Looking Back on 2022!

Christmas has come and gone and now the New Year is breathing down our necks!  I'm still not ready to emerge from my self-proclaimed blogging break but I didn't want to completely drop off the face of the Earth over the next couple of weeks.  Instead, I figured I could do a quick recap post of my 2022 New Year's Resolutions - a relatively easy thing to look back on (and also something that is interesting, to me at least)!

Let's see how 2022 went as far as blogging goals go:

#1:  Barry Larkin Collection

The goal was to get to 905 different Barry Larkin posts on the blog by the end of this year.  I didn't post any Barry Larkin collection posts in December 2022 at all and still managed to hit the 929 mark for the year overall.  A rousing success (and I have another 500+ Barry Larkin cards scanned and ready to be written about in future years)!  

Grade:  A+

#2:  Trading

My goal was to complete 100 trades and for awhile it looked like I might come up a bit short.  However, a flurry of trades this past week pushed me up over 100...in fact, I managed to send out 106 trades for the year!  

Grade:  A+

#3:  The Want List

The goal here was to have no more than 60 sets on my want list at the close of 2022.  Barring any last second trades tomorrow, my want list officially has 47 sets remaining on it.  Even better, of those 47 sets there are three sets for which I should have the final card(s) on the way to me and then those will also be complete!  

As an extra part of this Resolution, I specifically picked the following sets to target in 2022:

• 2018 Topps Gypsy Queen:  Base:  301, 303, 306, 307, 318
• 2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs:  Predator of the Seas:  2, 3, 15
• 2013 Topps Allen & Ginter: Wonders of the World Cabinet Boxloaders:  WOW-1, 20
• 2013 Topps Archives: Gallery of Heroes: MT
• 2010 Allen & Ginter:  Celestial Stars:  CS 4, 5
• 2009 Upper Deck Goudey:  Base: 220, 224
• 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter's:  Snakes:  S1. Arizona Coral Snake

Here's how that list looks now:

• 2018 Topps Gypsy Queen:  Complete!
• 2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs:  Complete!
• 2013 Topps Allen & Ginter: Wonders of the World Cabinet Boxloaders:  WOW-1, 20
• 2013 Topps Archives: Gallery of Heroes: Complete!
• 2010 Allen & Ginter:  Celestial Stars:  Complete!
• 2009 Upper Deck Goudey:  Complete!
• 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter's:  Snakes:  Final card purchased but not yet in hand!

Overall, I couldn't ask for much more here, the only set I didn't either finish outright or have the final card(s) purchased at least (on COMC) is the 2013 Allen & Ginter Boxloader set.  Otherwise, this was a clean sweep of completed sets and I couldn't ask for anything more than that!

Grade:  A+

#4:  Great Reorganization

This is another resolution where I spelled out some specific goals:

• I want to get the rest of my unsorted Barry Larkin cards sorted, scanned, and put into my binders.
• I want to update TCDB with my full Barry Larkin collection.
• I want to update TCDB with my full complete set collection.
• I want to update TCDB with the remaining trade bait that I still have sitting around.
• I want to get my card table cleaned off, even if only for a day or two!

And of those, how successful was I?

The first goal I made solid progress on but did not quite complete.  That goes hand-in-hand with the second goal as well.  I'm working chronologically through my Barry Larkin cards and I got up through a portion of the year 2020.  Solid progress at least.

I did not go through and update TCDB with my completed sets yet.  I did, however, upload a ton of other trade bait to the site - so much so that I've got over 15,500 cards listed for trade alone!

Finally, that table goal?  Yeah, never happened.  I came super close but now it's full again thanks to the holidays (gifts and mail).  

I can't give myself an "A" grade here (or even a "B") but I did do a lot more reorganizing this year than in previous years.

Grade:  C+

#5:  My LEGO blog

The goal was to get 36 posts over there or an average of three posts per month.  Thanks to a flurry of LEGO Advent Calendar posts throughout the majority of December, I ended up posting a total of 57 times (with 24 of those happening in December).  

Grade:  A+

#6:  Reading

My goal at the beginning of the year was to read 6 books - and then I lowered that total to 5 books over on Goodreads.  I'm currently sitting at 4 completed books and I've started my fifth.  Will I finish it before 2022 is over - I have a little over a day so maybe?  Hopefully...for now though, 4 out of 5 is only an 80%.

Grade:  B-

#7:  Disc Golf

Another resolution with specific bullet points to complete:

• Consistently throw off the tee pad 300 feet (in the direction I want the disc to go, of course).
• Break par on the course that I play most often (the one closest to my work)
• Play on at least three new disc golf courses (this is tricky since I live in an area without many courses within 100 miles of me).

Of those, I'd say I still don't throw 300 feet (and definitely not consistently).  I didn't quite break par on the course I play the most (I think my best was +2).  Finally, I managed to try two new disc golf courses but never had a chance to play at a third new course.  

Grade:  D-

#8:  Woodworking

The goal was to make my son his yearly Christmas ornament (check) and make a new strawberry cage for my garden (I "patched" my broken cage instead).  

Grade:  C

#9:  LEGO Robotics

I have to give myself an incomplete here once again because this course wasn't able to run in 2022 (and it run in the first part of 2023 either, unfortunately).  

Grade:  Incomplete

And that's it for the year 2022!

Overall, I have no complaints as to how I did on my yearly resolutions.  It definitely helped to do the periodic check-ins through the year as without those I would almost definitely forgotten what I'd promised myself I'd do.