Each December, I always take the time to examine the ups and downs I experienced over the past year. What follows is my personal and professional review of 2022. I:
* Produced/edited hundreds of breaking news stories about the global coronavirus pandemic, the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 2022 election cycle, the fall of Roe v. Wade and the transformation of U.S. women into second-class citizens, the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the rise and fall of British Prime Minister Liz Truss, the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Hurricane Ian, numerous mass shootings, outbreaks of the bird flu, monkeypox, polio and the return of influenza and many celebrity deaths.
* Promoted to deputy editor at HuffPost.
* Relaunched A Bit Of Good News.
* Penned at least 20 journal entries. Must do better next year.
* Sort of maintained two Instagram accounts: @thejadewalker and @catsofjade.
* Read 61 books and completed the 2022 GoodReads reading challenge
* Read numerous magazines, including Cook’s Country, Cooks Illustrated, Bake From Scratch, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, The Saturday Evening Post, The Writer and TeaTime Magazine.
* Watched at least 73 TV shows and 64 movies and listened to many podcasts.
* Participated in The Society of Professional Obituary Writers, the New Hampshire Writers Guild, the New York City Writers Group, the South Florida Freelancers Group, the Authors Guild, the Writers Guild of America East and the Silent Book Club, Manchester, NH chapter.
* Made 10 bottles of vanilla.
* Planted a large container garden, three bushes and a tree.
* Spent months searching for our next home. Alas, between the rising interest rates, the lack of available housing stock and the increase in prices, we had no luck. The search continues.
* Mourned the death of my friend, author/editor Bev Walton-Porter.
* Tried to get more sleep. Failed miserably, due to stress.
* Had our cat Pepper fixed.
* Continued to wear these damn braces.
* Decorated the front and inside of our house for Halloween and dressed up as a handmaiden.
* Decorated the front and inside of our house for Christmas and mailed more than 35 Christmas cards.
* Tried many recipes. New favorites include: Sheet pan buttermilk pancakes, fried banana bread bites, a new version of pumpkin pie, mini caprese salad bites, cranberry cream tart, spritz cookies and Richard Sax’s cloud cake.
* Wrestled with perimenopause, in all its hot-flash glory. A winner has not yet been determined.
* Suffered from at least 20 migraines and lost 44 days of my life to pain. Average headache duration: 52 hours. Began using a Cefaly treatment, which surprisingly, helped.
* Worked my 32nd year as a journalist.
* Celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.
* Turned 49.
Goals for 2023
* Purchase a new home with several acres of land.
* Improve my baking/cooking skills.
* Work on my fiction.
* Read at least 50 books.
* Sleep at least 7 hours a night.
* Win the lottery.
* Focus more on thriving rather than just surviving.
1. The Great British Baking Show
1. The Last Bus
1. The Vinyl Cafe
