Happy New Year 2026!

Posting my annual goals a few days after the new year seems to have become tradition. Maybe that's when things start to return to normal after the holidays and therefore I have a few moments to catch my breath and reflect.

2025 by the numbers:

• 39,212 pages read
• 5 stitching projects finished
• 7 states visited (not counting my home state, of course)
• 3 concerts attended

All in all, a reasonably good year personally. On to the goals!

Progress bar goals
• Read 25,000 pages - Between books and audiobooks, I exceeded last year's page total. The most noteworthy reads were the complete novels and short stories of Agatha Christie, and all of horror author Joe Hill's novels as my annual October spooky reading goal. Other books included classics like Dante's _Inferno_ and John Milton's _Paradise Lost_, and more modern fantasy or folklore like S.A. Chakraborty's Daevabad series and Emily H. Wilson's Sumerians trilogy. Certainly a resounding success
• Lose 25 pounds -Yet another Abject failure, and I finally admitted this past year that it may take pharmaceutical assistance here. Wish me luck.

Other goals
• Finish two needlework projects, at least one medium or larger - I finished five: Just Nan's _Ice Blossom_, Northern Expressions _Twisted Band Sampler_, Genny Morrow's _Wheels of Color_ (canvaswork), Ink Circles _Little Alien Schoolgirl_, and Climbing Goat's _Wonders of the James Webb Telescope_. Pics are up on my Instagram. Everything except Ice Blossom was 'medium or larger', so certainly a success.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - Occasional attempts at organization, but no inventory yet. Again.
• Complete one yarncrafting project - Hm. Apparently I started my current knit project sometime in 2024, so this is actually a failure. Not sure how the time got away from me.

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - I've been hit or miss with this, but I need to be more diligent about it. Maybe I should do that streak after all.
• Continue Duolingo and Lumosity daily exercises - My Duolingo streak has stayed active, but I seem to have lost the ball on Lumosity.
• Do some form of exercise daily - As of this typing, my daily exercise streak is now at 1193.
• Make sure the dishes are done daily - i've been doing pretty well with this also.
  

So...like last year, obviously there are areas I'm doing well on, and some not so much. Still, I think this particular set of goals is meaningful and helpful to me, so I'll continue those in 2026.

2026

Progress bar goals
• Read 25,000 pages - My total for last year was nearly 40,000, but given that a decent fraction of it was audiobook, I think keeping the goal at this level seems the right call.
• Lose 25 pounds - Hopefully I can get there this year...

Other goals
• Finish two needlework projects, at least one medium or larger - My oldest active project is Ink Circles "Square Dance: Solitaire", and I'm hoping to finish it early this year. I have several more in progress or on deck, as well.
• Inventory my crafting supplies - I need to inventory what I have, and possibly cull a bit, and didn't do that this past year. Or the year before...
• Complete one yarncrafting project - I need to finish that brioche knit scarf, then I think I'll do something crochet.

Habits
• Drink at least 1.5 litre of water a day - Maybe I really should start a streak for this.
• Continue Duolingo daily exercises
• Do some form of exercise daily
• Make sure the dishes are done daily
  

Here's to a successful 2026!