Looking Back At 2019, And Ahead To 2020

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.
~Willie Nelson

2019 was an eventful year, but mostly a pretty good one. I mean, we've had some issues with repairs getting done. Or, more to the point, not getting done (or, as is the case in some situations, getting done eventually, but not as thoroughly as they should have been). Plus, we lost the younger of our chinchillas, Maizie, at the start of February, and the last of our degu buddies, Joshua, last week. But we were lucky in that most of the rest of the memorable events of the year were good. Like me FINALLY getting my hysterectomy, and us adding our Cavapoo, Logan, to our family. On top of those things, I switched from being a vegetarian to being a vegan in July, which I consider a good thing, especially given the fact I've had issues with tolerating dairy since infancy, and really wasn't meant to be eating or drinking dairy products anyhow. So, yeah... 2019 was actually a mostly good year, which feels great to be able to say, especially after how 2018 was.

A life well lived isn't one free from struggle, that's illogical; It's the struggle that makes us notice & appreciate the blessings in life.
~Mother Teresa

Anyway, I had five goals for 2019. If you want to read the full version of my post about them, you can read last year's post here. But here's the short version of what my goals for 2019 were:

1. Read at least 104 books.
2. Do both versions of the A-Z reading challenge.
3. Watch at least 52 DVDs.
4. Blog five times a week.
5. Embrace hygge, and practice better self-care.

So, how did I do?

• Reading:
Both the first two goals on my list were reading related, so I'm going to mention both under this heading. I read 113 books in 2019 (unless I finish the book I'm currently reading before midnight tonight, in which case it will be 114). So I did make - and pass - my goal of 104 books. Though it's a lower number than I've done most years in the past, I'm pleased, since I intentionally cut back on my reading time in favour of doing other things too (like watching some of the movies and TV shows I wanted to see). As for the A-Z challenges: I finished the author version in July, and the title version in November. You can see what I read for the author version here, and see what I read for the title version here. Or, you can just go check out my year in books on Goodreads. Anyway, my 2020 reading goal is to read 104 books. Despite having read more than that this year, and way more than it some years, I feel like that's a comfortable reading goal, so want to stick with it.

• DVD Watching:
As it turned out, I reached my 52 DVD goal at the end of October. In fact, if you're interested, I actually ended up watching 81 DVDs in 2019 in the end. So there's no doubt I completed my DVD watching goal. I even managed to watch way more than I brought, so the stack of DVDs on my coffee table is a lot smaller, which was the whole point of the challenge in the first place. Though it started growing a bit again with the arrival of holiday gifts. Anyway, I won't be bothering with a 2020 DVD watching challenge/goal. I still plan to have something to mention each week in the watching part of the weekly reviews post, but I'm not going to bother to keep count of the number of DVDs I end up watching. I'm just going to focus on enjoying my movie and TV show watching time, regardless of whether I'm watching things on DVD, Sky, Amazon Prime, or whatever. Then I'll tell you what I watched, and review anything I watch that's new to me. But I don't have an actual 2020 watching goal.

• Blogging:
I blogged five times a week, as planned, sticking to the themes I'd planned for each day (see the post linked to near the top of this post for full details of my 2019 blogging schedule, if you're not sure what it was, and want/need the reminder). This schedule is working very nicely for me, so I plan to continue it in 2020, with the addition of "Friends Of Furkid Friday" posts some Fridays (which I've been doing throughout 2019, but isn't mentioned on the blogging schedule, since it was an idea that came later) and some minor adjustments to titles and layouts for some of my regular features, as well as making it official that I'll be doing a musical mention in my weekly media reviews posts on Thursdays, which means I'll be spotlighting a song from the ones I've listened to during that week, like I've done in the past couple of months. The short version of the schedule is quotes on Monday, anything goes on Tuesday, writing related stuff on Wednesday, media reviews and shares on Thursday, and pet themed stuff on Friday.

