EOY 2024

And just like that, 2024 is a wrap. <PHEW>. We made it… I won’t make this long, just wanted to touch back on how my yearly goals went this year, if for no other reason than for my own memory.

Things I wanted to work on:

Keep God close. Mostly, I was successful in this. While I wasn’t perfect, I did maintain my Liturgy of the Hours for most of the year. I am still searching for a church to call “home”, but my bible studies are moving forward - slowly, but still forward. I did read a BUNCH of books by Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI, and Saint (Pope) John Paul II this year, which was enlightening. I listened to all 366 days of both the Bible in a Year podcast and the Catechism in a Year podcast, and let me tell you - I learned way more than I ever learned in all those “Catechism classes” from grade school. I plan to listen to them both again next year, along with Ascension Press’s new podcast, Rosary in a Year, which teaches not only the rosary prayers, but the meaning and history behind them.

Play with pans. Yep, did that all year. I finally found my groove again with journaling, which had been lacking since the pandemic and all the drama that my life had during that time. I kept myself (mostly) in check this year and didn’t buy TOO many new pens or inks. Looking at my desk, I do need to thin the heard a bit, though, which I failed to prioritize this year.

Read. Technically, I did not meet my goal of 100 books this year. That said, I read quite a few that were WAY longer than I had attempted in previous years. One took my almost two months of fairly steady reading to get through it - it was well over 1,000 pages long. So I feel like even though the number of books was less, I am sure the number of pages was well above what I read last year. I said I wanted to track pages read, and I did for a while, but neglected it when I started listening to a lot of audiobooks, although with a little time, I could populate that number easily enough.

Picture picture. Hmm, I didn’t pick up my dSLR once this year. Call this one failed.

Declutter. Yeah, maybe next year… I did some, but not nearly enough.

Get less fat. I was consistent with some exercises, but not enough. And I re-found my love of bourbon this year, which I am sure didn’t help the scale. But I already have a plan for next year, and have already started on it. We’ll see what 2025 shows.

Travel. That, I accomplished. I camped more. Rode the bike more. Flew a few places. I want to start attacking my life list of places to see.

This past year was a roller coast year, for sure, and I really don’t see the next being any less-so. But I am working through a lot of things, and that has helped my mindset immensely. So cheers to 2024, and let the New Year start off with a bang!

While I am sure you don’t read this, if you happen to… know that I still dream about you every night. Forever and always…

And as always… don’t forget to Spin the Compass.