366 Project recap and stats

   Anyone who has been following the blog for a while knows that my blog was named after a project I tried to attempt a few years ago. My goal was to send and receive 366 personal pieces of mail- 1 for every day of the year. (It was a leap year that year.) After failing a few times, I finally succeeded in my part of the goal (sending). Honestly, I stopped diligently keeping track of my sent mail after I hit 366 so there are a few more things that weren't counted. Here are the stats:

Sent mail

Letters: 71

Packages- 8

Postcards:171

Cards 128

Grand total- 378!!! Yeah! I told the woman at the post office that I finally met my goal. She laughed and said "On behalf of the US Postal Service.. I thank you for funding my job" 

Received Mail:

Letters: 27

Postcards:117

Cards:38

Packages:32

Grand total-214

     One of my friends once asked if I was disappointed that the mail in didn't always add up to the "mail out." Obviously I love getting mail but some things I have sent mail out for (like ChemoAngels, or a sympathy card or a note to a student), I do not expect any reply. The other issue is that I have been horrible with replying in a timely manner so I am not picky when people write back to me.The thing I'm most happy about is that all of these people have taken time to prepare mail for me specifically, whether it was a letter, a birthday card, a surprise package, etc. 

       In 2016 I will no longer try to send/receive 366 pieces of mail but I plan to keep writing... a lot. My personal goal for my writing is to respond to a letter in the same month that I get it. I'm still working on my reply pile from last year, but I'm hoping to get through is as soon as possible. I'm inspired to catch up. I also want to do better with sending things like birthday cards and Christmas cards. I'm horrible with that. (Most of my cards sent were letters written in a notecard form.)

      Do you have any writing related goals for 2016? What about any resolutions? 

      I hope that you have a wonderful 2016 full of peace and happiness. 

August stats/ 366 update

August stats:

Sent: 28 

Postcards 18

Letters 9

Cards 1

Received: 24

Postcards: 17

Letters: 0 (boo)

Cards: 3 (Aug 1 was my anniversary)

Packages: 4 (I'll take it!)

      It is one of my goals in September to write every day. (Jessica- your letter is next) Keep an eye on your mailbox if you have been waiting for me. 

The 366 Project:

Sent: 291 (on day 242 of the year...still ahead. I really want to meet this goal this year)

Received: 136

Happy February+January Stats

    There are a few things I learned about Lettermo the 1st time I participated.
1) It's not all about you. Originally I thought that Lettermo would be a great way to meet new people but also to receive lots and lots of mail. Unfortunately that led me to sending out a ton of mail to a bunch of new fascinating people, falling behind in correspondences, feeling guilty that I should respond to regular pals first, then becoming so disorganized and flabbergasted (Wow, I've never typed that word before) that I never responded to half of my mail. My goal this year is to send mail every day and let people know that  I'm thinking of them. In some cases this is coming with an apology for being so disorganized.

2) I didn't give myself time. This year I sent a TON of postcards to all of the people that I was Lettermo friends with over the past 2 years. I don't know if all of them are participating this year but. if they are, their mailbox should be happy right at the beginning of Lettermo. Anyone who responds will receive a letter. I figured I'd send intro postcards first then letters if I knew they wanted to write. I downloaded a Lettermo calendar/planner and plan to write at least 1 piece of mail each day. The responses will be added to the calendar as they come.
     Here's my outgoing mail today:

I also got a great card last Friday. It's a Nouvelle Images card. I wish I had more of them. This is from Anja in Germany.


    I decided with the restart of my project that I would break down the stats month by month. In January I sent:
8 letters, 21 postcards, 6 cards
I received:
4 packages, 12 postcards, 1 letter, 1 card

The 366 Project:
Sent: 61
Received: 18

In other news:
1) This is my 3rd snowday this year. I'm ready to go back.
2) 3 of my students made it into the District festival. 2 8th graders and a 7th grader. They all worked very hard. I'm proud of all of the kids who got auditioned, even if they didn't make it in.