Birthday reflections

As I end my 37^th year and prepare to embark on my 38^th, it seems a felicitous moment to reflect on the year’s accomplishments. This year has been hard in a number of ways. It wasn’t the hardest of my life by a long stretch, but it challenged me in new ways. My teaching load this fall was much heavier, and I had revamped the classes to try to make them more effective and more appealing. (Due to the heavier load, I’m pretty sure I didn’t achieve either of these goals.) Financial concerns added some stress as well. I made an effort to try to do more, to burn my candle brighter, and I found the effort to be rewarding but exhausting. (I plan to trim the wick, as it were, just a bit in the spring.)

 

( Details. )

 

Plans for the next year:

• Continue my weight loss
• Visit the gym twice a week over break and at least once a week during the semester
• See my 200^th lifebird
• Go on holiday with my husband
• Call people more
• Practice patience
• Publish an article and a review, and send off my prospectus
• Research at a major library during the summer
• Spend more time reading