Let’s Talk About Books!
I’ve been enjoying everyone’s “Best of 2025” lists, especially the reading ones! In 2025 I read 63 books in 2025, which is a lot for me. I usually end the year with around 50 books. I know many people read WAY more than that! I’d like to get my number higher next year- not because I’m comparing myself to all you speedy readers out there, but because… well, so many books, so little time. There are SO many books I want to read! Here are my top 5 books of 2025, in chronological order of when I read them: Death’s End by Cixin Liu Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell The Correspondent by Virginia Evans The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier It’s interesting that although my favorite genre is mystery, none of my top books of the year were mysteries. Meredith from the Currently Reading podcast had the same observation one year, and she explained it by saying “You might want to eat a salad most nights for dinner, but at the end of the year those won’t be the meals that stood out to you.” Although no mysteries made my top five, here are the best mysteries I read this year: Night Film by Marisha Pessl The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (really fantasy/mystery) Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen Overall it was a pretty great year of reading. One book I could have skipped, surprisingly, was The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. I know! So many people love this book, and I absolutely LOVED his Century Trilogy. But this book just DRAGGED ME DOWN. The story was fascinating, but the things that happened to people were horrifying. Boy, life in the middle ages sucked. I had to find out how it ended, but I was so relieved when it was over. And now, I’m making a new TBR for 2026! I’m happily reading my Christmas book flood books right now, and after that I want to read The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith, State of Terror by Hilary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. And Project Hail Mary, and The Nothing Man… gah! So many books! So little time!!! Have you read any of these? What was your favorite book of 2025? Top photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash
2026 Word of the Year
Hmm. I have a sad history with my words of the year. I love choosing them, and get all excited about my new word, but by February I’ve forgotten all about it. As the year goes on and other people refer to their words, I’m constantly thinking “WHAT was my word, again?” Maybe I’m just not a “word of the year” person? But… it’s time for Tuesday Topics (which I host with Jenn from Runs With Pugs) and today’s topic is, What’s your word or intention for 2026? Guess I better come up with something! I started by thinking about my intention for the year. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been ruminating a lot lately, to the detriment of my sleep, and brooding about things that are beyond my control, such as choices my kids are making. Maybe my phrase for the year could be the amazingly original “Let It Go.” But… this is a big year for me! I turn 60, and I kind of want to do more than just let things go. Is there a word that means both “Let it Go” and “Make it Happen?” Um… no. As I pondered this, I thought of the serenity prayer, “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Is there a word that embodies serenity, courage, AND wisdom all at the same time? There’s only one way to find out… I put the question to ChatGPT. Meh. It gave me some words, but none I liked- “Fortitude”, “Stoic”- they gave off the wrong vibe, kind of like “things are bad but I’ll get through it somehow.” Not the intention I want to set for the year. I thought about it some more, and then asked ChatGPT “Is there a word for ‘acceptance’ that’s less passive?” There were several suggestions! My favorite was “embrace.” I looked up the dictionary definition of the word: 1) hold close in one’s arms, and 2) accept or support a belief, theory or change willingly and enthusiastically.” I HAVE MY WORD! EMBRACE First of all, I’ll have a brand new family member to hold close in my arms. When I wrote about my son’s engagement, Engie wrote a beautiful comment all about her mother-in-law, and what a wonderful person she was. I want my daughter-in-law to feel the same way about me, and to feel welcomed and embraced into the family. There will be a lot of changes coming up- not only my son’s wedding, but with my daughter as well. She’ll go to college (in the fall of 2027) and it will be the biggest shakeup of the family structure since she was born. My intention will be to “accept change willingly and enthusiastically.” I had a lot of fun choosing my word- I love words and taking a deep dive into their meanings. Now I just need to remember my word throughout the year! I’m writing it on each monthly page of my planner, so I’ll revisit it often. Join us next week —> How do you reset your routine after the holidays? Link Up With Tuesday Topics Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, as Jenny, from Runners Fly joins Jenn at Runs With Pugs to co-host this link-up! Please join us every week for a new topic! Write on our weekly prompt or choose your own topic! Make sure to add your post to the link up, link back to your hosts, and comment on the other shared posts! Top photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash You are invited to the Inlinkz link party! Click here to enter
