Welp.

Hmmm…

Apparently I had aimed at the outset of this year to improve my fitness, be more diligent about housekeeping, and make more intentful connections with friends.  And, well, a lot of that sure sounds familiar… because it's a lot of the same goal-oriented thoughts I've been having in more recent months, too.  Welp.  Maybe I should intentfully read over my blog posts at intervals throughout the year.  (Or maybe keep it at the front of my mind by just writing here more often, lol.)

This isn't to say that I haven't progressed in the past year.  Just in perhaps less-visible ways.  After nearly a year of part- and full-time hourly work, I officially became a salaried employee in April, which has come with its own twists and turns.  Being a big part of a small team is thrilling and challenging, but at the end of the day, it's often hard to fully step away from whatever might be weighing on me at work.  Often, I've been surrounded by various activities and friends which have helped me to keep some semblance of balance.  Other times, some of my least-helpful coping mechanisms from my long-hours grad school days come back to haunt for a day or two.  But all in all, I've been doing pretty well.  Here's to continuing to hone and adjust that life balance in the future.

Anyway, in some sense, I've managed to recharge over this holiday week.  Unfortunately, a major lake-effect snowstorm on Christmas Day and a second round at the end of the week contributed to our not making it out to some family gatherings this year.  Officially, 84.3 inches (214 cm) of snow fell at Erie International Airport between 24 December and today.  So, I'm a bit restless with cabin fever and ready to get back at my goals, whatever they are.

Random tangent: Even though we'd lately not been caring much for his show, I feel bad for Carson Daly this year. With New Year's Eve on a Sunday, NBC opted to rely on their Sunday Night Football program, but then the NFL decided not to flex a game to the evening slot, leaving a schedule gap that couldn't be filled with New Year's Eve programming in time. So they got stuck rerunning Dateline NBC and two episodes of The Wall instead.