January Review in 5 Lists

I’m only going to review my own January. In a more global sense, it wasn’t the best month ever, with the frigid weather in many states, the wildfires in California, the assorted public weirdness, etc. But that’s way outside my scope, and I literally (literally literally) don’t have the time or energy right now to do proper research to say anything intelligent, much less properly cited, about all that.

So, as promised, the lists:

5 Things I’m Grateful For

1. Happy Birthdays. I had a good one, and it seems like all my other family members with birthdays last month did too.
2. Knee Surgery and My Quick Recovery. I’m doing so much better now. Not every day is fantastic, but most of them are pretty good.
3. All the Comforts of Life. It was a cold, gray month, but I had a warm house with food, water, electricity, and comfy blankets.
4. Progress on Projects. I collect hobbies as a hobby, so I have way too many projects going on at any given moment. I made some progress on some art and writing projects. It’s never as much as I’d hoped, but it was more than I usually accomplish.
5. Work Found: I don’t know if I posted about it before, but I accepted a project with Pearson in December and was offered further projects in January. I should have work into June, barring any changes. (https://survey.vovici.com/se/058F3B57328DCABD — job info, not a referral link)

5 Things That Did Not Go Well

1. NYNN. It never really got off the ground. I didn’t expect to be able to schedule my knee surgery for January when I was making my initial plans.
2. Familial Friction. I have some opportunities in the future that would require us to move. My husband is less than enthusiastic about these prospects.
3. Not Getting Out. I haven’t gotten out much, even though I’ve been cleared to drive after my follow up appointment. I am starting to get cabin fever.
4. Insomnia. So many nights of so little sleep. It’s bad for every kind of health.
5. New Worries. My mom has developed new symptoms. She’s elderly and has a number of health issues. I desperately wish I were close enough to help out and go to her appointments with her.

5 Things I Learned

1. I know everyone hates AI. Nonetheless, I need to make money and sometimes I take AI training tasks to do that. Some of those tasks require writing prompts. My prompts are improving. That is all.
2. My art has improved slightly. It turns out that all those people who say to keep practicing are right.
3. I have been reading and otherwise absorbing tons of media on dog training because we had a plan to get a puppy that has now been acquired
4. I have located children’s books in Yiddish. Very cool stuff available, not necessarily the easiest stuff to find. And I restarted the Yiddish course on Duolingo. I retained more from my previous go on the old account than I expected!
5. I have been learning a lot about Baltimore, MD— far more than I would need to move there.

5 Things On My Mind

1. I have to be honest, I was never okay with the rampant overuse of executive orders and I am even less happy with it now.
2. My husband, God bless and keep him, is too high-strung for ordinary life. Everything stresses him out. I need to find a way for him to help himself.
3. I need to chill out a bit myself. I need to find that inner peace that keeps me anchored in the midst of the hurricane.
4. I need to insist on my writing time or I won’t get any.
5. I’m definitely going to start a charitable campaign because that’s all I can think of to do to help.

5 Things For February

1. Get all my paperwork in order. For everything.
2. Write.
3. Draw.
4. Start training this pup.
5. Finalize plans for the rest of 2025.