Weekly Rundown-A Beautiful Week
Actually, this week had a lot of ups and downs- but objectively speaking, it was a beautiful week in South Florida. We had some COLD nights (it got down to the 40s three nights in a row) and crisp, sunny days. My favorite weather! And check out that sunset (above). Now what are these “ups and downs”, you ask? Let’s get into it! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Monday Last day of warm weather before our big cooldown! I ran 4 miles and did my hip stability exercises. Tuesday Caroline Girvan deadbug workout in the morning and yoga at night. I was getting myself ready for a big long run the next day. Wednesday It was a CHILLY morning with “feels like” temps in the 30s!!! I went to my trail on the edge of the Everglades, which is very beautiful but completely exposed- perfect for a cold, sunny day. I started off bundled up in a jacket, hat and gloves (and shorts- I don’t own running tights) but as the hours went by, peeled everything off. I finished 22 miles in a tank top. This run really went well- my stomach was off in the beginning, but after ten miles or so settled down. It’s good to know stomach issues don’t need to derail an entire run. At night I did Adriene’s yoga for lower back pain.. My low back wasn’t actually that sore, but it felt good to stretch everything out. Thursday Happy New Year! I got up at 6 am to feed the cats and then went back to bed till 9! Wow, that felt good. I spent the rest of the day watching football and cooking a big pot of chili. My quads were sore but overall I felt good. Friday One of my goals for the next three months is to do more cardio, in addition to running. My quads were still sore from Wednesday, so I figured it was a great day to get on the Stairmaster. 40 minutes of climbing, and an upper body strength session. So far, so good, until… At night I got hit with a wave of sadness, which always happens to me at some point after Christmas. Ugh! I took an Advil PM, got in bed and figured a nice run in the morning would fix everything. Let’s just see how that worked out… Saturday I slept AMAZINGLY WELL- that Advil really knocked me out. It was chilly (although not as cold as the previous days) and I was set up for a great run. 3 and 1/2 miles WERE great, and then (cue ominous music) something felt weird in my calf. Is that a spasm? What is going on, GAAAAAAAH! I ran/walked the rest of the way home- walking didn’t really help, so I mostly just ran. Something is definitely wrong but I don’t know how bad it is. I went to work limping in an effort not to stress the muscle any further. I felt like the universe said “Oh, you want to be sad? I’ll give you something to be sad about!” I mean- WHY was I sad yesterday? Things were GREAT and I just didn’t realize it! Ugh, ugh, ugh. By the way, I totally blame the Stairmaster for this. I’m never getting on that machine again! Sunday Well, this is a conundrum. I don’t know what my calf will be feeling, but I’d like to do a lower body strength workout. We’ll see. It’s such a bummer to end the week on a low note, but here we are. How was your week? Any big ups or downs?
Sadness
One thing I’ve learned about myself (and maybe everyone is this way, I don’t know) is that when I get sad about one thing, my brain finds all sorts of other things to be sad about as well. Saying goodbye to my son was sad, so then I got super sad that Christmas is over. That made me sad about our cat Charlotte all over again, and now my sneaky brain has found a brand new thing to be sad about. It actually started as a happy thing, one of the things that made Christmas extra special this year. My daughter has a boyfriend! She’s had crushes over the years that never worked out, and she was starting to get down on herself, asking me if she was unattractive and why no one liked her (ouch). Then, she developed a friendship with a boy she talks to at the gym all the time- they started seeing more and more of each other- and the day after Christmas he officially asked her to be his girlfriend. You guys!!! It’s the sweetest thing! At first I was worried because he’s a year older than my daughter, but as soon as I met him, I realized he’s the nicest boy in the world. He’s been over at our house all the time these last couple weeks, and I just love him. My daughter has had a huge boost in her self confidence, and for about a week all was well (in my mind). But I can’t just go along too happily, can I? Now I’m worried that he’s TOO nice for her. My daughter can be kind of… prickly… and now that they’ve gotten more comfortable with each other, I can see that coming out. What if he breaks up with her??? GAAAH, that would be so sad! So now I’m sad about something that hasn’t even happened. Maybe he likes a little bit of friction in a relationship, to balance out his niceness. OR, maybe his niceness will rub off on her and she’ll get a little softer. Or, maybe he’ll break up with her and it will be a learning experience. Either way… this is her life to live, not mine. I know you can’t let other people have control over your happiness, but it’s so hard when it’s your kids!!! Meanwhile, I have to stop this spiral of sadness I’m sinking into. I’ll try the best way I know how, which is to get up tomorrow morning and go for a run. But first, I’ll pop an Advil PM and get into bed. That should turn my brain off for a while. Do you get into spirals of sadness like this? Is there a solution? Top photo by Sophie Elvis on Unsplash