The strangest thing happened at Target the other day- this Feliz Navidad mug just jumped off the shelf into my cart! Ha ha… well, I saw it and couldn’t resist. I do NOT need any more holiday mugs, but this one was only $5 and now it’s mine!
Christmas prep is going full steam ahead. I made the dough for my gingerbread cookies, using the recipe from this cookbook:
The dough is chilling in the fridge! Cookies coming up soon.
In addition to buying YET ANOTHER holiday mug, another crazy thing I’ve done lately is agreeing to take my daughter and two of her friends to a holiday anime convention tomorrow, in Orlando.
This will be an all day affair, with six hours round trip of driving. But- I don’t have to GO IN to the convention with them. I can just drop them off… and then I have the whole day to myself.
At first I thought I would do last minute shopping, but the thought of finding a mall in Orlando on the last Saturday before Christmas is… not appealing. Instead I’m planning to find a quiet location to delve into the “Did Something” project from Monica Packer’s About Progress podcast. I listened to the episode last week where she says “Let’s take a moment together to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, identify what truly matters, and set the right intentions for the new year. I introduce you to the ‘win-win’ formula and explain how looking back can guide your future goals.”
If you go to the page I linked to, she has a free downloadable guide. I have the pages printed out…
… and all I need is a few quiet hours to work on it. I’m looking forward to a little break from the holiday madness- after tomorrow it will be all Christmas, all the time until the 25th.
Have you had any time to reflect on 2024?
Do you choose a word of the year?- I do sometimes, but then I usually forget all about it after a month.
29 Responses
In a way, it’s kind of nice to be forced to be away for a stretch of time where you can focus on a project like this. I hope the girls enjoy the anime convention!
I am part of the best of both worlds Patreon and yesterday SHU hosted a 2025 planning zoom. I am weird about goals (I hate to not achieve something but sometimes I just can’t because of circumstances out of my control) but it was still good to reflect on 2024 and think about what I want to be different in 2025. 2024 was quite a challenging year between this stupid flare and work travel. So my word of the year for 2025 is going to be breathe. I need to remember to slow down and breathe and I will need a reminder of this at times. It also relates to running and other forms of exercise – I want to continue to prioritize finding ways to get my heart rate up and would like to add in some yoga which is all about breathing of course! But I only want to do yoga in a studio as that makes it a more special experience. Granted it’s hard to fit in so I am starting with a goal of going to a single class in 2025 as part of my mostly fun 25 in ‘25 project!
Have fun making cookies! We will be making sugar cookies tomorrow and will decorate them with friends on Sunday!!!
When I look back on it, 2024 was so long! I guess that’s a good thing. It is good to sit and reflect. I still haven’t come up with a word- I like “breathe” for you! I love it when a word has more than one meaning.
Good luck with the cookies!
I always pick a word and then I forget it.
This year was easy. Joy.
Yes some very sad moments. But also a lot of joy.
Next year????
Joy is a good one, because it’s one thing I always know I’ll want. I don’t have a word for next year yet- not sure if I’ll actually come up with one!
That sounds actually kind of awesome, Jenny! A whole day where you are forced to just have time for yourself – yes please. I am pretty reflective by nature, but like every day? IMAGINE BEING IN MY BRAIN, IT’S UNHINGED UP HERE. So I guess because I reflect a lot daily I don’t enjoy actually writing things down in a structured way. I should, actually, but I don’t.
I don’t choose a word of the year, but I do like the idea.
I wish that mug would have jumped into MY cart! I would not have resisted either.
Yes, I’m enjoying my “enforced” day to myself right now! I keep feeling like I should be doing something important, and have to convince myself to just relax.
Well, that mug knew you would give it a great home, Jenny–I’m not surprised about the jumping :).
How nice of you to take those kids to the convention! I hope you have a safe road trip and everyone has fun in their own way!
Will you share your 2025 intentions when the time comes? I’ve never done something like that before, but I do enjoy reading when other people do…
I’ll definitely share my 2025 intentions. And, yes so far I’ve given the mug a good home, including washing it lovingly by hand, ha ha.
There has been no reflecting yet. I have so much time off AFTER TODAY, though. I will reflect and come up with big 2025 plans (read BIG BOOKS) and relax a little bit. That will be nice. Have fun in Orlando! I can’t wait to hear what you do with your time.
I have to say that reading “big books” was one of the experiences I’m remembering from 2024! I usually shy away from books like that, but I really enjoyed the super long books I read this past year.
