It's New Year's Eve day today. 2025 has been a year, that's for sure.

We're still retired, which is starting to seem like more of a feat than it should. There isn't anything threatening our ability to remain retired, like running out of things to do or not having enough money, but so many people are not retired that every time we gather they try to pitch jobs or opportunities to make money.

We're still living in the tundra, which is starting to seem more permanent than I hoped. I thought the whole time we've been together that the missus was on board with the "retire in Hawaii" plan, and she isn't entirely opposed. She just has a different timeline in mind, and I'm pretty sure we'll be done being at all adventurous when she's ready.

We're still pretty healthy and try to do things to at least appear active. I'm almost two years into retirement and have the simple plan of wandering the neighborhood walking the dogs occasionally. I've done that a handful of times, but not enough to be exercise, nor to satisfy the dogs.

We're still not in trouble with the government. I don't ever expect to be, but I also didn't expect the politics and general vibe to make the turns it has.

We're looking forward to more of the same for a while, I guess. Not thinking of the politics, but the rest of it. It's winter and will be for a while. The kids are home this week, but return to school next week, and will be there until June. Snow will be here not quite that long, but always feels like it's here too long. 

We do have some changes coming.

We're helping with the newest grandkid a bit, filling in some day care until he's old enough to go to day care. Split with other grandparents, we'll have an infant in the house again a few days a week for a few months. That'll spice things up a bit.

We're trying to talk each other into knuckling down on preparing and selling the Wisconsin property. I've made regular visits a thing that fits in our schedule, and we've worked around any schedule impact that overnight and multiple day stays have. There's still a lot of stuff to move around inside and to remove from the house, but the minor repairs are approaching completed, and so much of the bigger spot cleaning is done.

I'm still searching for property in Hawaii, but need to be careful that we don't end up with three properties, especially if one is so far away that visiting it is inconceivably expensive. So many of the properties I'm interested in are off the market or sold, and the few that remain have substantial improvements that need to be made. I'm willing to take the time and spend the money to make it happen, but need to do it while I still have the energy and mobility to get things done. The dwindling energy, but still move to the tropics, compromise is to find a house instead of a property.

There aren't any bigger plans than those for the next year. We've got a couple trips or vacations planned, other than spending time in Wisconsin or visiting family. Nothing outrageous.

We're hoping that politics calm down. We're hoping to step up the activity, kicking our yard garden into full gear this summer. We're hoping to get the other house fixed, cleaned, and sold. After the intern leaves, I'm hoping to move back into my office in the house, if we're staying, or maybe make a little "he shed" in the garage with space to work on things. I'd like to dig into the messy, messy basement. I've got some software hobbies to finish. I want to make a little interactive robot that hooks into the AI things I've tinkered with. I need to fix my motorcycle after it tipped over and broke a mirror, and I want to replace the pegs with platforms, and maybe have a heel-toe shifter added, too. Or maybe upgrade to something a little newer, and maybe with three wheels or an electric motor, or both.

I'm looking forward to the new year, just to put this one away, mostly because of politics, and because it makes spring that much closer.