Happy New Year! It's freezing cold but the sun is shining so it seems like a good start to the year… although the snow that fell overnight was enough that Carm had to snowblow. While he did that, I walked on the treadmill for an hour (yay me!) and then finished the cleanup from our little dinner party last night.
We had our annual NYE 'party' (and I use that term lightly as some years it's just a few people for a long sit-down supper, while other years we've had more people so just stood around the kitchen feasting on finger foods. We were a small crowd last night (just 6 of us) so I set the table and planned a proper supper.
We started at 7 with smoked salmon on crostini with dill goat cheese, then at 7:30 had a curried butternut squash soup. According to Italian lore, lentils on NYE are good luck so I tucked them into the soup (red lentils cook down into a lovely thick broth), and topped the soup with sauteed garlicky lentil sprouts. Everyone visited around the table while Carm and I cleaned up the soup course and got the rest of the dinner ready. I made a hearty caramelised onion beef stew with yorkshire pudding, garlicky mashed potatoes, lemony roasted brussels sprouts, and roasted carrots that had been wrapped in prosciutto. I took the easy way out for dessert and served a store bought panettone. I think everyone left the table stuffed! I certainly couldn't eat another bite.
We weren't a rowdy bunch so by 10:30 we'd lost Kari, and soon after that Tina and Bruce headed home, hoping to beat the drunken rush. Of course it was snowing… Pat hung in until just past midnight.
Another year done. It wasn't the greatest year for our family with Mom's emergency hospital stay in June and Graham's passing in September. Shawn broke his leg at the end of October so it hasn't been great for them either! I have several friends that are going through some pretty serious health issues - I hope 2026 has a few miracles thrown in… I'm scared to think what this year will bring for all of us…
To continue on my list of grievances, it wasn't the greatest year for my mental health. I've spent much of the year on a rollercoaster of mood issues with sometimes being good and other times having to push myself to get through the day on the topside of the earth. It started in 2024 with the hormone blocker drug I was on - by April of this year I'd fully quit it as the tamoxifen was badly messing with my brain. I thought I'd bounce back quickly but it's been an ongoing struggle.
During my good periods I made a real effort on my physical health and was actually seeing some muscles! But since mid September I've been flailing there as well, although I've managed to walk regularly - 860miles/1376km on the treadmill in 2025! In the same trusty Sketcher's shoes! I think the walking is what kept me going - there were some days that I could barely get myself out of bed and skipped but I was mostly able to get it done which helps mentally and physically.
I can see through the years that my mood cycle is somewhat tied to the sun and length of days with low periods in the fall until late spring - sort of a 6 month swing from low to high, the past year was the same, just more pronounced so I just have to hang on another month or so till I'm back on the high side.
2026 is going to be a better year! I've started on the right foot today and will get on a roll! I'm going to keep better tabs on my thoughts and start remembering to notice all the awesome things to be grateful for throughout the day. And it will be better still if I can get myself into my downstairs gym for some resistance exercises - when I was doing that regularly last year I felt pretty darn great. I've got to REMEMBER THIS!
Our family Christmas gathering on the 23rd ended up being cancelled due to weather and unfortunately, due to all the other commitments we've had to reschedule to the end of January. It's hard to get everyone together… and winter weather is no great help. I hope my baking contributions hold up in the freezer for the next month!
Half the family spent Christmas Day at Kirsten's, but those of us who couldn't do an overnight, had supper here. Kari, Olaf, and Stephanie arrived Christmas Day for a turkey feast (we just finished the turkey today!). It was fun, but to be honest, I didn't feel great the next day… some people are very slow learners!
Welp… that's a bit of bad luck on the first day of the new year… after supper I bit down into a lovely piece of toffee, felt something crunchy… it was a crown that had been loosened with the sticky treat. So it's a trip to the dentist soon… and soft food until then!
(Friday morning) Of course I did my usual thing of writing but not posting right away letting the day get ahead of me, totally forgetting to do the final post!
Awesome!
"gathering with friends"
"a sunny day to start the new year"
"kitty (now named Whiskey) has settled into her new home"
"chatting with neighbours in the grocery store"
"the new Food Basics!"