• Personal:
I really didn't do too well with the self care thing again. Actually, I totally sucked at it, if I'm being honest. I started off well, but it didn't take me long to stop remembering to take time for some self care, just relax, etc. Although, at least when I did remember to take time for self care I had some lovely hygge moments. Still, those moments were few and far between, so I definitely need to work on this more, as certain people keep reminding me. With that in mind, I will be keeping the goal of practicing better self care again for 2020 - this applies to physical, mental, and spiritual personal care. If I keep putting it on there, maybe I'll eventually get in the habit of doing it. Can but hope, right? I mean, I know I really need to. I didn't fight to get my hysterectomy, just to then not take this chance I have for a better life for myself in whatever time I have left, so I need to make that time the best it can be. I want to start getting back in the habit of regular meditation, remember to take days off to just relax, be able to look back and say I've had plenty of wonderful hygge moments - by myself, and with the furkids - and stop being so worried I'll offend people by sharing my beliefs on my blog that I hardly acknowledge days throughout the wheel of the year that are important to me and my beliefs. Preferably without Kelly having to threaten to hide my computer cables if I don't remember to take some time out to relax and look after myself.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be
~Douglas Adams

So, in short, my goals for 2020 are as follows:

1. Read 104 books; read two books a week.
2. Continue blogging five times a week (Monday through Friday).
3. Practice better self care; meditate regularly, enjoy hygge moments whenever possible, take regular days off from the computer to just relax, watch some of those movies and TV shows I keep saying I'll get to, and do whatever else I need to do to look after my health in every form.

I also have the Jason Donovan concert to look forward to in December 2020. But that's not goal related, hence not mentioning it in my goals list. Still, I'm looking forward to it, so couldn't resist giving it a quick mention here.

That's it, except for my writing related goals, which I'll tell you about tomorrow.

It’s never too late for a new beginning in your life.
~Joyce Meyers

How about you? How was your year? If you had any, what were your goals for 2019? Did you achieve them? Do you have any for 2020? If you're the kind of person who makes resolutions, or picks a word for the year, I'd love to hear about that too. So feel free to tell me, either in the comments section of this post on my blog, or via social media... However you read my posts.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art—write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.
~Neil Gaiman

#Halloween's #AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - October 31st 2019 #Reviews + A DVD Challenge Update

It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.
~Oscar Wilde

Happy Halloween!

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week. It's also time to see which song I've decided to put in the spotlight from those I've listened to over the past week. So...

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read this week:

The Cock of the South by C.S. Boyack
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent and gripping story, which combines alternate history with fantasy wonderfully. If you enjoy those things, you should definitely read this book, and join this fantastic cast of characters on their action-packed adventure.

As for what I've been watching:

I watched seven DVDs this week. Yes, you read that right. All ones I've seen before, but still. I had three DVD days in a row, because I could, and because I kind of needed the recharge time. I could have read instead, and maybe should have for some of the time, considering I've not been reading as much as is normal for me lately. But I felt like binge-watching the rest of the Harry Potter movies. So, that's just what I did.

I watched the fourth and fifth Harry Potter movies one after the other on Saturday, the sixth and seventh on Sunday, and the eighth (the second part of book 7) on Monday while putting up my Halloween decorations. I also watched "Homeward Bound" 1 and 2, which was also on Monday, since I felt like watching more DVDs after I was done with Harry Potter, and my copies of those were close at hand. Plus, they're good movies.

Watching all those DVDs means I completed my DVD challenge, since that final Harry Potter DVD put me at the 52 DVDs for 2019 that was my goal, and then I watched two more after that, putting me at 54 DVDs watched so far this year. So, YAY! Considering there was a point earlier in the year when I was so behind on my DVD watching I thought I'd struggle to meet the goal, I'm definitely pleased I reached it with two months to spare. I'll continue keeping count of the DVDs I watch though, and tell you at the end of 2019 how many I end up watching in total for the year. I just wanted to tell you I'd reached the goal. Well, passed it really.

Oh, and I also caught a few random episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Futurama" when they were on TV, which I seem to do a lot. Just in case you were interested in hearing about that too.

Anyway...

As for what I've been listening to...

Mostly I've been sticking to my country music favourites. But I took a break to listen to a Halloween playlist. Around Halloween in previous years I already shared my two favourite Halloween tunes - "This Is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and "Monster Mash" - so I'm going to share one of the other ones I like that appeared in the playlist. The "Ghostbusters" theme tune. Enjoy!

Whatever you're reading, watching, or listening to this Halloween, I hope you find it spooktacular!

