New Year’s 2025

Happy New Year! Today’s the last day of a two-week vacation. I didn’t do anything productive. But it was nice to take a break from both work and teaching. As typical, my spouse and I played a game of hiding a dozen plastic candy canes in a few rooms in the house. One person hides them all, and the other finds them. Once they’re all found, we reverse the roles. We keep playing until we tire of the game or run out of hiding places. Since a single round may take a few days, it may be a few months before we tire.

The only rules are limiting the rooms where they can be hidden and ensuring that some parts of the candy cane are in plain sight. For example, you cannot hide them in a cupboard or under the refrigerator. My spouse added a rule for me: I cannot use UV light. I found that they fluoresce under UV light during a prior year, which made them easier to find.

I found a good hiding place this year. I have an Icee cup with a red and white striped straw. I swapped it with a candy cane. It would have been a good hiding place had my spouse not put dishes away right next to it. I think I am on day three of seeking for this round.

With the wintry weather (a few inches of snow so far), we mostly stayed home. I didn’t make good use of one of my popcorn machines, but we made more progress on our media-watching list:

• Monday (12/23/2024):
  • “The Simpsons”, S36.E10: O C’mon All Ye Faithful
  • “What If…?”, S3.E1: What If… The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?
  • “What If…?”, S3.E2: What If… Agatha Went to Hollywood?
• Tuesday (12/24):
  • “What If…?”, S3.E3: What If… The Red Guardian Stopped the Winter Soldier?
  • The Simpsons Funday Football (2024 TV Special)
  • “Dream Productions”, S1.E1: Part 1: The Dream Team
  • “Dream Productions”, S1.E2: Part 2: Out of Body
• Wednesday (12/25):
  • “Dream Productions”, S1.E3: Part 3: Romance!
  • “Dream Productions”, S1.E4: Part 4: A Night to Remember
  • “What If…?”, S3.E4: What If… Howard the Duck Got Hitched?
• Thursday (12/26):
  • Red One (2024)
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024)
• Friday (12/27):
  • “What If…?”, S3.E5: What If… The Emergence Destroyed the Earth?
  • “What If…?”, S3.E6: What If… 1872?
• Saturday (12/28):
  • “What If…?”, S3.E7: What If… The Watcher Disappeared?
  • Dear Santa (2024)
  • Carry-On (2024)
• Sunday (12/29):
  • “What If…?”, S3.E8: What If… What If?
  • Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
• Monday (12/30):
  • Die Hard (1988)
  • Wolfs (2024)
• Tuesday (12/31):
  • Moana 2 (2024)
  • Argylle (2024)
• Thursday (1/2/2025):
  • Jackpot! (2024)

Aside from media watching, this is often a time to review the past year and plan for the year ahead. In 2024, we went to Cedar Point’s Winter Chill Out. We saw our first total solar eclipse and got multiple pictures of the aurora borealis. I celebrated a plant-themed birthday. The latter half of the year was more problematic, with numerous home repairs and an undesirable Presidential election.

From a goal or resolution perspective, I haven’t had much luck stating them on my blog. I suspect that it doesn’t offer enough outer accountability for me. Also, I don’t put much stock into waiting for the start of a year, month, or week to begin something new.

Without stating specific goals, I’m currently focusing on health (both physical and mental), reading, finances, and career.