Void Week: Sundry
Dec. 31st, 2025 07:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spryngIt's the last day of 2025. I can see the orange edge of sunrise through the pines out my window.
I've covered dayjob, I've covered writing, but what about the other stuff? This year I set daily nibbles of reading, piano, and writing. I... mostly succeeded in those three areas.
I can now successfully play Fur Elise, Greensleeves, and other two-handed pieces where there's not a lot of fancy stuff. I can sightread again and I'm working on remembering all the different keys. While I didn't practice every day, I practiced when I could and I found myself playing at the end of many days just to unwind and relax. Playing piano is very soothing; it's both a skill to better and an artistic outlet, but it lights up different parts of my brain than reading and writing.
Bread was the other big task I set myself this year, and I think after successfully baking several sourdough loaves, sourdough bagels, and a cinnamon roll focaccia for Christmas, I can confidently declare that a success. I have a happy sourdough starter I can take out of the fridge when needed and I've learned enough bread skills that I can tackle most bread. Insta-yeast breads still elude me, but that's fine, really. I'm happy with sourdough... and focaccia, lol.
...actually, maybe I'll make some focaccia today...
Reading I touched on in a previous post, but suffice it to say reading a few pages every day came and went. I think that's fine, honestly. Some days I don't have the attention/spoons, some days I do, and as long as in general I'm still reading, I'm not going to sweat it.
Everything, really, seems to come in waves. Trying to do something every day works only so long before the universe breaks through a wall like the coolaid man. I think that's a key thing I've learned this year: that it's okay not to do something every day. Life and sicknesses and dayjob and, yes, obsessions get in the way. And that's fine. As long as I come back to it, we're good.
Oh yeah, I also surpassed my 20-year-old self when it comes to strength. I blew through all of my old PRs - bench, deadlift, squat, clean, you name it - and set new ones. I may be slower than I was, but I'm definitely stronger and I'm happy with that. I also avoided injuring myself or burning out and listened to my body when it told me I needed a day off. I love my 5am crew and knowing they'll miss me definitely helps get me out the door some mornings. But knowing that no matter what the workout is, I can do it, is a big motivator too.
It's been a fun year watching the kids grow, too. I've loved watching CG blossom into a reader, who insists on bringing a book on long car rides -- and sometimes just the back of the bike. She started with comics and jumped seemingly straight into 300 page middle grade fantasy. She has to have a book in her backpack for school and she loves when they go to the library at her after school program.
I also got to see her swimming greatly improve; she can handle ocean waves just fine now.
4yo also started learning how to swim this year and, while he still needs floaties, he's a lot more confident and actually excited to go into the water. We'll likely do more swim lessons in the summer and after that, he'll probably be fine without floaties. Ah, it'll be such a relief when both kids can swim well.
4yo likewise blossomed, starting pre-k in the fall and now proudly reciting his ABCs and counting up to 100. He can recognize most letters and a few words and loves when his sister reads to him. He's likewise graduated from listening to us read him picture books to chapter books (with pictures, though), and we're steadily working our way through CG's stash of age-appropriate books.
In fact, one of the drives this week to 2 Papas' was almost entirely silent as they were both absorbed in their books. Is this the future??
They fight, of course, and 4yo likes to antagonize CG--but does not like when she retaliates, natch--but over all they seem to be getting along really well. Yesterday I took them both to the grocery store with me and I glanced back to make sure they hadn't strayed too far and they were holding hands. T_T
Travel went much better with them this year and overall they both seem much more capable of handling long drives, long days, and lots of walking. Which is great, because I really want to travel more in the coming years. A friend recently mentioned that when she met us, we used to travel all the time, and now we hardly do and... well. Yeah. Some of that is Lady's compromised immune system, some of it is traveling is just hard with little kids, and some of it was money. But this coming year we are going to the Grand Tetons and we will do another beach trip (or two) and hopefully some other stuff between.
Anyway, all in all... this year felt like laying the foundations for more fun/adventure in the future. Being able to bake if needed, play music, bang out a book, read for fun or research, lift heavy... yeah. I don't know what I'm going to build yet, but I'm going to build something.