#AmReading + #AmWatching - October 3rd 2019 #Reviews (Includes Challenge Updates)

Keep reading. It's one of the most marvellous adventures anyone can have
~Lloyd Alexander

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read this week:

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a captivating and delightful story, with a fascinating plot, and wonderful characters. It's an excellent adventure for children old enough to appreciate it, and those young at heart.

Empowered by Katrina Cope
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I devoured this book in one sitting, and the only disappointing thing was that it ended, so my time with the characters was over again for now. I'm loving seeing this series develop, and the characters in it grow as it does. It's also fascinating learning more about the world the author has created, and its various legends. In short: I'm still loving this series, and would highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of fantasy and mythology.
*NOTE: I was given a free advanced copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of the book, or the contents of this review.

As for what I've been watching:

I watched a couple of random "Star Trek: Voyager" episodes. I also watched a documentary... I don't know what it was called, but it was about the mystery surrounding the death /disappearance of Anastasia Romanov, which was on one of the history channels the other day. It was really interesting.

Plus, I had a DVD day on Sunday - as I mentioned in Tuesday's post - and watched three DVDs. One was "G-Force" which is a movie I've seen a couple of times before. The other two were new to me movies though - and quite new movies in general, since they've only just come out on DVD here, and were actually only released earlier this year - so it turns out I have a couple of movie reviews for you again this week.

Aladdin (2019 movie):
I wasn't expecting to be a big fan of this movie, because I love Robin Williams as the geni, and was positive Will Smith wouldn't do it for me. Yes, he's a good actor, and I didn't doubt he'd do well in general, but to me Robin Williams is the geni, and I struggled to imagine Will Smith doing the geni scenes in a way that would satisfy someone like me who grew up with Robin Williams as the familiar voice of the geni. Still, I wanted to see this movie, and knew I'd want a copy for my DVD collection anyhow, so I got a copy, and watched it. I was pleasantly surprised. I still prefer Robin Williams as the geni, but Will Smith was really great, and did do the role justice, so that I found I really enjoyed the movie. It's every bit as good as the animated one I've seen loads of times. So, I recommend this movie to anyone who loved the animated one, and is prepared to give Will Smith a chance as the geni. Also, I give this movie a well deserved five out of five stars.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019 movie):
I've been dying to see this one. I've still got several of the older Pokémon movies to watch, but I love Pikachu, so absolutely had to see this one. I was so eager to see it I even pre-ordered the DVD a couple of months ago, which is something I haven't done since the Harry Potter movies were being released on DVD. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. It's a bit more slow-paced than the earlier Pokémon movies (which are the ones I've seen) especially at the beginning. But it's an excellent Pokémon themed mystery, it's entertaining, and the ending is just lovely. If you're a Pokémon fan, I highly recommend this movie. I also give this movie five out of five stars.

***~~~***

Since we're three quarters of the way through the year - yes, already - I thought I'd take a moment to update you on how I'm doing with my reading and watching challenges for 2019 again. So, this is how things stand at the moment:

• I've so far read 82 books towards my goal of 104 books.
• I've completed 23 letters for the title version of the A-Z challenge, and all 26 for the author version of the A-Z challenge. Here's what I read for the A-Z author challenge
  
• I've so far watched 44 DVDs towards my goal of 52 DVDs.

So, I'm doing well with my challenges. If you had reading or watching goals for the year, how are you doing with yours?

#AmReading + #AmWatching - July 4th 2019 #Reviews (Includes Challenge Updates)

Reading is like magic--I think I've made my case. Without the gift of words, this world's a crazy place!
~Denise Walter McConduit

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read this week:

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a really good, and obviously well-researched, book. It's upsetting in places, especially given the fact it's based on true events, but well worth the read. I didn't enjoy it as much as "Lilac Girls" (which it's a prequel to) but did find it to be a great read.

The Human Experiment by Cory Zwick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The plot concept was interesting, and there were some great entertaining and action-packed scenes. But the author's writing style just isn't for me, and I really didn't enjoy most of it because of that.

As for what I've been watching:

I watched the first series of the "Goosebumps" TV series, which was three disks. I saw a lot of the episodes in the past, when I watched it on TV, but this is the first time I'm sitting down and watching them in the recommended viewing order, and I know I haven't seen all the Goosebumps episodes. Haven't read all the books yet either, though I've read many of them. Anyway, I always enjoyed the books more than the episodes of the TV show before, and that still seems to be the case. They were great, but the books were better. At least, I know I can so far say that for the ones where I've both read the book and seen the episode.

