit difficult for going to the gym. I do know I need to get moving again, and I'm going to try and get my butt in gear at work too.
This weekend I was all gung-ho to do some stuff, but my Mom's MIL (who I've never met and was 98) passed, and we supported her on Saturday, and then MY MIL wiped out on her driveway on Sunday and ended up in the hospital with Hubby on concussion protocol. She has a minor one, and is bruised all over, but mostly ok.
The biggest thing that came from it is that we're now getting her a watch that will notify someone if she falls again. She didn't have her phone on her, and if she hadn't managed to crawl herself back into the house, no one would have come looking for her for hours. She lives alone, and she keeps her car up at the front of her driveway to keep anyone from driving into it with the snow, so she was completely hidden where she fell.
As for 2026
I mainly want to keep my knees happy, my upper body strong enough to pick up my kids, and my body feeling healthy and strong.
I'm not hugely about the metrics, because I know myself, and I hyperfixate on numbers and such in a very unhealthy weight, so we're going for feelings.
I really want to do at least 1 more RPG program (House of the Valkyrie, Labyrinth, and Shadebound have all caught my eye), I'd also like to do a relaxing or stretching program this year, like Unbound or Zen.
I'm not going to try with timed or numbered reps like my elbow plank last year. If it happens, then amazing I can tick it off, but for now I'm just going to celebrate any improvement in that area.
I do want to continue to keep my veggie consumption up, and maybe increase the water I'm drinking, though I am pretty hydrated, so I don't know how much I really need to improve in that area.
When it comes other aspects of my life
I have a goal to catch up my NetGalley backlog. End of last year was rough for me, and I lost my motivation for everything, so my advanced readers fell behind. I've given myeslf a request ban on Netgalley until all of my backlog is caught up. I'm hoping to achieve this by June. I currently have 30 books on my backlog to read, and I think June-ish is a healthy target for that.
It will also hopefully give me time to read books that aren't on the list. I love trying to get all of the GoodReads bookmarks for their challenges, though I'm sometimes annoyed at some of the restrictions they give for it, I've also found some really good books that I'd never heard of.
Speaking of GoodReads
I'm the only GR Librarian on the LibriVox forum, and the general Librarian group is absolutely flooded with requests, so I'm trying to keep LV requests off their list and work through them on my end. Right now I'm working my way through the new releases for December, I'm hoping that I can get at least the previous month done each month (with any additional versions added or checked too), and then go backwards through the list with any extra time. The site releases about 80 new audiobooks each month, about 10 of which can't be put on GR because they're magazines, or otherwise don't fit in with their specifications, so I think this is doable.
There are currently over 21,000 works in the catalogue, and only about 700 appear to actually be in GR, so that's going to take a while.
I've decided to do more back end stuff for LV, the GoodReads linking, proof listening, coordinating, that sort of thing, and not being as much of a voice. I dropped the podcast in October, and I've only got a couple of sections left to record and edit that I've committed to. Once those are done, I won't have as many deadlines over my head and that should ease some stress.
I'm also still crafting. I've started using the kids' bathtime, which they don't need me within arms length anymore, but close enough to offer assistance if soap gets in eyes, to work on a crochet blanket I started back in 2021. It's too big to take around with me, so it's been in a big bucket for a couple of years. It's now sitting just outside the bathroom where I can grab it and work for the 45 ish minutes it takes both kids to get through the bath. Not a huge amount of progress, but progress none the less.
I'm also continuing my Wednesday meet ups to craft with the ladies. I'm working on a cabled cardigan for that, but once that's further done, I may look at trying my hand at some crocheted clothing, as I've found a site with some really nice patterns.
I was pondering doing something on TikTok, maybe chronicalling my exercize, or chatting about the books I'm reading, but I've never been very good at keeping up on social media. Being a creator is a grind, and I have a full time job and two kids to chase after, two kids who would NOT be shown on any type of content I create, so would shrink any creating time down further. My life just isn't setup for content creation, and as fun as it sounds, or as lucrative as some people make it, I just don't see fitting that into my life.
I may take this year to brainstorm some ideas I have for a book. I read a book last year where the title did NOT jive with the story and I can't tell you how utterly disappointed I was with the plot, the setting, and the decisions that were made by the mains. So disappointed that I immediately had two separate ideas for how the book could have been written to actually make sense/line up with the title, and now I kind of want to spite write the books just to prove it can be done. Alas, again with the lack of time. If I get things organized and plotted out though, perhaps as the kids get a bit bigger I could try my hand at actually getting something written. Or I'll just get it out of my system.
Anyway, this is how my 'resolutions' tend to go. I never set anything in concrete, because then I never fail and give up, I just alter the trajectory and aim for a new goal.
from
Southern Ontario, Canada
and
I'm also starting House of Valkyries tomorrow! 
Pronouns: He/Him
