Happy New Year!

A couple days late.

2025 was pretty neat. (See below.)

A few preliminary thoughts/hopes for 2026:

+ Return to a normal sleep schedule. The last two weeks with the holidays have been brutal on sleep. Anyone else? Uff. Ready to reinstate 10pm bedtime. May the dogs hold us to it.

+ Consume less. I’ve started the process where, instead of running to my Target or Amazon cart when something is needed, I consider if I can buy it secondhand. I keep a list on my phone – “Things to thrift.” Oh, the thrill of finding something on that list while out and about at second-hand stores! I’ve had pretty mild success at this point – a glass jar for the bathroom, a 3 ring binder to hold sewing patterns, a couple photo frames needed. There have been a few bonus finds too – a second yogurt strainer! A second Kitchen Aid mixer bowl for $4!

+ Survivor Pantry Island. I heard someone talk about this in a podcast. In the month of January, you do your best to use up the items in your pantry. (We’re adding the chest freezer to this challenge too.) For this month, the grocery cart should contain only (mostly) fresh and refrigerated items. Wish us luck.

+ The end of 2025 found a new sewing machine making its way into my sewing room. AND IT’S SO EXCITING. It has bells! whistles! and a throat space that demands to quilt quilts! (What’s a throat space? The space between the needle and the body of the machine, where one needs to roll/bundle/push a quilt through to quilt it. This new machine is more than double my old machine. DOUBLE.) There will be quilts. More quilts.