January 2026 Recap
At some point, one of these days, maybe a month will be kind. Maybe I’ll feel like I accomplished something but January was not that month.
I knew it would be a rough month going into the month - mostly because I knew that my new role I’d be starting was going to be tough. And it was, I spent most days drained beyond belief, checking out after I clocked out. Especially those first two weeks.
The job applications have been frantic and frequent, but sometimes it feels like I’m just shooting for a target in another room. Sometimes, especially lately, I feel like I might never get out of this job I have, but that’s another post for another day.
Life in January
While most of my time was just trying to survive in between work, there were some highlights in the month. One weekend, we went up to Dallas to watch the Dallas Stars play hockey. They lost, but it was still fun to get to see them in person.
Also, didn’t realize how quiet it could get in the arena. Watching them on TV comes with commentary from some incredible dudes (Josh & Razor) but they aren’t played in the arena (though you can hear them in the bathrooms).
Writing in January
While I had every intention of writing in the month of January, it became clear that once I got back to work, especially that first week, writing just wasn’t going to be in the cards for the month. My original plan was to wait until February to start writing, but then I did dabble a little bit in my draft toward the end of the month. I ended up with 5,071 words written.
Reading in January
While my original plan was to read twelve books, I read six. I did really well with reading, I think, until the last week when my grandfather went into hospice and I shut down in a way, but that’s a post for another day.
The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams
A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson
Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston
Someone Knows by VI Keeland
How Freaking Romantic by Emily Harding
While my hope had been that 2026 would start off strong in my favor, the truth is, it’s started off strong in all the wrong ways. I’ll share more about that later on, but I did want to get this post out since I started writing it the first day of February.