2021 - The End

 

Well, the first half of the year was promising. Then, oops, I did it again. Stopped tracking my intake. Forgot about fasting. Slipped up on the exercise. I struggled with my monthly updates, and didn't even get up posts for October, November or December. I am still wearing my Fitbit (steps, active minutes, sleep) and weighing everyday, so some of the stats are there in my digital cloud.  My little excel file of facts and stats (requiring some manual work on my part) is eerily empty there at the end of the year though. I just never got around to updating and entering information. Alas ...

So here's a look at what I DO have from the last three months of the year ...

BOOKS

October 2021 ... 22 books. The six at the top are part of the "Middle Falls Time Travel" series (there have been some in previous months, and a couple more coming). Each feature an individual who dies at some point, and "resets" to an earlier point in their life. Often this occurs multiple times, as the characters try out different life options. Always an interesting "what if" imagining. The Queen's Gambit ... I'd watched the mini-series, and it seems like it was quite true to the book. As I listened (included in Audible Plus) I would visualize scenes from the show. Oracle was made for Audible, hard not to imagine Joshua Jackson as the MC, as he was narrating and his voice is distinctive. I really liked 180 Seconds, and 3:00 am was short, very unique - I'll be continuing on with that series. All were audiobooks. A couple were holds come in at my local library, some were KindleUnlimited, others were Audible Plus.

November 2021 ... 20 books. Finnikin and Immortal Rules were old favorites I read years ago, and did a re-read (well, listen ... all audiobooks again this month). These were ones I actually spent Audible credits on to purchase and keep (ones I KNOW I like).  The cartoonish covers (top right) were all contemporary, one more "MiddleFalls", some paranormal/apocalyptic, and the bottom row were all "realistic" and or "historical" although Dovetail had a touch of mystical mystery. 

December 2021 ... 24 books technically, although several where quite short, and one was a DNF (gave up after a couple hundred pages, it was 600+ and I wasn't liking it). Whisper/Weapon, a duology was a favorite (Australian author, not at my local library, but included as part of AudiblePlus), finished up the 3am series and liked it ... not so much the same author's "Unforseen". Finished up the "Middle Falls" included in AudiblePlus (12 books total). My Audible subscription is ending, so I was really trying to take advantage of AudiblePlus books (21 of the 24 were included). I borrowed a couple from the library, and got one in exchange for a read/review. 

What I was Watching ... my son (who does a lot of treadmill in the home gym) and I have talked quite a bit about how some shows can be much more motivating for exercise (whether it's getting us down to the gym at all, or energizing us to run instead of walk). With me being "off" these last three months, I didn't spend as much time in the gym, and didn't get through as many series/movies as I might have otherwise. Some of what I watched, was upstairs (not exercising) ...

I wrapped up my Hulu subscription (I like Hulu, but will only splurge sporadically then binge) by watching "The Split" which was intriguing. My son subscribed to a Paramount free trial, so I squeezed in a season of The Good Fight (season 4). Super political! We requbscribed to AppleTV as Hubs wanted to watch The Morning Show (season2) and I got him to try Ted Lasso (I'd watched the first season, we rewatched it together, then watched season 2) - he loved it! I don't know that he loved "Schmigadoon" (I'd watched it down in the gym myself, then we watched it together, it's short) but he did give it a try. I'd started Physical when we had AppleTv in the spring, and finished it up. Hubs and I watched The White Lotus (that was weird) and then I watched season 17 of Grey's Anatomy (while I was down with a cold). 

Movies ... LOVED Tick Tick Boom. King Richard, Finch and Swan Song were good. Gave a couple Christmas movies a try (ehhhh). A Silent Voice is not my normal viewing choice, but #4 had to write a "movie evaluation" for his English class. As I usually help him some with work like that, I had to give the movie a go.  Red Notice ... ehhh, not a fan, felt stupid/silly. Hubs and I watched Dune and the new Matrix (Dune was pretty good, Matrix ... no). 

Family Stuff ... I kept up with my monthly recap/collage (on my family blog)

So - that will be my wrap up of the last three months. Hoping to get back on track with the whole "New Year" and resolutions type thing, finally getting over my cold, getting back to routine. Back to fasting, back to counting calories, tracking (and inputting) exercise. Setting a "10k a day" challenge for myself ... wish me luck!

2021 - #JenBsBooks

 

I slipped up in a lot of things this last year, especially with food/fitness and weight loss ... but BOOKS? I had a good book year. My eyesight has gone downhill these last couple years, and it's really impacted my "reading" reading. While I got in a few books with my own eyes and imagination, almost everything was audio. I kept good track on GoodReads (and I LOVE their end of year stats!) I made monthly collages (you can see them on the monthly recaps, or I compiled them HERE) and intended to make a stat spreadsheet ... but I did get off-track on that at the end of the year.

... another look at my generalized GoodReads ratings/reviews ...

... as mentioned, I was extremely Audible this year ;) I'd only had a 3-month trial membership previously (in 2020), but when a $99 12/month, 12/credit deal was offered at the start of 2021, I figured I'd give it a try. Unfortunately these stats don't show the whole picture, as I listened to a lot from my library (Libby/Overdrive) as well. Almost any book I received as an advance review copy WAS through Audible though, as well as any KindleUnlimited books (there were a couple KU deals I grabbed during the year). So even though this may not reflect ALL my audio, it's still super interesting to me. I'm trying to remember Dec 7 ... I do know that was a bad night of sleep for me, and I turned on an audiobook while I was laying awake for a while. So I started early (midnight?) that day.

