End of Year 2021 Recap

In January, I made a 21 for 2021 list inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s article. So how did that go? Well, let’s see.

Home Improvements

• Paint the outside front of the house (YES! And had my friend Claudia paint an amazing mural.)
• Buy the lot next door (bought the one up from that instead)
• Maintain a clean living environment (sort of)

Creature Comforts

• Buy new pajamas and fluffy slipper socks sets (To be carried over to 2022)
• Read 12 books I love (YES! I reviewed a whole bunch on my other blog ceflores.com)
• Take the time for foot treatments for cracked heels (I did but I still have super dry heels.)

Spirituality

• Express daily gratitude (YES! Living in the moment!)
• Take time to enjoy the moment in nature (YES! Even if it was just in my garden.)
• Garden (YES! I got tomatoes this year!)

Family

• Help my son work towards adulthood by getting passport and bank accounts (Capital One Teen account/ Mexican IFE but COVID prevented getting an appointment for any passports)
• Give love and attention to the animals daily (YES! Our quarantine kitten became two and then a puppy.)
• Maintain the good health of all family members (Still working on finding a good regime that works to help with my son’s breathing issues.)

Career

• Finish writing 3 books (YES! I finished and published Exploring Traditional Herbal Remedies in Mexico: Learning About Culture Through Plant Use, The Mexican Apothecary: Traditional Cold and Flu Herbal Remedies, A Woman’s Guide to Making a Living in Rural Mexico: How to Find A Job and Create the Life You Want, plus 3 children’s books under the pen name Millie Flores.)
• Complete 2 courses Bibliotherapy, Author Amazon Ads, and then some
• Work towards creating a new blog for ESL teachers (While I didn’t create a new blog, I did open a Teachers Pay Teachers account under the name of Creative Teachings.) 

Financial Security

• One full-year online writing job (Does writing my own blog posts and books count?)
• One part-year online job (I’ve been doing a copywriting/editing gig that will finish up in about a month.)
• One full-year online teaching job (Yep! Still employed teaching online. A large number of women lost their online teaching positions this year when China did some craziness. But, not me.)

Physical/Health

• Use the stationary bike every day (8 out of 12 months ain’t bad!)
• Take a minimum of 3 dog walks every day (Yes! Cocoa loves his walks.)
• Maintain vitamin/medication regime (Yes! Vitamin C and D, plus immune-strengthening teas all year!)

I have to say, I hadn’t realized how much I had accomplished this year until I went through this list. Looking back, I’m quite impressed with my own productivity. And now I’m glad 2021 is over. Aren’t you?