Looking Back At 2019, And Ahead To 2020

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.
~Willie Nelson

2019 was an eventful year, but mostly a pretty good one. I mean, we've had some issues with repairs getting done. Or, more to the point, not getting done (or, as is the case in some situations, getting done eventually, but not as thoroughly as they should have been). Plus, we lost the younger of our chinchillas, Maizie, at the start of February, and the last of our degu buddies, Joshua, last week. But we were lucky in that most of the rest of the memorable events of the year were good. Like me FINALLY getting my hysterectomy, and us adding our Cavapoo, Logan, to our family. On top of those things, I switched from being a vegetarian to being a vegan in July, which I consider a good thing, especially given the fact I've had issues with tolerating dairy since infancy, and really wasn't meant to be eating or drinking dairy products anyhow. So, yeah... 2019 was actually a mostly good year, which feels great to be able to say, especially after how 2018 was.

A life well lived isn't one free from struggle, that's illogical; It's the struggle that makes us notice & appreciate the blessings in life.
~Mother Teresa

Anyway, I had five goals for 2019. If you want to read the full version of my post about them, you can read last year's post here. But here's the short version of what my goals for 2019 were:

Read at least 104 books.Do both versions of the A-Z reading challenge.Watch at least 52 DVDs.Blog five times a week.Embrace hygge, and practice better self-care.
So, how did I do?

Reading:Both the first two goals on my list were reading related, so I'm going to mention both under this heading. I read 113 books in 2019 (unless I finish the book I'm currently reading before midnight tonight, in which case it will be 114). So I did make - and pass - my goal of 104 books. Though it's a lower number than I've done most years in the past, I'm pleased, since I intentionally cut back on my reading time in favour of doing other things too (like watching some of the movies and TV shows I wanted to see). As for the A-Z challenges: I finished the author version in July, and the title version in November. You can see what I read for the author version here, and see what I read for the title version here. Or, you can just go check out my year in books on Goodreads. Anyway, my 2020 reading goal is to read 104 books. Despite having read more than that this year, and way more than it some years, I feel like that's a comfortable reading goal, so want to stick with it.
DVD Watching:As it turned out, I reached my 52 DVD goal at the end of October. In fact, if you're interested, I actually ended up watching 81 DVDs in 2019 in the end. So there's no doubt I completed my DVD watching goal. I even managed to watch way more than I brought, so the stack of DVDs on my coffee table is a lot smaller, which was the whole point of the challenge in the first place. Though it started growing a bit again with the arrival of holiday gifts. Anyway, I won't be bothering with a 2020 DVD watching challenge/goal. I still plan to have something to mention each week in the watching part of the weekly reviews post, but I'm not going to bother to keep count of the number of DVDs I end up watching. I'm just going to focus on enjoying my movie and TV show watching time, regardless of whether I'm watching things on DVD, Sky, Amazon Prime, or whatever. Then I'll tell you what I watched, and review anything I watch that's new to me. But I don't have an actual 2020 watching goal.
Blogging:I blogged five times a week, as planned, sticking to the themes I'd planned for each day (see the post linked to near the top of this post for full details of my 2019 blogging schedule, if you're not sure what it was, and want/need the reminder). This schedule is working very nicely for me, so I plan to continue it in 2020, with the addition of "Friends Of Furkid Friday" posts some Fridays (which I've been doing throughout 2019, but isn't mentioned on the blogging schedule, since it was an idea that came later) and some minor adjustments to titles and layouts for some of my regular features, as well as making it official that I'll be doing a musical mention in my weekly media reviews posts on Thursdays, which means I'll be spotlighting a song from the ones I've listened to during that week, like I've done in the past couple of months. The short version of the schedule is quotes on Monday, anything goes on Tuesday, writing related stuff on Wednesday, media reviews and shares on Thursday, and pet themed stuff on Friday.
Personal:I really didn't do too well with the self care thing again. Actually, I totally sucked at it, if I'm being honest. I started off well, but it didn't take me long to stop remembering to take time for some self care, just relax, etc. Although, at least when I did remember to take time for self care I had some lovely hygge moments. Still, those moments were few and far between, so I definitely need to work on this more, as certain people keep reminding me. With that in mind, I will be keeping the goal of practicing better self care again for 2020 - this applies to physical, mental, and spiritual personal care. If I keep putting it on there, maybe I'll eventually get in the habit of doing it. Can but hope, right? I mean, I know I really need to. I didn't fight to get my hysterectomy, just to then not take this chance I have for a better life for myself in whatever time I have left, so I need to make that time the best it can be. I want to start getting back in the habit of regular meditation, remember to take days off to just relax, be able to look back and say I've had plenty of wonderful hygge moments - by myself, and with the furkids - and stop being so worried I'll offend people by sharing my beliefs on my blog that I hardly acknowledge days throughout the wheel of the year that are important to me and my beliefs. Preferably without Kelly having to threaten to hide my computer cables if I don't remember to take some time out to relax and look after myself.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be
~Douglas Adams

So, in short, my goals for 2020 are as follows:

Read 104 books; read two books a week.Continue blogging five times a week (Monday through Friday).Practice better self care; meditate regularly, enjoy hygge moments whenever possible, take regular days off from the computer to just relax, watch some of those movies and TV shows I keep saying I'll get to, and do whatever else I need to do to look after my health in every form.
I also have the Jason Donovan concert to look forward to in December 2020. But that's not goal related, hence not mentioning it in my goals list. Still, I'm looking forward to it, so couldn't resist giving it a quick mention here.

That's it, except for my writing related goals, which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

It’s never too late for a new beginning in your life.
~Joyce Meyers

How about you? How was your year? If you had any, what were your goals for 2019? Did you achieve them? Do you have any for 2020? If you're the kind of person who makes resolutions, or picks a word for the year, I'd love to hear about that too. So feel free to tell me, either in the comments section of this post on my blog, or via social media... However you read my posts.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art—write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
~Neil Gaiman