@Beth C – excellent progress! I’m glad you had enough strawberries to enjoy with your yogurt. We need to work on some deer prevention before we get produce but I am hoping next year. 21 towels! We, likewise, have a lot of stuff. At least now you own fewer towels!

1. Attend the Chicago Seminars, which is a points and miles based conference. Travel hacking actually got us around the world this year, but there are always opportunities to learn more. Result: We did this, and I realized that I have accumulated more travel hacking knowledge than I thought! A fun weekend.
2, Attend a milestone high school reunion. I wasn’t that excited about going, because there has been a lot of Facebook….political divisiveness among my classmates which is super annoying, My best friend from my class just told me that 2 of our other close high school friends are attending, so I’m excited that we’ll be together again. Result: We ended up going. It was a joy to see my old friends. However, post-election, I have imposed a Facebook ban on myself, since the political divisiveness has unfortunately returned.
3. Figure out what to do with the about-to-graduate-from college son of Japanese friends who will be visiting us in November. I was worried about food preferences, but he wants cereal for breakfast, hamburgers and “all the American foods” for lunch and dinner, so I think we’ll be fine. Result: We have had an incredible 10 day visit with our friend. He is leaving tomorrow, and I will be sobbing when I drop him off at JFK. I wish that more families had the opportunity to host a friend from another country. It is life-changing.
4. Spend time at our timeshare in Marco Island Florida, in part with our daughter and her West Coast boyfriend. Result: 50-50. We ended up getting kicked off the island for 4 days due to a mandatory Hurricane Milton evacuation. We got to go back (for which I am very grateful given what others have endured). However, the hurricane forced my daughter and boyfriend to cancel their trip.
5. Pick apples and get some apple cider donuts. Result: Another 50-50. We picked apples, but never got around to getting the donuts.
6. Try out some new easy recipes, as I am in a rut. Result: Epic fail. Still in a rut…
7. Get into a rhythm of reading for an hour of a physical book and an hour of an e-book on nights when I am home and am not watching tv with my husband. Result: I have done pretty well with this. Reading a physical book right before bed has helped me fall asleep more easily.
8. Go to a local trivia night. I’ve found that I’m decent at trivia, so it’s worth a try. Result: Nope
9. Continue working on decluttering, To my horror, I counted no less than 21 kitchen towels that were ready to be donated today. I donated them, and still have some left. Result: Not much progress, but at least some towels are gone.
10. Use up the last of our summer produce. It was a crappy season, but my mesclun lettuce is growing like gangbusters, and we will still have tomatoes, peppers and beets to enjoy. Zinnias to admire too! Result: I did well with this. I am in the same region as you, Laura. Despite the cold last night, I found enough strawberries in the garden this morning to jaz up my yogurt.

@Holly – sounds like you did a lot! I’d like to do a Day of the Dead type celebration some year. I sang a requiem in church for All Saints…but not quite the same…