January 8, 2026 AD

     It is that time of year when we talk about New Year's resolutions and such. I knew I would be late to the game on this sort of thing and I do love this type of thing. I am very much a thinker. 

     Between sickness for me and the family I knew it would slow me down. We took the week after Christmas to go to Auburn and it was so good for me. I look forward to our visits to our second home to recharge. It is such a different setting than our normal environment here in Florida. You see the seasons in a more traditional sense there. We see seasons here in northwest Florida but through a different lens. Anyway, I rested lots which I needed. I knew I would come back to keeping more than one kid for a day or two and I would tire quickly.

The trees in Auburn are more like a typical view of the season.

     I asked for a cross for Christmas. We have one like the picture below in our home here and I just wanted something in our Auburn home. Our good friend makes these as well as  many other things for  a hobby. I thought it went well with the pictures just around the corner from it on the adjacent wall.

                    

     I have been busy thinking in between all the life stuff. I like to think of changing things in a more seasonal setting. I think each season is a good time to evaluate and to take a bit of time to reset when things are not going like you planned or let some things go that weren't working. 

     I do have some things that have been calling my brain. Things I want to change or add and things I want to try and eliminate from the routine.

     Now for some of my resolutions, goals, seasonal reset ---thoughts.

The evenings -

I want to continue trying to keep my mind active through January and most of February and not fall asleep at 6:00 PM. Anyone else? 

I have made a list of things I want to accomplish similar to the ancestry book I worked on in December.

Family Time -

I want to get Palmer out once a month on Fridays. That day is review day at his preschool and I just really want to do something special with each child...not always in a group where I get tired quickly. My goodness ---aging is real folks.

I want to eat lunch with Tucker once a month on another Friday. He won't always welcome that, but he is still excited about the idea.

I want to give Paul Allen and Katie a date night once a month on a Friday. Lindsay and Tyler are much better about this than Paul Allen and Katie. Mostly I think they are just sleep deprived. We did this last Saturday and I could look at Katie's face when they returned from eating a pizza without kids and I knew we needed to do this. It was fun too for Miles and Valerie and we enjoyed them.

Mostly I want to remember to do things that are helpful and good for the kiddos. I KNOW I need to take care of myself, but I want to spend time with them.

I also need to help Lindsay get healthy. Getting healthy can begin on ANY date. Mine started November 4, 2015. It is important.

I had a long thinking session about my physical body. I am trying something NEW. I will give it some time and let you know if it is successful. It involves less rather more.

Hotspots - 

I want to work on some hotspots in the house. Places that just don't make me happy when I walk into the room and don't work as well as I want.  One is here ...

This room is such a blessing and it stays too messy and honestly I am trying to do too many things in here. I am going to really try and pay attention to things over the next couple of months and rethink the organization in there. 

The cross stitch in the above picture is still sitting in that same spot. After realizing I was rushing things with it and that I wasn't going to gift it I let up on the quick finish. I have sewed cording around it and tabs to hang it on a dowel, but I have not stretched out the edges for the cording nor painted the dowel that is cut and waiting to hang it on... Need to get that done.

I have started a new stitch. I will update on that later.

About blogging.

I am going to share less pictures of my grandkids...

OR at least I am thinking that right now.

Blogging is such a weird thing and with AI and all the things coming along my mind spins sometimes.

Anyway, I am thinking pictures of the grands are what my blog is now mostly and maybe that is not a good idea. I am praying about it. It is something I am deeply pondering.

Do people read blogs with no pictures anymore? 

I know I have a few friends that I would be so sad if I didn't hear from anymore. I have followed along for a lot of years. I just need to think on this as the world spins a little faster these days. 

     As I sit here typing I have a digital frame that the kids gave me years ago. I upload each month's pictures on the last day of the month. I am seeing the snow from a year ago. Valerie was born just before the snow. The grandkids will probably never see that kind of snow again. 

The morning of January 22, 2025 AD

If you haven't stopped reading by now with few pictures, I am still going to blog, but rethinking the kiddos. It is a journal in some ways but maybe less in the picture department.

Until next time,

Sandy

December, the month of family sickness. 

Christmas did come and go with me reminding everyone that all was  going to be ok and we have to keep the real reason for the season upfront in our minds: that we have had years when things were more challenging; someone was sick, we had to move things around, etc. Then old Jeff piped into the family group text reminding us that  Paw Paw Palmer (Jeff's dad) was in Bastogne on Christmas 1944. That will quickly put it all in perspective. 

