2025 in Review
- Dec 31
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 18
Five stars. (★★★★★)
2025 has had its ups and downs. Overall, I'm lucky and I know it. Five stars.
Highlights:
January: Turned 50! I sent off my 40s with a wonderful trip to Tahoe, with pre-dawn coffee by the fireplace, long hikes in the snow and solitude, afternoon sauna sessions, and evenings with wine and comfort food. I was back home on my actual birthday, for a good long run, a soak and sauna at Watercourse, and a day of reflection and gratitude. It was perfect.
March: Moved Mom into memory care. The long-overdue Alzheimer's diagnosis came in December 2024. After years of decline, the situation became glaringly untenable over the winter. I'm incredibly grateful to Carrie for finding Our House, and both Carrie and Jimmy for handling the heartbreaking move-in. They visit her regularly and have done much of the hard work of cleaning out her house. I made two trips to Wisconsin to fill dumpsters, in March and May. We hope to finish the job in one big push this spring. The dementia is tough but she's getting good care and doing much better than she was at home.
May-June: Sick for six weeks. The tenacious bug started on a trip to New York in May. I completely lost my voice and was stranded in a hotel room for several days before I could fly home, got worse on the flight, dragged into my next work trip to France, and into the Montana trip in late June. I now have a solid list of tactics to combat the next bug that tries to take me down.
June: Returned to Cannes Lions. This was my second year. It's quite an experience - and I'd be fine if I never go again.
June: Cheered Tamara and Cameron at the Missoula Marathon. I was still sick the first couple days of my visit, but rallied toward the end. It was nice to hang out with everyone together. Am I inspired to start running marathons? Nope.
July: Spent another July 4 with the Cabibbos. Third year in a row - it's becoming a tradition. Each year we get a little smarter with our (lazy) fireworks strategy. Eventually perhaps we'll see a whole show.
August: Big pivots and layoffs at work. After a major change to our project in April, we eliminated several roles in August. My team was significantly impacted by the reductions and attrition; it's been a tough year. Heading into 2026 I'm genuinely optimistic about our new remit, but it's been hard to maintain morale and trust on the team.
August: Finally bought a new car! Another Audi Q5. I had no reason to change - and the media console in the new Q5 is excellent. I've been waiting years for Android Auto.
August: Drove from California to Colorado with Leah. It was a rare and special trip. I'll always remember it as our "Big 50" adventure. Cheers to Leah for gracefully tolerating my early morning marches, half-baked plans, podcasts and countless hours in the car. Once in Colorado I spent a few more days on my own hiking around in the mountains. I left the trusty 2012 Audi in Colorado for Fifi to drive, which is also meaningful to me.
October: Returned to Tahoe. The surprise snowfall and winter wonderland of 2024 would be hard to beat, but my second annual Halloween weekend trip was still wonderful and restorative. This is one of my happiest places.
November: Spent Thanksgiving at home. For the first time in years, I didn't travel for Thanksgiving break. I enjoyed a cozy meal and traditional crossword session in San Jose, followed by a quick visit a few days later to sing Happy Birthday to Dad.
December: Completed Moon Quest Year Two. Since January 2024, that's 24 consecutive full moons.
December: Ended the year with Christmas in Wisconsin. I flew into Wausau and drove to Phillips to eat good food and watch retro holiday shows with the siblings, then Chippewa Falls to visit Mom, before flying home from Minneapolis. It was a quick but nice trip - and I always want to see snow at Christmas. Since then I've been taking it easy at home, before tackling another year out in the world.
Overall Health and Well-Being:
Kept pretty good habits. I've generally avoided added sugar, except for the current holiday indulgence. I've been drinking more water. I've half-heartedly started strength exercise but I need to do much more. I started using the Daylio app for mood and habit tracking, plus daily notes and photos; it's helped to promote good habits and awareness. I had a well-being coach through work for several months; not sure how much I got out of it. I was relieved when it was over.
Fitbit stats are basically stable. I'll be happy if I can keep this up for a while.
2025: Walked and ran 2,516 miles (avg. 6.9 miles per day), a mere 31 miles below 2024. Gained 0.9 pounds and 0.8% body fat vs. 2024. Average resting heart rate was 52 BPM.
2024: Walked and ran 2,547 miles (avg. 6.9 miles per day), +102 miles vs. 2023. Gained 4.9 pounds and 1.1% body fat vs. 2023. Average resting heart rate was 52 BPM.
2023: Walked and ran 2,445 miles (avg. 6.7 miles per day), +220 miles vs 2022. Gained 3.3 pounds and 2.9% body fat vs. 2022.
Grading Last Year's Resolutions:
See every full moon, again. 100% - Nailed it, again!
Protect and value personal time. 80% - Pretty good.
Build a strength training practice and consistent yoga. 20% - Bare minimum.
Build a meditation practice. 10% - Fail.
Take at least as many R&R trips as 2024. 80% - Fewer trips, but good quality.
Do better at preventative health care. 10% - Fail.
Do better at financial planning. 0% - Fail.
Make an advance directive. 0% - Fail.
Find a stable living situation for Mom. 100% - Thanks to sibs. This one matters more than everything above.
2026 Resolutions:
See every full moon, again. Heading into year three!
Protect and prioritize personal time. Another perennial goal.
Visit at least one place on the "where I might end up" list.
Build muscle. Must get serious about strength training.
Meditate. Repeat.
Do better at preventative health care. Another repeat.
Do better at financial planning. Another repeat.
Make an advance directive. And... Another repeat.
Clear and Sell Mom's House. Such a daunting job but we need to do it.
Hello 2026!