I've covered dayjob, I've covered writing, but what about the other stuff? This year I set daily nibbles of reading, piano, and writing. I... mostly succeeded in those three areas.
I can now successfully play Fur Elise, Greensleeves, and other two-handed pieces where there's not a lot of fancy stuff. I can sightread again and I'm working on remembering all the different keys. While I didn't practice every day, I practiced when I could and I found myself playing at the end of many days just to unwind and relax. Playing piano is very soothing; it's both a skill to better and an artistic outlet, but it lights up different parts of my brain than reading and writing.
Bread was the other big task I set myself this year, and I think after successfully baking several sourdough loaves, sourdough bagels, and a cinnamon roll focaccia for Christmas, I can confidently declare that a success. I have a happy sourdough starter I can take out of the fridge when needed and I've learned enough bread skills that I can tackle most bread. Insta-yeast breads still elude me, but that's fine, really. I'm happy with sourdough... and focaccia, lol.
...actually, maybe I'll make some focaccia today...
Reading I touched on in a previous post, but suffice it to say reading a few pages every day came and went. I think that's fine, honestly. Some days I don't have the attention/spoons, some days I do, and as long as in general I'm still reading, I'm not going to sweat it.
Everything, really, seems to come in waves. Trying to do something every day works only so long before the universe breaks through a wall like the coolaid man. I think that's a key thing I've learned this year: that it's okay not to do something every day. Life and sicknesses and dayjob and, yes, obsessions get in the way. And that's fine. As long as I come back to it, we're good.
Oh yeah, I also surpassed my 20-year-old self when it comes to strength. I blew through all of my old PRs - bench, deadlift, squat, clean, you name it - and set new ones. I may be slower than I was, but I'm definitely stronger and I'm happy with that. I also avoided injuring myself or burning out and listened to my body when it told me I needed a day off. I love my 5am crew and knowing they'll miss me definitely helps get me out the door some mornings. But knowing that no matter what the workout is, I can do it, is a big motivator too.
It's been a fun year watching the kids grow, too. I've loved watching CG blossom into a reader, who insists on bringing a book on long car rides -- and sometimes just the back of the bike. She started with comics and jumped seemingly straight into 300 page middle grade fantasy. She has to have a book in her backpack for school and she loves when they go to the library at her after school program.
I also got to see her swimming greatly improve; she can handle ocean waves just fine now.
4yo also started learning how to swim this year and, while he still needs floaties, he's a lot more confident and actually excited to go into the water. We'll likely do more swim lessons in the summer and after that, he'll probably be fine without floaties. Ah, it'll be such a relief when both kids can swim well.
4yo likewise blossomed, starting pre-k in the fall and now proudly reciting his ABCs and counting up to 100. He can recognize most letters and a few words and loves when his sister reads to him. He's likewise graduated from listening to us read him picture books to chapter books (with pictures, though), and we're steadily working our way through CG's stash of age-appropriate books.
In fact, one of the drives this week to 2 Papas' was almost entirely silent as they were both absorbed in their books. Is this the future??
They fight, of course, and 4yo likes to antagonize CG--but does not like when she retaliates, natch--but over all they seem to be getting along really well. Yesterday I took them both to the grocery store with me and I glanced back to make sure they hadn't strayed too far and they were holding hands. T_T
Travel went much better with them this year and overall they both seem much more capable of handling long drives, long days, and lots of walking. Which is great, because I really want to travel more in the coming years. A friend recently mentioned that when she met us, we used to travel all the time, and now we hardly do and... well. Yeah. Some of that is Lady's compromised immune system, some of it is traveling is just hard with little kids, and some of it was money. But this coming year we are going to the Grand Tetons and we will do another beach trip (or two) and hopefully some other stuff between.
Anyway, all in all... this year felt like laying the foundations for more fun/adventure in the future. Being able to bake if needed, play music, bang out a book, read for fun or research, lift heavy... yeah. I don't know what I'm going to build yet, but I'm going to build something.