Here's a look at my books (a GoodReads reflection) ...

TV Recap ~ 2021

As I did monthly posts throughout the year, I mentioned some of what I was watching ... but it wasn't a complete collection. To keep everything easily tagged (as "Television") and together, I figured I'd make a single post about what I was watching TV/Series wise (there is a  separate Movie 2021 post). 

For the first few months, my monthly posts would mention what I was watching at times, 

but didn't include any images.

I remember "Bridgerton" was getting quite the buzz ... I liked it fine. Haven't read the books it's based on yet. I'd really liked "The Haunting of Hill House" so I thought I'd like "The Haunting of Bly Manor". I did NOT. It had several of the same actors, but the story wasn't there, and I despised the main girl and the 80s dress (high waisted jeans, the hair). Really  had to push to finish. We got Disney+ to watch The Mandalorian (first two seasons, Hubs and I upstairs) ... I know we were slow to jump on the bandwagon, but it actually might have been watched in 2020? Writing this up in retrospect, I'm not sure. But while we didn't keep Disney+ all the time, we got it again and I watched WandaVision (and then I did watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, forgot to grab an image of that), and The Right Stuff.  Another one that Hubs and I watched together upstairs was Peaky Blinders (S1).  At some point, HBO Max was again included with our AT&T phone, so that opened up more possibilities ... West World (S3) was top on my list ... it had been so long, I had to watch recaps of S1 & S2 before watching S3. His Dark Materials, The Undoing, True Detective (S3) and The Head (murder mystery in the arctic, liked it but the ending was too out there). Dickenson was on AppleTV. Just okay for me, finished the first season but didn't feel like continuing on. 

In Summer (May, June, July, August) ...

Watching on a variety of streaming services ... Bloom was interesting, reminded me a little of Glitch (coming back to life rather than just returning to youth). I liked Devs. For All Mankind was one that really ended up catching my interest. I watched S1 and will continue on but took a break for now. On Disney ... Big Shot. Cute enough. The Watchmen ... Hubs and I had started it a while back but hadn't finished. I restarted. Weird, but interesting. Mare of Eastown was good. The Girlfriend Experience was just ehh, and I actually disliked The Mosquito Coast on AppleTV. Also on AppleTV, Physical ... which was crazy and fun. I was okay with the 80s hair here, and it was interesting from a Zumba standpoint. I'd watched the first few episodes, then we finished up our free AppleTV trial. Later on in the year, when Ted Lasso came on with new episodes, we re-subscribed and I finished up the season. Finally ... CougarTown. I'd watched Seasons 1-4 ages ago on DVD. I'd seen there were more seasons, but wasn't sure where they were available. When they hit AmazonPrime, I started watching again, but this was my "weight workout" show, which means I'd only get in one episode or so a week. So to get through the final two seasons (13 episodes each) took a while, but the show made me laugh.

For the rest of the year ...

Continuing on with some series I was already invested in ... Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale. It kept me coming back to the gym! My son (on my Amazon account) signed up for Paramount+, so I got back to The Good Fight (S4). I'd taken a break from Grey'sAnatomy after Covid became a storyline (I was living it, didn't need to see it in my show at the same time). Enough time had passed that I got back to it. Loved some of the cameos in Season 16.  Also on Hulu ... The Hot Zone (liked it), Nine Perfect Strangers (didn't like it), The Split (it was good), and Only Murders in the Building (a little ... maybe a LOT too corny). Hubs wanted to see the second season of The Morning Show so we got AppleTV again and watched it. I'd already seen the first season of Ted Lasso, but I got Hubs to watch, and then we watched the second season together. Love Lasso! I also adored Schmigadoon! Hubs and I also watched The White Lotus (that was weird!), The Boys (S1 & S2), and Cobra Kai (S1 & S2). 

So while I may have spotlighted some of these series in the monthly recaps ... I wanted an annual look at the television series that kept me entertained and exercising throughout the year. All in one place for quick review. #JenBsTV

#JenBsMovies 2021

I'd asked the boys to write up their movie memories from 2021 for the family blog ... I created a collage of mine, only to realize it was just partial (the second half of the year). I've tried to keep a list on IMDB to track my movies and TV series, and using that I was able to augment the first collage I made.

I use my movies for motivation and entertainment while working out ... all of these were watched while walking on the treadmill or hitting the elliptical machine. 

We had Disney+ again for a bit ... so the year started off with a bunch of Disney shows. Some were repeats (Invincible, Miracle, Iron Will, Glory Road, Journey of Natty Gan, Ever After) but lots of new ones.  Soul was good, I really liked Clouds. I didn't care for the live action Lady and the Tramp, nor Black Beauty.

... on other platforms, I caught up on the Godzilla/Kong movies, four of them! Went on a "based on a true story" binge (second line from the bottom) and watched several with #4 as he had them in his film studies class (the last five films on the bottom row). While they were okay, they weren't really my preferred types of movies, and it really does make a difference in energy and willingness to get in an extra workout.

The second half of the year, I ended up watching five movies on the road, during a family trip to Seattle. Four (on the bottom row) were watched with Hubs. All the others were watched while working out.  The top row were movies I had seen previously (Dead Poet's and ET were part of #4's Film Studies). The anime movie A Silent Voice was also for #4's school/English.  Into the Woods, In The Heights and Tick Tick Boom were musicals. I LOVED the latter.

Quite the variety. I'm not super picky with the movies I watch while working out. I just keep my ears open for shows people are talking about, see what's available on our streaming services, and just give them a go.