The final reckoning of 2023.

As so many do when a year winds down, I am looking back at my resolutions for 2023 and assessing whether I accomplished them.  The short answer is "no", but I came close with several:

• READING:  According to Goodreads, I have read 18 of the 12 I committed to read this year, but they didn't have a way for me to record one of the books.  So it's really 19.  I only read eight during the Mark Twain House & Museum Reading Challenge period, so I changed my goal there from ten to eight - slightly cheating, but I really thought I'd get more read during those six months.  When I looked at my list for the year I realized I'd forgotten to include one so added it.

The "No Image" is for "Me", Katherine Hepburn's autobiography.

• COMPLETING UFOs:  I did complete the Magical Miniskeins socks, but I didn't make progress on the shawl - it got packed away during my move and I'm not sure where it is right now.  I finished some, but not all, of the baby blankets.  I made quite a few other things - my tally (and I might have missed one or two) was 99 items in 2023, many for charity, some for family or friends.  I may finish a 100th during the online party I'm attending this evening.
• COOKING:  I did quite a bit, but with the move I stalled on my proposal to cook once a month from one of the historical cooking video channels I follow.  I did experiment out of some of my historical cookbooks, and I think I'll try again on the once-a-month cooking/baking from video channels idea.

I also had an unofficial one: To have one week where my FitBit recorded at least a full amount of sleep (it's set for 6.5 hours), the minimum of steps (250) every one of the nine tracked hours, 10,000 steps per day, exercise the minimum amount (20 minutes together) or more each day, and meet the 8km daily goal.  Needless to say, I didn't make it.  I had some weeks that were close, but a bad night of sleep or inattention when my bracelet vibrated so that I missed steps one hour (usually when traveling or in a meeting), and I missed a metric.  While I feel disappointed in myself when I miss one, especially the steps-every-hour metric, I tell myself it is the overall picture that really matters.  This also helps on days when I miss the 10,000 steps requirement, although they are very few; usually I walk more the next day to make up the difference, and all weeks I have exceeded the minimum of 70,000 steps total.

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People in the USA, and I suppose any other country that writes the date in month/date/year format, is making much of today being 12/31/23 - some term it "the waltz date" or something similar because it recites as 123-123.  The rest of the world either laughs or puzzles.

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There is so much to consider for next year.  A good reminder, for those considering what to resolve in 2024:  "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.  Do justly now. Love mercy now.  Walk humbly now.  You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."  From The Talmud.