2006 revisited

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Reading and Books:
I did reach my goal of 52 novel length books (or novel length equivalents) read this year, even though I haven't been reading much in the month of December. I'm 3/4 of the way through my 53rd book. Maybe I can get it done by the end of the first week in January. There were many good books this year. I'm very happy with my selections. Search the "reading" tag for the list.

Health:
2006 has been a pretty marginal year health wise. I have not been significantly ill, but there have been all kinds of clouds on my horizon due to the health of loved ones. My sister survived the year, which is a good thing.

Romance:
I didn't fall in love this year, but I didn't fall out of love either. It's been a status quo year for relationships. That's okay though, 'cause I wasn't really up for another thrashing yet. Too many other things going on in life.

Economy:
I am most disappointed about my financial progress in '06. Much money was spent, primarily on the van. Little money was saved. We end the year once again debt free, but I feel we didn't make the progress we should have made in the last year. Next year should be better as there are no huge expenditures planned.

Music:
I didn't acquire much new music over the last year. Highlights were a couple of swing CDs and some Tom Waits.

Vacations:
With the exception of a week camping at Salisbury Beach, MA, all my vacation time this year was spent in trips to Florida to see my sister and my mom. Next year much of it will be spent the same way. I still want to go to Europe, particularly the UK, but that wasn't in the cards this year and probably won't be in the cards next year. The week at the beach was good. We may do that again. We aren't really beach people, but it provided for nice walks and bicycle rides and a lot of relaxation.

Projects:
I have added about 150 books to my ebook collection this year. Among the highlights are a footnoted copy of "The Canterbury Tales" and the complete Sherlock Holmes stories. I've got another 500 downloaded waiting to be processed, perhaps by the end of 2007 my ebook will be full.

I got the van repainted in the spring, got the engine changed in the summer, and swapped out the starter in November. It is now running reliably and getting pretty good gas mileage. I still have some things I want to do on it, but they are minor in comparison.

I managed to get my Limmer boots broken in. I'm wearing them to work one day a week this winter in order to finish the process and keep them supple. I'm going to start breaking in a pair of LLBean hiking boots next, so this summer I will have two pair to alternate on hikes. No notable hiking was done this year at all and I definitely want to change that next year.

I'm stalled about 1/3 of the way done on my hauberk. I've really been too busy with other things to work on it, but I'll get back to it when I have time. I prefer to work on stuff like that in the spring when there is a bit of sunshine after I come home from work. I did complete a coif and a pseudo lace skirt this year for major chainmaille creations.