***~~~***

Since we're half way through the year - yes, already - I thought I'd take a moment to update you on how I'm doing with my reading and watching challenges for 2019 again. So, this is how things stand at the moment:

• I've so far read 53 books towards my goal of 104 books.
• I've completed 15 letters for the title version of the A-Z challenge, and 25 for the author version of the A-Z challenge.
• I've so far watched 27 DVDs towards my goal of 52 DVDs.

So, I'm either on track or ahead of schedule with all of them. In particular the author A-Z challenge, which I only need to read one more book for. I'm really pleased about that, especially after getting behind earlier in the year.

#AmReading + #AmWatching - April 4th 2019 #Reviews (Includes Challenge Updates)

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read this week:

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent addition to the series, and a fantastic book in general. I'm absolutely loving this series, and can't wait to read the next book. I've already mentioned in reviews for the previous books in the series how great the worldbuilding and characters are. Add to that a nicely paced and exciting plot, with plenty of action, some emotional scenes, and some twists and turns, and you have the recipe for an awesome read.

As for what I've been watching:

Yeah... I've got nothing. I've caught snatches of things on TV, but that's about it. I was going to watch a couple of DVDs on Sunday, but it was Mothers' Day here in the UK, and my Mam felt talkative, so I spent most of Sunday talking to her instead.

***~~~***

Since we're quarter of the way through the year - yes, already - I thought I'd take a moment to update you on how I'm doing with my reading and watching challenges for 2019. So, this is how things stand at the moment:

• I've so far read 22 books towards my goal of 104 books.
• I've completed 8 letters for the title version of the A-Z challenge, and 10 for the author version of the A-Z challenge.
• I've so far watched 4 DVDs towards my goal of 52 DVDs.

As you can no doubt tell, though I'm doing well on the alphabet challenges, I'm a few books behind on my reading goal, and several DVDs behind on my watching goal. I should have read about 26 books and 13 DVDs by now. It's fine though. It's only early April, so I have plenty of time to catch up.

Looking Back At 2018, And Ahead To 2019

Today might not be so good. But tomorrow, you got another chance to get it right.
~David Baldacci

Happy New Year!








2018 didn't go quite as planned for me. Most of the year was taken up with medical issues, and then there was the whole preparing to move thing, which then didn't happen, so we went through unpacking again (after having only finished unpacking in the first place as we went in to 2018). Not to mention losing my Grandad at the start of the year - not that I was close to him, but still... He was my Grandad (the only one I've ever known, since I never knew my Dad's Dad) and people dying is sad even if they aren't people you're close to - and almost losing a couple of other family members and friends to health issues that still plague them. Add to that the stressful situation with nasty neighbour that prompted the now aborted moving plans to be kicked off, and the extra stress I put on myself by still being determined to do so much... Yeah... Not my best year. Could have been worse, I suppose. I have had worse years. Plus, there were some good points, like making a few new friends, discovering subscription boxes, signs of improved health to come, and finally seeing an end to the situation we'd been dealing with for some time with nasty neighbour.

Still, though 2018 wasn't actually as bad of a year as it might have been, and plenty of people had worse years than I did, I find I'm more than ready to move on to 2019 at this point, thank you very much! I'm actually so eager to do so that I've had to keep stopping myself from writing "2019" instead of "2018" when writing the date since about November. So... Yeah...

With that in mind, let's take a quick look at what my goals were for 2018, and how I did with them. Then I can tell you all about my goals for 2019. So, you can read the post with full details about my 2018 goals if you like, but here's the short version of what they were:

2018 Reading Goals:
*Read at least 150 books.
*Do the 2018 A-Z title reading challenge.

2018 Blogging Goals:
*Continue blogging on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, using hashtags when appropriate, and using Tuesdays when extra posting slots are needed.
*Start blogging more about other topics besides books and writing. I even had some monthly features planned. See the post linked to above for full details of the blogging schedule I planned to work with during 2018.

2018 Houshold/Personal Goals:
*Finish organizing the things on the shelves.
*Arrange to finally get the shower rail and curtain put up.
*Get back in the habit of meditating daily again.
*Actually remember that it's OK to take time off from working on the computer sometimes, and have a day off at least once a week.
*Teach Lilie the difference between what she's allowed to chew, and what she isn't.

