ECONOGAL

December 2025 was a blur. Partly because I finally succumbed to Covid. Fortunately, I am a believer in vaccines, and my symptoms amounted to some sneezing and a bit of a headache. My spouse, who had made time for the flu shot but not the Covid shot, did not fare well. In fact, the only thing that staved off a visit to the E.R. was the cans of Boost oxygen I have on hand as part of my home emergency kit. For those of you that are anti-mRNA, Novovax makes a traditional vaccine that took several years to develop.

Then, after testing negative again-it took about a week, even though I never developed a fever or sore throat, I traveled to Florida to spend Christmas with one of my offspring. Long time readers will remember the flip-house where he resides.

I struggled throughout the year with finishing books. My first thought was dementia was sneaking in because my mom struggled to finish books just prior to diagnosis. However, I think my book selections this year were not as strong as previous years.

Happily, the last two books I read in December were very good. The kind you try to finish in one sitting. Hopefully 2026 is a return to discovering great books.

Tomorrow begins a new year. Resolutions are hard to keep throughout the entire twelve months. In the past, I have tried to keep readers updated on my goals. Last year, I am not even sure I made any resolutions and I certainly didn’t keep them if I did. 2025 was a whirlwind of travel and fortunately new life. The two grandkids born twenty days apart have about six more months before a new little one claims the spot of newest in the family.

So, any new resolutions need to stay simple. Very simple. Maybe stretching everyday can be a start.

I took a few photos from the Florida house. This was a foreclosure we bought in July of 2019 and intended to flip. Well, we fell in love with the new layout. A few walls came down but it is not the one huge open space that was the trend at the time. The house lives larger than the square footage. A family member claimed the flip as home.

We were busy in the kitchen most of the time and pictures of the bedrooms were off limits for privacy reasons. But I thought you might enjoy the update. Happy New Year everyone.