December was an interesting month, and not a relaxing one, as is often the case. However, it was filled with good people, good food and sometimes even good weather! This is the last monthly wrap up for 2025 but stay tuned for my 2025 "month by month book" later this month!
Please copy and paste the questions at the end and add your answers to the mix!
Where was I? Atlantic Ocean, Florida, California
1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that?
January: Baguettes and Many Steps
February: In Like Minnesota; Out Like Hawaii
March: Wet and Wild
April: My Life is in Ruins, and Beaches Too
May: Al Fresco
June: Tales as Old as Time: The Christianity and Wine Versions
July: Quick and Dirty: the Baltics and the Balkans Adventure
August: The Dark Tourist
September: Recharging The Batteries
October: Blown Away
November: Baby, It's Cold Outside
December: (Not So) Calm Seas
2. What did you learn last month?
I learned a lot about sea turtles! I listened to a lecture by a biologist and learned about what the different types are, what they eat and how long it takes before they reach the age of maturity (10 years in some cases) and have to find their old hatching grounds to lay their own eggs. The one most of us are probably most familiar with is the Green sea turtle, which is the one with the pretty shell (like the one in Finding Nemo) but there are six other types!
3. What was the weather like where you are?
It was nice on the Atlantic, rainy and warm in Florida, nice on the California coast, but there has been a nasty tule fog in the Sacramento valley that is also quite cold and has been lingering! At my parents for the holidays, it was rainy (and the Sierra got a big snow). Then we got a King tide and a lot of rain, which caused a bunch of flooding and a shut down of the 101 freeway! Woohoo.
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| Donner traffic cams on the afternoon of Jan 4 |
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| Marin county on the afternoon of Jan 3 |
4. What event last month was your favorite?
It's hard to pick one specific event, but I would probably say in general, it was spending time with loved ones!
5. What was the best thing you read, listened to or watched last month? Although it feels like due to visiting, I got no reading done, I actually did read a few good things.
Book: The Correspondent & The Impossible Fortune (Thursday Murder Club #5)
Movie/Show: My Dad and I got hooked on the Norwegian holiday TV show Home for Christmas (Hjem til Jul) on Netflix which was totally silly and very Hallmark movie, but of course it was fun to see how it all turned out.
Podcast: I'm enjoying Lives Less Ordinary and Things Fell Apart on BBC
6. Tell us one funny recent story.
I told K's kids that if they swore, they would have to pay me $1 per swear word. The youngest, L, who is 11, asked if we could clarify which words were bad. I said of course we could and asked which she needed clarification for. She said, "what about the C word?" and I told her that definitely that was NOT allowed. She said, well can we confirm what it is (you know she just wants to say all the bad words but have permission to do it) and I said sure, but we won't repeat it ever again afterwards, and she says....Crap!
Of course I said, yes that is a bad word, but I thought you meant a different one and she wanted to know what it was. I did not enlighten her.
7. What are you looking forward to this month?
I am hoping to do some cycling if I can get my butt in gear (pun intended!) and rent a bike and figure out where to leave my stuff etc. This is where I want to go. Photos and stories TBD!
Your turn! To copy/paste, highlight the text below and click CTRL-C, then put the cursor in the comment box and click CTRL-V.
DECEMBER:
1. What is the name of your last month's chapter or the theme of your last month if you prefer that?
2. What did you learn last month?
3. What was the weather like where you are?
4. What event last month was your favorite?
5. What was the best thing you read, listened to or watched last month?
6. Tell us one funny recent story.
JANUARY:
7. What are you looking forward to this month?
Bonus question! Do you think crap is a bad word? Where do you draw the line for an 11 year old?
I did not know you were going to Taiwan next! That bike destination looks so cool!
ReplyDeleteDecember was kind of a hard month for me. I overbooked myself the first week and really paid for it. And then I had a bad PTSD day that kind of haunted me. But then I had 2 calm weeks and really enjoyed the Christmas holiday. And then I had a hard time with family dynamics that continues to weigh on me. But the final few days of the month were quiet. So it was a lot of valleys and peaks.
You're going to Taiwan?! That looks like a beautiful place to ride your bike! I had a lovely, calm Christmas, and our weather was unseasonably warm. It's amazing! I've never, ever seen a December this warm. January so far, too. Our ground isn't even frozen. I don't think crap is too bad of a word. Learning about sea turtles sounds like fun. I learned what a seiche is. I'd never heard of it before.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your time in Taiwan. I know you had a haul to get there.
ReplyDelete1. Home for the Holidays (and on the road the rest of the time)
2. I learned a ton on my trip to Richmond, VA: a lot of Civil War history that it was the national capital of the CSA, and present day history: the governor elect is the first female governor of Virginia and before that she had a career as a spy.
3. It was wicked cold at home except for the week of Christmas. It was in the low 40s in Virginia and mid 60s in FL.
4. My trips to VA and FL, plus hanging out with the fam for the holidays.
5. Best audio book: The Correspondent
6. I'm kind of stealing from a January incident, but on NYE we learned that our friends had gotten "Shaun the Sheep" TP holders. Hubs surprised me the next day by printing off a set on the 3D printer.
7. First big trip of the year! New Orleans, here I come!
Last month would be Nonstop.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned? That my sisters are troubled (worse than I’d realized) and I won’t likely speak to them again
Funny thing- several messed up gifts, no tags or wrong tags. On Christmas made for some laughs.
Weather- pretty mild most of the month.
Looking forward to? Mini is in an Irish dancing show at the end of the month. (Very chill and entertaining). One of her besties is performing too and her mom and grandma will be there from DC and we will all have dinner. So fun!