Hello, everyone. 2025 is almost over.

This year has seen a lot of change for my family. The freedom to rebound a bit financially has come at a good time as the economy has worsened here in the United States. I am blessed for the times I’ve been able to serve closest to me and those I don’t know but who need support throughout the year. I used some of our good fortune to send love back out into the world: sometimes it took the form of money in the most dire circumstances and other times it included donating furniture or clothes which no longer served us. I choose intentionally to not share the value of our charity, because I think that not only makes the action performative but it also has the risk of making those less capable of donating feel like they are not contributing as meaningfully to society. If their fiscal position means they need more for themselves, any amount of charity is enough. If they have more time constraints in their life, each smile and act of positivity is as meaningful as if they were able to host others or attend conferences or show up to petition. There are many ways to serve others and one is not more valuable than the other. They all matter to the end goal of caring for one another.

Little side quest for a second, I am still waiting for a diagnosis for my health issues. I figured some of my longterm readers might want an update. It kind of surprises me that we’re not calling it lupus at this point. I have the positive ANA test with the appropriate titer level. The joint involvement is a 6 and the photosensitive rashes (acute cutaneous lupus) I’ve developed warrant a weight of 6 putting me at a 12 overall, exceeding the minimum threshold by this 2019 criteria to classify my health situation as lupus. I meet with my rheumatologist in early January, so I’m bringing up this issue again. Currently, I don’t meet with a neurology team again until February and even then, that’s not a meeting to do a skin punch biopsy, which has been almost impossible to get.

Planning a relatively low key Christmas celebration and honoring a friend’s recent promotion by hosting her a party this past Friday have been two of my biggest joys recently. Our Christmas dinner plans have shifted as we have far too much leftover food from the party; we’ll eat up all that and either shift the holiday meal into the weekend after Christmas or–as needed–make it our New Year’s Eve dinner. Our party leftovers include taco dip and lime leaf scented rice, Mexican street corn, puppy chow (aka Chex Mix Muddy Buddies), brown butter chocolate cookies from Whole Foods, and this wonderful shortbread chocolate lover’s dream dessert a friend made that is modest layer of shortbread with a layer of brownie and caramel topped with a thin layer of ganache. We have a huge responsibility to avoid food waste where we can and additionally, it does not hurt to have a holiday meal composed of leftovers. The food was still made with lots of love and is meant to be enjoyed.

Here are some tiny peeks of our home dressed for the occasion.

For the first time in a number of years, I have an extended holiday break ahead of me. I will be using this time to relax with my immediate family instead of traveling back home to see my full extended family. We are saving up (and have been for some time) for a big trip overseas next year. I am keeping the timeframe and the locale a secret (for safety reasons), but post trip, I’ll do a in-depth blog entry or two about the experience. My break plans also include time to do some edits on my memoir, using the DIY MFA book as my editing bible. Additionally, I will stop into my local public library and grab a few reads to hold me through into the New Year. I am finishing up Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever’s World Travel: An Irreverent Guide currently and might finish up another book that’s languished on my bookshelf.

Thanks for dropping by today. I wish you the very best regardless of where you find yourself as the year draws to a close. Please give yourself grace for things outside of your control and praise yourself for the moments where you stood up for yourself. 2025 has not been the greatest year for many of us and rather than pivot straight into “Let’s plan resolutions.” I feel it is best for us to grief what we lost, assess where we are today, and take the time to rest this season.