KATIE MARIE

It’s that time of year again.

Time for reflection.

Holy shit though where did this year go?

2023 has been a strange year, it’s gone so quickly but at the same time I feel this year has been well used. I certainly can say I wasn’t idle.

So, a summary, right

Life Goals

Serious stuff right here.

As always, we’ve had some success to varying degrees. I honestly don’t think there’s been any failing because you learn from every failing an opportunity to learn is always a success. At least that’s what I tell myself.

Fitness

So, my lowest success has to be my persona fitness. I started off well and then had peeks and troughs through the year as problems arose and were ironed out. I think I’ve found a routine I can mostly work with now though, so I’m ending on a positive.

The Day Job

This has been wonderful, I’m in a job I enjoy working with people I like who share similar goals to myself. I couldn’t be more content. Doesn’t hurt that I hit my goal of being promoted early in the year and I’m still striving to keep that positive momentum. I like to think I have a solid reputation as someone who’s competent, helpful and enthusiastic and I think that can only do me favors in the role I’m in. I’ve secured a working pattern that helps me maintain a good work/life balance and am happy.

PhD

I did it! Something I’ve been wanting to do for over a decade!

I got accepted to study for my PhD. It took nearly a year just to get the application done, then a lot of waiting with a big stress bomb at the end but in October I went off to the induction and now I’m well under way.

Tattoo

Another thing off the bucket list. In January I had but a couple of tiny little tattoos on my wrists, now I have an entire sleeve on my right arm! Literary-Horror themed of course, with tributes to Poe, Lovecraft, Shelly, Chambers and Stevenson.  

Rome

I took my dad and the lovely Mr. Sherlock to Rome this year. It was a big one on my bucket list both because I’ve always wanted to visit and because I paid for flights and hotel all by myself for all of us. It was something I’d always wanted to do and now I can say I’ve done it. We got to see the coliseum, the forum, the Spanish steps, the Vatican including the Sistine chapel, and Herculaneum (my personal favorite). I got to eat my fill of delicious food and walk till my feet rebelled against me.

Writing

OMG! This year has been my biggest yet.

I have done so many podcasts and guest posts and articles for magazines, as well as publishing short stories and getting into the finals for two awards!

On top of that I got picked up by an agent for my novel A Walk in the Woods and my current work in progress went through a rigorous developmental edit so yeah, it hasn’t stopped this year!

I also joined the society of Authors, way to make myself feel more professional. I also joined the National Centre for Writing which is a local writing organization in my local city. It’s housed in an ancient hall which only adds to the cool vibes when attending events.

We celebrated A Man in Winter One Year Anniversary!

Cozy stuff

Games

The lovely Mr. Sherlock and I developed and honed our love of board games together. It’s such a chill cozy pass time, we pop some themed music on (thank you YouTube) and get some drinks and snacks and boom a fun night had by all.

We’ve also expanded our tabletop game mindset out to our close friends and started a D&D group which Mr. Sherlock is the DM for. My character is called Oomph, he is a gnome barbarian. Think tiny Kratos. We’ve also expanded into Blades in the Dark which another of our friend DM’s for and it’s a whole lot of fun, committing made up crimes is totally my bag.

Lastly, we’ve increased our couch co-op videogame library and expanded it into the horror genre as well. It’s a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Theatre

As always, I’ve heavily indulged in my hobby/pastime of regular theatre attendance, we’ve seen some amazing shows this year, including but not limited to Sister Act, Mousetrap, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Titanic, Young Frankenstein, Julius Caeser, Heathers, Pride & Prejudice (sort of), Greatest Days, Ocean at the End of the Lane, Life of Pi, 22:22, The Play that goes Wrong and more.

Live Music

We got to see Devin Townsend and the Hu perform live this year!

Gardening

I tried gardening, I grew somethings, but mostly I didn’t have as much time as I hoped I would and things didn’t come through as well as they could have. But we still got carrots, tomatoes, and onions out of it.

Cinema

We discovered that one of our local cinemas shows Anime movies every so often and we’ve made it a habit to attend. I’ve seen some beautiful films I’d never have seen otherwise.

The little joys

I’m happy to report I spent a lot of the year indulging in my favorite pass times of going for walks (beach or countryside or city it’s all good), eating wonderful food in pubs, and visiting museums and country houses. These things fill my weekends and keep me going when I’m tired, low or under the weather.

I drove my mum across the country to visit my brother and nephew at the start of the year. It was a long weekend, with a ton of driving involved but it was worth it. I got to have a beer in a pub that Sir Frances Drake used to visit.

Mr. Sherlock and I redecorated our office, it’s so much nicer now. Dark green is probably my favorite color.

I got to go to London a few times this year, which is always good as it’s an excuse to have ramen in an authentic ramen house, buy amazing foods from Borough Market, visit some amazing museums and see some fantastic west end shows!

Other things

We had a bomb up the road. Honestly, they are building a bridge close to where I live and they unearthed an old WWII bomb, they tried to detonate it safely but it just blew up. I was in Exeter at the time but Mr. Sherlock assures me that the house shook.

I got to be on telly. Kind of, I was interviewed on camera for a piece about wellbeing, its going to be used at various NHS trusts for training.

I also got two photos listed as finalists in a photography competition I entered which was a nice ego stroke.

I took my mum axe throwing for her birthday, cause I’m a cool daughter.

We hit the 2-year anniversary of buying our first home.

I bought Mr. Sherlock a track day for his birthday, (he’s a fan of F1) not only did I put him in super cars but I did it on the track he used to visit as a kid. 1000000 girlfriend points for me.

I paid a nice photographer to take pictures of me where I look like an actual person rather than some kind of creature pretending to be a person.

We got to go to a local zoo and have lemurs clamber all over us at the Trainer for a day Lemur Experience.