Monthly Archives: December 2025

Aging, America, Creativity, Dogs, Grandparenting, Home, Intentionality, Self-Reflection

8 Lessons from 2025

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Well, here we are, at the end of another year. And what a year it was. It was chaotic, tumultuous, disappointing, and challenging. It was also inspiring, delightful, meaningful, and full of great lessons.

Here are my top 8 insights from 2025:

This is truly going to be a mish-mash, so bear with me, my friends.

  1. There’s nothing like the birth of a new baby to bring unbridled joy and hope into a family. The birth of our latest grandson in June was the highlight of my year.
  2. I have the right to invest in myself as a creative. In fact, I’ve learned (thanks to The Artist’s Way) that it is my duty. Yours too, by the way.
  3. I learned this year that America as a whole has the unfortunate ability to become severely morally injured. This, of course, is due to the rot in American politics and governance, which surely began decades ago. It is in 2025 that the cancer began to fully reveal its gory self to the masses. God help us.
  4. Adopting a second dog was an unexpected but wonderful development. Yes, it’s doubled the work for us, but more than doubled our daily joy factor. Worth it.
  5. Aging is a trip. It’s rough and humbling. Note to self: get that referral for a hearing test, STAT! My eyes are already going to hell, and I don’t want my hearing to follow. I know, I know, I know (and you might too if you read that post), I published an essay on this blog about how aging is RAD back in 2024. But suffice it to say, 2025 has altered my opinion on the matter (though from an emotional well-being standpoint, aging is indeed still RAD).
  6. 2025 readied me for moving from being intentional on an intellectual level to being intentional also on a physical level (see above: aging combined with being perhaps a wee bit exercise-averse has caught up with me).
  7. I am home. A quick Google search led me to this quote that enchants me, from T.S. Eliot: “Home is where one starts from”. What a gem.
  8. Going from 2025 to 2026, there are reasons to be hopeful, and there are reasons to freak out. Life is a continuous ebb and flow between unpleasantness/misfortune/disappointment and joy/connection/love. There are times when your cup is overflowing and times when it’s dry as a bone. If we could all get more comfortable with that reality and aim to be thoughtful with our responses to both the good and the bad, I think we might just come out ok on the other side.

So, cheers to 2025 and a big, hearty welcome to 2026!!!

The song I’m sharing today is a beautiful and bittersweet one that came out this year from an artist Mr. NOA and I will be seeing live this year.

*Featured image from brainyquote.com*

Celebration, family, Grandparenting, Holidays, Hospitality, Intentionality, Joy, Life, Lifestyle, marriage

Christmas Has Arrived in Minnesconsin

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Last week, I attended our grandson’s 6th grade band and choir concert. Our new grandbaby sat on mom’s lap and enjoyed the show, nodding off towards the end. Our 6th grader looked handsome with his festive tie and white button-down. It struck me that 6th grade is the specific time when kids are all wildly different sizes and heights. Our grandson is no longer the tallest one. In fact, we couldn’t even see him standing on the bleachers, as he was behind a tall blonde headed girl with glasses.

It must be such a trip to teach kids this age.

Mr. NOA was in DC for work last week. I couldn’t help but wish I’d been able to tag along this time. DC this time of year is a little extra special and I’ve always enjoyed being there during the holiday season. However, with him gone, I had more time to do my own thing. Like creating a new Christmas craft out of old Christmas cards while listening to Bing Crosby and friends belting out the merriest of tunes. So that was nice. The cookies all got sent out, and the shopping mostly wrapped up.

1 of 17, perhaps?

Speaking of Christmas cards, this marks year the second year in a row we’ve chosen to not send them out. I feel a little shitty about that, in particular when we receive one in the mail from a faraway friend. I always thought I should be one of those people who pen a yearly Christmas newsletter informing all of what went on in our orbit over the previous year and wishing them all good things for their holiday seasons. Alas, I have yet to attempt this. I chalk it up to being preoccupied with all the other Christmas-associated tasks, such as shopping, decorating, and cookie baking, which renders my bandwidth too meager for such an extra task.

Maybe after all these years, I’ve learned to stop biting off more than I can chew?

Speaking of biting (and chewing), here’s a silly little pic I took the other day of a freshly sliced dough of a Santa’s Whiskers cookie that, to me, appears to be in the shape of a heart. This was just a result of not quite getting a Martha Stewart-worthy circle-shaped log rolled before it chilled in the fridge for a bit.

One thing that is really standing out during Christmastime 2025 for me, is the simple joy of staying put. I’m surprised to hear myself say/write this. One of the most true things I can tell you, in my current era, is that the time and space between when Mr. NOA, Radar, and I moved out of the Denver metro and into Minnesconsin in 2022 has resulted in me becoming more in tune with my introverted side, more relaxed and grounded, but also much more of a homebody. Now, I can’t say this is a 100% good turn of events per se, but it’s true. Suffice it to say that I’m not terribly disappointed to not have gone to DC last week with my man.

The clear upside of becoming a homebody is that it allows me time to plan for and host company. Employing my hospitality skills is such a joyful experience for me. I team up with Mr. NOA, and together we get this joint spic-and-span. I plan whatever food and drink we will be serving, using the “keep it simple, sister” method always. I prepare said food and drink, futz around a little with the Christmas decor and whatnot, and we are good to go.

As a matter of fact, on Sunday we hosted my daughter and her fiance, two of the three grandsons, my SIL, and 5 of fiance’s family members for a wedding planning brunch. An agenda was followed, items were checked off and lists were made, phone numbers exchanged, and wedding decor, along with food and drink options were discussed.

