All About ... The Year in Review

What did you do in 2025 that you've never done before?  As in 2024, it's been another year of mostly medical 'firsts', but I'll write about all of those later in this post. The only other biggie  is that in 2025 I made the decision to sort out, as much as is possible, and future proof various aspects of my life to make it easier to maintain my independence as I grow older. With that in mind, I decided to sell my lovely three bedroomed house and bought a bungalow where obviously the accommodation is all on one level. It's needed a lot of work, but I firmly believe it is the best decision I made this year, and I have no regrets at all.

Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year? I don't set the traditional resolutions but choose to set myself specific goals to achieve during the year. 2025's goals haven't gone as well as I would have liked, due to a combination of health issues and the disruption that comes with a home full of workmen for months, but I'm hopeful that 2026 will be better. I'll write about my new goals in a separate post.

Did anyone close to you give birth? No, not this year. 

Did anyone close to you die? No, not this year, thankfully. 

What countries did you visit? 2025 has been another stay at home year. 

What would you like to have in 2026 that you lacked in 2025? Well, the biggest thing is that I'd like my health to improve as that impacts on everything. I'd also like to complete the renovations on the bungalow, get the rest of the boxes unpacked, as start enjoying my new home. I still have to sort out the flooring, decorating, and curtains, which sounds a lot but hopefully won't take too long to get sorted ... I'm aiming to get that all done before Easter.

What date from 2025 will remain etched in your memory and why? March 17th 2025. It's the day I completed on this bungalow and moved in.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? This has to be project managing the renovations to the bungalow. There were some delays, but the work has now been completed and I have a wet room, kitchen, fitted master bedroom furniture, new radiators, new windows and external doors, boarded and replastered ceilings, and additional sockets and lights (plus rewiring as necessary). In addition, all the hard landscaping in the garden has been completed, with the retaining wall by the stream replaced, new fencing and gates, replacing all the existing steps by the external doors and adding hand rails, and creating a beautiful Indian sandstone patio to replace the hodgepodge of tiling/stones/gravel that was previously there.

What was your biggest failure? As I always say, I don't like to look at things in terms of failing as it's too negative and I am trying to live a positive life. There is one aspect of life that isn't going according to plan, and that's the need to do something about the social side of life. I knew at the start of the year that I wanted to see big improvements and now I've reached the end of the year I am very aware that things have changed ... but not for the better. I now never go out on my own and in fact rarely go out at all (compared to what I used to do) ... most outings are medical appointments, accompanied by Niall. I have had some fun outings with Niall though, and I do have friends and family come to visit, but I have definitely lost my independence in this part of my life. I desperately need to turn this around and will write about my plans in a separate post.

Did you suffer illness or injury? Yes! How long have you got? I can't deny that it has been a truly awful year in terms of illness. I've had pneumonia twice, pleurisy once, ongoing bouts of vertigo and almost continuous earache, frequent flares of diverticulitis, constant migraines and also daily ocular migraines. I started the year with ongoing treatment to save the sight in my left eye, which was successful; this was completed in April, but I have had blurred vision for most of the year since and they can't seem to resolve it!

I have constant pain in my lower back, shoulders, knees, neck, hands and feet from arthritis and my mobility is extremely poor. I had the first knee replacement in June 2024 but the second knee op had to be cancelled because of the infection in my left eye and it hasn't been rearranged yet. As things stand, I don't know when or even if it will be done now. I am really struggling with this aspect of life.

I am constantly exhausted and keep falling asleep, so have been referred for a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea ... I'm still waiting for a date for that.

Back in September I received a letter from the hospital notifying the results of a recent CT scan, which mentioned that I also had a tumour on my adrenal gland, DISH, Fatty Liver disease, scarring in my right lung, and something else (sorry, I can't remember what it is!). I went to see my GP as I thought it was about time someone was looking at the bigger picture and seeing how everything taken as a whole is affecting my life. He has been brilliant and has done all the referrals to the various specialists, and arranged other tests to check on things he doesn't usually check as a matter of routine. All of this is still ongoing, except for the Fatty Liver disease as tests have already shown that it is nowhere near as serious as the hospital originally suggested and is something I can reverse through exercise and diet.

Then, just to finish off the year, I had some abnormal blood test results which when repeated confirmed that I have Type 2 Diabetes. So there's that to sort out as well. 

I bet you wish you'd skip this answer!

What was the best thing you bought? It has to be all the things I bought for the renovations. If I can only pick one thing, then it's the Indian sandstone for the patio ... I love it. Oh, and the tiles for the wet room. And the kitchen cupboards and tiles!

Where did most of your money go? On all the stuff to do with the renovations.

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Everything to do with my new home ... moving in day, the renovations, and finally having a working kitchen. Also, seeing Torvill and Dean's 'Our Last Dance' at Birmingham in April and watching them perform their Bolero routine.

Compared to this time last year are you:

• Happier or sadder? happier 
• Thinner or fatter? definitely fatter!
• Richer or poorer? about the same

What do you wish you’d done more of? It's exactly the same as last year ... I wish I'd done more  socialising, photography, reading, blogging, etc.

What do you wish you’d done less of? Being ill!

How did you spend Christmas? I stayed at home and didn't bother to decorate ... I think all the decorations are still packed away and I had no idea which box they are in.  As usual, I cooked my Christmas meal on Christmas Eve and then spent the rest of Christmas Eve watching Carols from Kings, The Royal Carols, and then did my own version of the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod ... my chosen book this year was 'We Solve Murders' by Richard Osman. I've had visitors every day since, and Niall will be back to celebrate the New Year.  

Did you fall in love in 2025? No.

What was your favourite TV show? I've been binge watching TV series most of the year and have enjoyed House, Slow Horses, Mr Mercedes, Trigger Point, FBI, and Down Cemetery Road. House was probably my favourite from that list.

What was the best book you read? The best book I read doesn't have a title yet. One of my friends has written her first novel and is hoping to become a published author. She asked me, and a few other friends, to read it and give an honest review. I loved it.

What was your greatest musical discovery of 2025? I don't think there is one. There hasn't been a lot of time for listening to music this year.

What did you want and get? I wanted all the messy renovations completed as soon as possible, and that was achieved. There's still work to be done but it's all the 'finishing off, making it look nice' stuff and that won't cause quite the same amount of disruption.  

What did you want and not get?  Again, I wanted to get my second knee replacement done and out of the way but that hasn't happened because of all the other medical issues. 

What was your favourite film this year? I haven't watched many films this year, but I did see and enjoy The Brutalist at the cinema. My favourite film though was The Muppet Christmas Carol, which I watched at home on TV.

What did you do on your birthday? It was our 70th birthday this year and to celebrate Niall took me to the theatre and then we had an Indian takeaway to complete the day. I didn't get to see my sister on our birthday this year, but we have both agreed that 70 really isn't old enough to grow up and act like adults so we have agreed to have yet another year of childhood! 😉

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Less ill health.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2025? I don't 

really have a fashion concept - whatever I wear just has to be comfy.

What kept you sane? As in previous years, it's the support of friends and family. 

What political issue stirred you the most? The situation in Ukraine. The state 

of the economy and the way the Labour Government is treating the pensioners 

and the less well off. Also Trumps' antics are worrying to say the least.   

Who did you miss? Ced. Always.

Who was the best new person you met? I haven't met anyone new, but I 

have reconnected with an old friend who is now living back in this area.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2025. That happiness is a 

choice for now, not for some time in the future.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. I can't think of one so I will say the 

usual ... Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life!