So, how did I do?

Reading:
I finished the A-Z reading challenge in early August. If you'd like to see exactly what I read for the challenge this year - either because you missed seeing my post when it went up back in August, or because you don't remember - read my post about it here.

I didn't think I'd manage to complete my Goodreads reading goal, but I actually did, thanks to some short holiday reads. I ended up reading 153 books in 2018 - three more books than my goal was set to. You can see my year in books here.

Blogging:
Despite everything, I managed to do a pretty good job with my blogging goals. Although, I didn't properly do some of the monthly features I was going to do (most notably the movie and TV show reviews post). However, since the point of the monthly features was to have me talking about the other things going on in my life outside of my reading and writing, and I did do that, I'm proud of me for doing as well as I did with my blogging goals, and calling it a success. Feel free to disagree, but I personally feel I did well with my blogging goals, especially given what I was dealing with during most of the year. I mean, I didn't miss any posting slots, and even had to use several Tuesdays and Thursdays, along with the odd Saturday. Although, my determination to achieve this is part of the above mentioned extra stress I put on myself, so that part of it isn't such a good thing. Still, I did it.

Household/Personal:
At first the household goals got ignored because of the eventually aborted moving plans. Then it was too late in the year to make any real progress, though we did try. Some things are more organized, while others are less so, since they're back to being in boxes until we get more shelves, and the shower rail is still waiting to go up.

The personal goals - which were basically my attempts at self care - sort of got thrown out of the window in my efforts to do everything else I wanted or needed to while jumping through hoops to get my medical issues sorted out (not literally, of course, though I'm sure the gynecologists would have liked me to get that much exercise). I tried to salvage the situation towards the end of the year, but didn't make as much progress as I'd have liked.

Lilie's not quite so bad about chewing things though, so that's something, I guess. Mind you, there's still room for improvement in that area, since she's still not entirely out of the habit.

To be honest, I feel the household and personal goals were something I totally failed at, because I can't honestly say I completely checked any of them off, and I very obviously failed to achieve the ones that were entirely under my control.

So, that's how I did with my 2018 goals. I didn't do as well as I'd have liked, but never mind. I did OK, considering everything that was going on. Anyway, as I mentioned above, I'm eager to move on to 2019, so let's take a look at what my goals for 2019 are, shall we?

This new day is too dear,with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

2019 Reading Goals:
I want to read at least 104 books in 2019. That's two books a week. I'd like to read more than that - especially given the length of my ever-growing "want to read" list - and most likely will end up doing so, because it's me. But 104 is the number I'm setting my Goodreads challenge for this year, and I'll be happy if I just read that many books. I just want to focus on relaxing and enjoying my reading time, not worrying quite so much about numbers. That's why I'm setting my Goodreads reading challenge to a number that's pretty low for me, despite having read more than that in 2018.

I'll also be doing the A-Z challenge one of the Goodreads groups I'm a member of likes to do every year. In fact, this year there are two versions of it, one for titles and one for authors, and I'm planning to do both. I'm going to try to anyhow.

I might decide to participate in some of the other group challenges on Goodreads too. But I'm not setting it as an actual goal, especially since I don't know at this point what other challenges might happen on the groups. It's just something I'll do if I decide I want to when sign-ups happen.

2019 Watching Goals:
This is a new catagory for me, but I have stacks of DVDs I want to watch, along with loads more on my list of ones I want copies of, which I'll naturally also want to watch. So I'm setting a goal for those this year too. My goal is to watch at least 52 DVDs in 2019. That's one a week. More would be great, but I'll be happy if I can say for sure I watched 52 DVDs.

To be clear, that's disks. So, for example, if a season of a TV series is six disks (like most of NCIS is) watching a whole season counts as watching six DVDs. So, by "a DVD" I mean one movie, or one disk of a season of a TV series.

I'll have to make sure to keep track of how many I watch myself though, since I'm not on a movie/TV series version of Goodreads. Does one of those even exist? It wouldn't surprise me if it does...