What a beautiful thing it is when romantic love between two souls joins together two entire families. The *chef’s kiss* is when it’s abundantly clear that every person involved in this affair is thrilled it is happening and eager to support it in all the ways that they can.

Now, to get those presents wrapped, take in a Christmas movie or two, and proceed with making some appetizers and other goodies to nosh on with our family throughout this week, and it appears that this is going to be a sweet little Christmas.

I wish each of you the merriest of holidays! I hope you enjoy the pairing of these two epically talented chanteuses performing a lovely version of the sweetest Christmas song I can think of.

Aging, Art, Arts and Crafts, Connections, Creative Pursuits, Music, Vision, Vision Boards

Vision Boards and More: from 1 to 2 to 17?

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“I have 17 of them”, she said, matter-of-factly, when the subject of creating vision boards came up in our group.

This was said during a women’s meet-up group I attended when Mr. NOA and I were living in the Denver metro several years ago. I pushed past my insecurities and joined this group online as a way to make friends in our new environment. I wasn’t yet working, and I fervently desired to establish connections with others. New others.

I can’t recall what my response to this comment was. I suspect it was something along the lines of “Wow”. Said of course, with an undeniable feeling of envy inside of me, as this was a stunning woman with flowing auburn hair and a petite and fit frame. I remember snarkily thinking “must be nice to have that kind of time and resources to create that many vision boards”.

Suffice it to say that this woman and I did not strike up a friendship. If my memory serves, she attended no more than 2 of our get-togethers.

I wish I had inquired as to where she displayed these creations. I had one measly vision board myself and hadn’t at that point considered creating any more of them. I figured I would just add to or switch things out on that one as time progressed.

Time is a funny thing though, isn’t it? Now, 7 odd years later, I’ve got two vision boards. And I am absolutely not opposed to creating more of them. I am a visual person, which is ironic, as I’ve recently learned that I have “pre-glaucoma” in my eyes. It hasn’t affected my vision. Not yet anyway. So this leads me to feel precious about my vision. It feels good and right to create new vision boards for myself at this juncture. I may only be able to clearly see them for a short number of years, for all I know.

Or, I could do something different, and repurpose picture frames or pick some up at a thrift store and try my hand at making some original art, using images and random do-dads I already have. Between that and vision boards, I think I could easily create at least 17 of them. Maybe I could make that a creative goal for 2026.

While I can’t deny I am a person who has a special talent for biting off more than I can chew, this actually feels doable to me. One of the things I am especially drawn to when it comes to being intentional is creating, so this goal of getting to 17 framed pieces of art in 2026 fits the bill.

How about you? Have you ever created a vision board? One in which you affix pictures of places you want to inhabit, quotes that uplift you? Silly things that amuse only you?

Please share in the comments!

Blogging, Grandparenting, Holidays, Intentionality, Life, Lifestyle, Minnesconsin, Self-Reflection

Intentionality, Illness, the Holidays, and Me

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Hey there! I am officially done with my self-imposed blogging sabbatical. I’ve missed doing this. I’ve missed exchanging thoughts with you all, and I’ve missed reading your blogs. I hope you are all doing well and your Thanksgiving tables were filled with the company of those you love the most, good conversations, and delicious eats.

Now that I’m back to blogging, it feels like an update is in order.

Intentionality

In case you don’t recall, my WOTY (Word of the Year for any non-bloggers reading this) for 2025 was “Intentionality”. I doubt I’ll pick a new word for 2026, which is going to be here before we know it. That’s because it’s such a BIG word. I’m very committed to it still, but I see now that it mustn’t be a commitment limited to merely one calendar year. It’s for life. It requires dedication and lots of practice to even sort of feel like I’m getting it right. More than anything, it’s about being present and in tune with my five senses. It’s also very much about being choosier about where I’m expending my energy, especially the mental variety. That’s why I backed off from blogging for as long as I did. I needed to step away and do some personal excavating to re-engage my creative spirit.

Illness

As a person who has been known to exclaim such things as”I never get sick” and “I take my Emergen-C every morning so my immune system rocks”, coming down with this years version of the flu (yes, I had gotten both my flu and pneumonia shots in October) really threw me for a loop. Mr. NOA caught it first and then gifted it to me overnight. I missed three consecutive days of work as a result, which was truly adding insult to injury, as it just so happened to be my beloved boss’s last week of employment at our non-profit. So, big, huge, fat bummer. Together, Mr. NOA nursed ourselves slowly back to health while binge-watching The American Revolution series by Ken Burns on PBS, along with “The Beast in Me” (What. A. Tale.) on Netflix. I highly recommend them both.

Holidays

It’s December 1st, so Christmas plans are getting underway here in Minnesconsin. As always, I’m looking forward this season. As always, I’m aiming to keep things as simple as possible and to focus on the joy in the preparations. Wish me luck in avoiding the holiday “overwhelm”. Having a new baby in our midst surely adds a magical touch. Our newest grandson will be 6 months old at Christmas, and I’m certain that seeing his reaction to the lights, music, smells, and tastes (he will likely be starting to eat little bits of regular food by then) of the season will be the biggest highlight for me.

And now, for a song. I’m going to pick one that I’ve only recently come to realize that I absolutely adore. It’s uplifting and just so lovely. It really aligns with my spirit at this moment. Enjoy-and see you soon, friends!