I’m writing this on Saturday- I guess your vacation has started! Enjoy!
I feel a bit like Nicole. I reflect A LOT. I reflect on the blog, but don’t really like writing it out by hand. But I’m always a bit sad, because it sounds like such a useful exercise.
Life is short. Buy the mug. Plus, you know you’ll use it. You like specialty mugs. It brings you joy. Gold stars for letting it leap right on in…
Also, how nice of you to take your daughter and her friends at such a busy time of year. Mom of the Year Award (if she won’t award it to you, I will).
Well thanks, Elisabeth! I can think of many occasions this year where MOTY has been snatched away from me, so it’s good to know I’m earning it back.
I can’t wait to unveil my word of the year!
Oh, that sounds fun! Orlando has some really cool spots and stops! One of my besties lives there and so I’m in town quite a bit. We will be there the following Saturday for the game, and I hope we have some time to check out a cool restaurant (he doesn’t want to tailgate or eat in the stadium, so…)
Hope you have a wonderful holiday!
Thank you Jenn! I’m writing this from Orlando right now. It’s been awhile since I’ve been here. Definitely a cool place (although right now I’m in a Barnes and Noble, which I could also be doing at home, ha ha.)
I hope you have a wonderful holiday as well!
I hope you find a nice coffee shop or library to work on your project. Maybe you’ll have some nice time with your daughter during the drive.
It’s pretty interesting the things I learn on these car trips. Like, she put on her favorite Spotify playlist- oh, so this is what you listen to??? And… right now I’m happily sitting in Barnes and Noble. It’s actually calm and quite in here (I guess people aren’t rushing to the bookstore to buy Christmas gifts, sigh.)
I probably won’t really start reflecting on the year until after Christmas because I want to focus on being present and enjoying the festivities but I love that you have a plan to look back on 2024 and make intentions/goals for 2025. I do like making goals for myself but sometimes I don’t like sharing them in case I fail, but they also hold me accountable so it’s a tough call on whether to make them public or not!
Ha, I have no problem failing publicly! I guess I’ve done it enough that I’m immune. And, I initially wasn’t going to do any reflecting until after Christmas, but then my son will be home and things will be crazy. So this worked out perfectly.
I would have thought exactly like you- do last minute Christmas stuff, WAIT- no, I will go somewhere quiet and for me I would write.
I do not pick a word for the year. With any luck, my year does not end up with a 4 letter word as the theme. I do not typically reflect on the year.
Hahahahaha. Yes, there were times this year where my “word” had four letters.
this is a great exercise, I want to do it too!!!
And yes to more holiday mugs.
I haven’t had time to reflect 2024 yet, maybe I can do during our flight.
A long flight is perfect! I think that’s when SHU loves to do her planning.
LOOOOVE your Feliz Navidad mug! I have a sweater with a lamb with a Christmas bandana that says Fleece Navidad. I wear it every year. 😉 Good for you for not going into a mall right now. I have avoided Costco for a full week and I’m quite proud of myself. I love your reflection activity too. I need to do more of that before 2025 comes. Reflection is always good.
I used to have a “Fleece Navidad” sweatshirt- I wonder what happened to it??? Hmmm.
This sounds like an amazing day! You get to focus on yourself away from everything, they get to go to the anime convention… I was able to reflect on this year a bit (even if just in my head) during a long car ride last weekend and then took an hour or two earlier this week to jot down some loosely structured hopes for next year. Hope you have a good weekend, Jenny!!
Thank you Lindsay! Hey, if you have a long car ride without people chattering to you (ahem) then it’s a perfect time for reflection!
I’m glad you are getting some down time today to reflect and write about your goals for the year ahead. I generally don’t track my goals much, which is maybe why I feel like I float from one thing to the next so often. My word is Peace. Not just for 2025, for always I think. I want peace in my mind, in my heart, in my house, in my community, in my world. How to bring that about is the question. What part can I play?
Okay all of that driving doesn’t sound fun, but having the space and time to reflect on the year and thinking about 2025 sounds DIVINE. I used to do something similar but then stopped a few years ago. Now I basically use my blog to reflect on the year, which is good but I think it would be helpful to have journaling pages to work through things I don’t talk about on the blog!
I don’t usually pick a word of the year but I think if I did, it would be presence. I spend a lot of time thinking ahead (and worrying about what’s to come) and I really want to work on being present to what’s happening in front of me.
I’m so glad the Did Something guide was helpful! Thanks for not only using it, but spreading the word.