December 2025 Recap
Happy new year to everyone. I truly hope that 2026 is the year that the world takes a collective chill pill and we can all rest. I know I need it.
All my hopes for a calm and resting December did not happen and I think I summed it up best when I told my doctor: if I have 99 problems, my employer is causing 98 of them.
December is supposed to be a month of magic and this year, I really struggled to find that magic. There were changes that came to me that I’m not ready for. My parents are planning to move from my childhood home in the summer and while I haven’t lived there in almost a decade, it’s still home and it’s bittersweet to know it’ll be someone else’s home someday.
I’m so happy they get to move to where they want to go to and they’ll be doing some cool things when they move, and I won’t have to drive up 1-35 every few months, but that house will always be what I think of when I think of home.
Besides that, my employer changed my job twice in December. The first change went into effect the 8th and then on the 23rd, they told me “we’re moving you again.” There were other things that went on behind the scenes but the whiplash of the constant changes are leaving me drained and unmotivated to even want to do a good job. What’s the point? They’ll just move me again in three months, if I’m still there.
While the burnout from work feels like it’s tainting every other aspect of my life, I’m still trying to make moments worth celebrating and remembering outside of work.
Life in December
It felt like all month, there was something always happening on the weekends. Birthday parties, babysitting, visiting family, having family in town. One of my uncles came into town to see my grandparents and took us out to Matt’s El Rancho for lunch. It’s an Austin staple but it’s the other end of Austin, so I’ve never made it down there before this month.
I went to my hometown the few days after Christmas, had a job interview on Monday (and found out I didn’t get the job Tuesday), and Tuesday, we got to see Christmas lights off the lake.
Writing Update
Well, I finally started draft one of my new book this past Saturday night (12/27) and I’m 14,000 words into it because I ended 2025 with a 10,000 word day. Figured I’d try and end the year on a high note.
Reading Update
If writing ended on a high note, reading did not. I read three books in December and went about two weeks without even thinking about reading. Looking back at my Storygraph stats, there’s a big decline in my reading in September, which lines up with the end of pool season and the time I dove in to finish And She Runs. My reading has yet to recover.
Books I Read in December
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison (audiobook)
Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage
Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
The reading slump has really impacted what I’m wanting out of my reading goals for 2026, but that’s something we’ll talk about next week. Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a recap on 2025 in general.
Happy new year, y’all.