We did all meet at our house on December 22nd but there was sickness. Stupidly I don't think any of us thought about the flu until we were all together. I think there was no doubt Palmer had it that night. I was sick, but I don't think I had it. When Paul Allen came down sick the next day Jeff thought to go get him a flu test. He was positive and missed Katie's side of the family Christmas staying home with Valerie who didn't feel well either. It didn't matter that he stayed home because it is running through them now. Tyler's parents came down from Atlanta and I did see them between church services on Christmas Eve. They were sickie too, so it was all around. All of the kids eventually were sick. 

Fortunately Mama has not gotten sick, but it is all in her senior living facility. She is going to visit her sister in the morning for the week so maybe she will miss it. 

I actually got up yesterday morning and called the Teledoc. I don't have the flu, but my whole side of my head is full of junk. I now have an antibiotic. The only other person other than Mama who hasn't been sick is Jeff. Thankful for that.

Here are a few scenes from the last few days.

I mostly took candid shots on December 22nd which are wonderful in my mind too.

On Christmas Eve, Tucker and Palmer set out their cookies for Santa. All of the kiddos are in full belief age. It is quite sweet to watch. I think Tucker has another year before he questions it all.

Lindsay took this picture of Palmer at church on Christmas Eve. He was on the upswing by Christmas Eve, while Miles and Valerie were on their way to the depths of the flu. The service was so sweet.

This was Miles coming back in from viewing the swing that he was genuinely excited Santa had brought, but no energy to swing.

He would get some fever reducing medicine in and feel good for an hour. He gave it a try later, but even today he was still feeling a little poorly.

One interesting note, Katie did end up taking Valerie to the doctor since her fever was so high. Turns out Miles and Valerie each had a different strain of flu. One A and one B. Go figure.

Christmas morning, Jeff and I made it out for what has become our annual stroll on the beach. Someone took our picture after watching me try to get a selfie.

I am one to pack Christmas up right away. I know I am making some of you cringe. I can't wait to put it out right after Thanksgiving, but I am also eager to put it all away and get the house back in order on the 26th. I do the tree last. 

I love Christmas but for some reason I like the order that comes after Christmas. 

I am in  full on reflection mode now and hope to be back in the new year with some ideas for 2026.

2025 was crazy for us in many ways. I really try to focus on the positive though. Life can be even nuttier if you only focus on the bad. There is plenty of good.

I have listed all of my books in Goodreads the last couple years. I really like the digital footprint of my reading. I know many read way more than me but considering how many people I care for and things I do I felt very good about the 21 books I have read. I have two I am reading currently, but I am pretty sure both will be finished after December 31st.

I read 11 fiction and 10 nonfiction. The nod to fiction is a win for me. I am the girl who read the World Book Encyclopedia for fun as a child, so making sure I read as much fiction was a goal I had. I need more of that.

My 2 favorite fiction books were Theo of Golden by Allen Levi and The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Roebuck. I want to add more of Erika Roebuck this year. 

I honestly can't choose a favorite nonfiction book It would be a tie between at least 5 of them. I read some good ones this year. 

Honestly, I rarely read anything anymore that I don't like. If it is not hitting me right I move on. Don't want to waste the time.

I stitched 7 things; Valerie's name, small hornbook with Christmas/winter sampler, Valerie's ornament,

my little multicolored dolphin, the sandpipers, the Bible verse with flowers (round), and the 12 Days of Christmas.

I still need to share the 12 Days of Christmas finish. I will...I ended up not gifting it. The sickness, the rush, all that just led to me saying no to the gift. Maybe later. I will share it in January. It is cute.

I am a few days away from finishing the Bible Recap again this year. I really do love this. I would highly recommend it to anyone. I am not doing it again this next year as I want to slow things down. I am putting my reading plan together for '26 over the next couple of days. I want to slow the pace, but I truly love having a reading plan all set and sitting down to Scripture within the first 30 minutes of waking. It is a good habit to have a starts my day off well. 

I can truthfully say one thing has worked well this year. Keeping up with the house and having organized or decluttered so much over the last few years. I don't need to hit January 1st and go crazy decluttering. I will do many things, but not like I have in the past. I still need to let go of much in my sewing room, but I have many wins in the remainder of the house. Woohoo for me.

About a year ago, Jeff and I went through one of our closets together that contains small appliances mostly. I felt there was much we didn't need anymore. We did purge that day but we agreed to put some stuff that we were unsure about on the top shelf of that closet. I am here to tell you not one item was touched since the day we put it up there. I would say that is full evidence that the shelf can now be cleared out. It is on my winter list.

Speaking of winter... fall and now winter have been very mild here in northwest Florida. Much to my liking. Winter is swinging in for a day right as 2025 is leaving, but it seems to only be for a day. I will take that.

We are heading to Auburn to ring in the new year. I will ring it in before midnight as always. I am going to rest the remainder of this week and put together my goals for 2026. 

See you next year,

Sandy