2019 Blogging Goals:
I'm starting a new blogging schedule as from January 2019. I've actually spent quite a lot of time thinking about my new blogging schedule. I considered leaving things as they were. I weighed the pros and cons of either increasing or decreasing my post frequency. Etc, etc, etc. Actually, being honest, I went back and forth with a decision on this several times, and I probably spent more time thinking about it than I really needed to, because that's something I do a lot. But there you go. In the end, I decided to go with a blogging schedule that will have me blogging five days a week. I'll be starting the following blogging schedule as from January 2019:

• Monday: motivational and inspirational quotes, and words of wisdom. The posting of quotes is a feature I decided to keep going with, and do every week, since it seems popular among my readers/followers. Plus, seeing all those quotes is a great way to start the week, and collecting them is kinda fun too.
• Tuesday: anything goes. Whatever's been happening in my life, weather reports, craft project updates, and any other random thing I want to share. Basically, anything that doesn't fit nicely in to one of the other days, so most weeks this will likely end up being a weekly version of the "random ramblings" or "this and that" type posts I sometimes do.
• Wednesday: #WriterWednesday posts, which will contain writing links I consider worth sharing, any writing related news or updates I have that I can share with you from my week, book announcements for either myself or other authors I'm spotlighting, quotes about writing, or some combination of these things.
• Thursday: what I've read or been watching in the past week, along with reviews for all new to me books, movies, and TV shows.
• Friday: my usual #FurkidFriday posts; anything the furries have to share.

I'll continue scheduling the posts to go up ahead of time, though I'm changing the time from 10:00am UK time to 9:00am UK time. Still, since they'll be scheduled ahead of time, there will be a cut-off time for new things to be added, or times they wait until the following week because I didn't get a chance to add them to the post, like is already the case with the links in my #WriterWednesday posts. For example, if I finish a book or watch a movie on a Wednesday, I probably won't get the review up for it that week. In fact, you can almost guarantee I won't.

I did consider combining the posts for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I was going to do them as one long post on a Monday. But, in the end, I decided to keep them as individual posts. It makes tagging them easier. Plus, though there are exceptions to this rule, most people seem to prefer several shorter posts to one long one these days. I've also had some comments made directly to me from followers of my blog about how people like things being in individual posts, and how they were glad when I started doing that. So, there you go.

This new schedule officially starts today. However, I'll be setting up posts for around the time I'm going in to hospital, so during that time they won't be exactly as it says on the tin, so to speak. I'll be trying to stick to the set themes for the days when setting things up though. I even have a fun feature planned for the Fridays, which originally started as an idea I had with an author friend, and turned in to a sort of mini post series that I hope you'll enjoy.

2019 Personal Goals:
My personal goal involves the embracing of Hygge, while practicing better self care, as I explain in this post. This is something I've already started trying to achieve, but which I'm still trying to figure out. I'm trying different things, to see what works best for me, and what I do and don't want to include in my life on a regular basis, if you know what I mean. I want to look after my health better. Not diet, or anything like that. But be the best me I can. A quote I spotted on Twitter last night sums it up perfectly:

As the New Year rolls in, a reminder: Diet culture and diet resolutions normalize eating disorders. It’s possible to center your health without weight loss goals. Let 2019 be the year that you decide that you aren’t too much or too little. You’re just right.
~Julie Murphy

Anyway, there's also my surgery finally coming up early this year. But, though having that done is something I want to have happen, I'm not putting it as an actual goal for the year. Still, I'll be glad once it's done. Also, having it done will make it easier for me to focus on my actual personal goal, especially once I've had my recovery time afterwards.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
~J.R.R. Tolkien

So, in short, I have five goals for 2019, which are as follows:

1. Read at least 104 books.
2. Do both versions of the A-Z reading challenge.
3. Watch at least 52 DVDs.
4. Blog five times a week.
5. Embrace hygge, and practice better self-care.

Between the things I have planned, and the long-awaited surgery finally coming up, 2019 looks like it's going to get off to a great start for me. I hope you can say the same!

Tomorrow we'll talk about the writing side of things.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear how you did with your goals for 2018, if you had any. So tell me all about it in the comments. Or, just tell me how 2018 was for you. Was it a good year? A bad one? Somewhere in the middle? Either way, I'd love to know. Also, do you have any goals or resolutions for 2019? If so, what are they? I'd love to know about those as well, so tell me about them in the comments section of this post too.

Oh, and here's some advice on how to make the most of your goals, in case you could use some.