Late Year End Wrap Up

       I'm late with this. Partly because I didn't think it was all that interesting to talk about, partially because I was doing other things and partially because it's winter and there are bound to be some things that don't happen because it's cold and dark. Except it's not cold. Not like it usually is. Which makes me want to do even less inside stuff because it's not so bad being outside. Not that I am running again yet or anything, which would be fantastic if I didn't keep coughing. But my cold is still hanging on just a bit, and it is making the idea of running something that will happen some other time. 

      Anyway, often when I do a year end wrap up I do the number of each type of dolls I have made in a year. I am not doing that this time. I have no idea and I don't want to go through and make the list to try to figure it out. I know that I have been a super slacker and have only updated my book maybe 3 times this year. Well, technically last year, since it's a new year. I even have a doll I finished almost a week ago that I have not yet managed to get photos of. So I have a 2022 doll that I haven't even shared yet. Good times.

     

     I know that I only made 67 dolls this year. I have made 1632 dolls total. Last year in my year end wrap up I reported making 110 dolls. So I have definitely been working at a much slower pace this year. But the end of 2021 I was only really just starting with teaching, which was incredibly rough. It wasn't until mid-June that I was finished, and I was tired. Exhausted really. And I am still tired. It looks like in January I finished 5 dolls. February was 6. March was 4, April was 6. May I finished just 2 dolls while in June I finished an impressive 8 dolls. July I finished 9 dolls, August brought 12 dolls (wow!), September was 3 dolls, October was also 3. November I made 4 dolls and December I made 5 dolls. I have definitely learned to be OK with working at a slower pace!

    So what did I learn about my doll work in 2022? I learned that I have made a lot of dolls in the past 16 years and I am tired. I still like to make dolls, but not all the time. Sometimes I prefer to make jewelry. Sometimes I prefer to read books. I also figured out that the world doesn't come crashing down if I work less. That has been pretty excellent. I probably should work a little bit more than I currently am, but I don't want to right now. Maybe next week. Or maybe the week after that. 

    

    Vacation went pretty well. I was fully prepared to not end up doing a whole bunch of stuff on my to-do list this week. But I did OK. I had a bunch of sorting projects I want to get to. Did them. I had some deep cleaning that I have been meaning to get to. Did almost all of it. I wanted to finish reading A Discovery of Witches. I did not meet that goal. That book is long and I just don't have enough time in the day. Even with staying up a bit later because I don't have to get up super early. So yeah, I didn't get everything done, but I actually got a lot more done than I expected. And I did some really important stuff too. Like spending multiple days hanging out with Ethan, because we don't often have that many days together because of our work schedules. Over vacation I actually did sort of a lot of vacationy stuff. Sort of. I didn't work all that much. I think I made one doll, or maybe two, I think I did finish another one this week. I made some jewelry, I visited with some friends, I did some of my cleaning and sorting projects. I sorted clothes to donate... and donated them the same day!!! Who does that? So yeah, the week has gone pretty well. I was vaguely nervous about having to take a half day tomorrow, since Sunshine Village is not open, but when I went to take the time the system told me that I was trying to take a day when the school was closed. Apparently I have been in error this whole time because I don't even have to go back to work until Tuesday. Problem is solved and now it feels like I get an extra day off! So tomorrow Travis and I will go get the laundry done earlier than usual, go to Joann's to see about getting some fabric I need for a doll I need to make, and then likely I might even find some time to start working on the doll. Or read, I might read. But you never know, I might do both. 

    2023 has started off really well. I wrote the date, correctly, on my first try. I am bound to screw that up soon, but it was nice to get it right at least once. I had a good morning with Ethan and Travis, though Elecktra was sick and couldn't come over, then Travis and I went to the indoor flea market, went to visit a friend, and had a generally good day. I am hoping for good things for tomorrow as well. Happy New Year!