a! I remembered! I was afraid I would forget and not remember to write my year-end retrospective until I got home and that would mean it would actually have been written in the new year. I think it’s happened once or maybe twice before but I’d much rather have it be my last post of the year.
We are at my sister’s place in North Carolina, spending the holidays with her and her family, and my mom. It’s 10 days total and we have 1.5 days left, as we fly home on January 1st. We will actually arrive back in Sweden (via Munich and Copenhagen) on January 2nd. It’s been a very busy holiday, with lots of shopping and fun stuff, and eating, and of course, the actual Christmas celebrations.
Since Anders hasn’t been to the States since before the pandemic, and Martin came home at the very end of it (though he did have a quick trip to Detroit again at some point), we’ve taken every advantage to make the most of our short time here for everyone. That usually means shopping at specific places and eating at specific restaurants. We had Karin’s girlfriend Essie with us until a couple of days ago as well, and she also had wishes for the week she was here, which we managed to fulfill as well.
We’ve even had a lot of hangout time with family, including several days when it was so warm and summery that we were able to sit out on the porch in the sunshine. I’m planning to come back for my annual visit in mid-March so I didn’t worry about what we didn’t have time for this trip, as I’ll be back soon.
2025 was a pretty shitty year health-wise, and since 2024 wasn’t much better, I’m really hoping that next year will see some marked improvement, but since I have upcoming cataract surgery to schedule…we’ll see.
Family & Personal Highlights of 2025
- getting my mom moved in to my sister’s house
- 4 weeks in the States with my first family
- a knee operation to clean up the meniscus problem
- Karin running Broloppet
- Martin and Theo’s new apartment
- Karin getting accepted to college in Denmark
- Julie and family visiting Sweden
- great doctors and treatment in Malmö after my colitis diagnosis
- taking off all the Fridays during the fall
- new fridge, freezer, and furnace
- spending the holidays in N. Carolina
I’ve read 87 books so far this year, and there’s a good chance I’ll finish the one I’m reading now before we leave in 2 days, so that will be a grand total of 88 books for 2025, which is a little low, but still pretty decent. According to Goodreads, I read enough pages to walk around the Pyramid of Giza with pages to spare, which seems kind of random.
Best books of 2025 (in no particular order and not including re-reads)
- Humankind by Rutger Bregman
- The Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley
- The Summer War by Naomi Novik
- a whole pile of books by T. Kingfisher including Swordheart, Hemlock & Silver, the Clocktaur duology, The Saint of Steel series, and Summer in Orcus
- Enlightenment by Sarah Perry
- Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs
- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
- The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry
- Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
- Replaceable You by Mary Roach
- The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
- The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
- America Fantastica by Tim O’Brien
- Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
- The Cautious Traveler’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
- The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
- Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
- The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
- The Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett
- Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
- Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
- Fractured Fables #1 & #2 by Alix E Harrow
- The Sword and the Sophomore by B.P. Sweany
Once again, lots of great new music this year, thanks to both Martin and Discover Weekly on Spotify. I listen to my awesome playlist every day, whenever I’m in the car, which is the best feature of the Tesla in my opinion. 😀
Best new music artists of 2025
- Trousdale
- mags
- The Aces
- Isabel Dumaa
- Leadley
- Babygirl
- Alisa Xayalith
- Nea
- Stevie Bill
- May
- Skyler Cocco
- Pippa Crossland
- Missy Higgins
- Aneiki
This year was not a great year for movie or series watching. I only watched 39 movies this year and most of the series we only watched a few episodes of before giving up or were new seasons of shows we usually watch, so the only new ones I really enjoyed were The Pitt and Hur fan hamnade vi här. Of course, we watched Bäst i Test, Fråga Lund, and På Spåret on Swedish television. As for movies, the best were Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Clock – Socialist Burgers, Inc., The Wild Robot, The Fall Guy, and Flow.
Some manageable goals for 2026
- Portion control and cut down on sugar
- Chair yoga or short walks
- Get through cataract surgery on both eyes
- Plant tree/bush and move metal trellis around the swing patio
- USA trip in the spring
- Mont St Michel for our 30th wedding anniversary
Since we are flying home on New Year’s Day, our New Year’s Eve this year will be pretty quiet and certifiably lame: we will hopefully have a delicious breakfast at Coney Island in the morning and then some are going ice skating while the rest of us relax. Then packing and a spaghetti and salad dinner. I expect we won’t even make it up for fireworks, since most of us aren’t sleeping super well, and Bryce has been sick nearly the whole visit, poor guy. I’m hoping for a smooth, easy flight home and am very much looking forward to another week off after we return before I go back to work. Happy New Year!
mood: relaxed
music: some kind of jazz from the living room