Thinking over the year.

[karmicdragonfly]

Thinking about the previous year...

• It was generally a good year for me, which is a good thing, and will be remembered mostly as the year I first visited Bisti in New Mexico -- https://www.flickr.com/photos/spunkybart/albums/72157682248929603.
  
  
• I got the trim on the house painted, and got one rotted window replaced, but there were no other major house or other expenses (knock wood). (Although I do note that I can see a major expense coming, which I am girding myself and my budget for!)
  
  
• Made a new friend, lost a friend, so the year netted out in that respect. Family generally in good health (matching their respective ages), so good on that front.
  
  
• This was the first year in a while where I only had 1 job -- I tend to be a rolling stone, so I change jobs pretty often.
  
  
• Been thinking about retirement and what that might look like. It will be a while yet, but my thoughts are moving in that direction.
  
  
• I've been listening to a podcast that finished up several years ago, called The History of Rome. The political turmoil of this past year with a demagogue disgracing the presidency, and with all the tribal warfare between the citizens reminds me a lot of the political and military machinations during the late Republic -- the first time that Roman legions fought other Romans instead of an external 'enemy'.
  
  
• My Portuguese has improved. I still am very slow to speak and have trouble understanding spoken conversation at a normal speed. But I notice that I hesitate less for vocabulary when I am speaking, and I hear more and more individual words in others' speech. So, it's improving!