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Did a little reconnaisance of the blog for 2025, and some fun stats are:

I wrote 376 posts over all for the year.

I wrote a whopping 157.9 thousand words on the blog in 2025.

I had 2,800 plus unique visitors

I had 4,750 plus viewers of my content

Both my books combined had 146 downloads for the year as well.

Let us see what 2026 brings!

First and foremost is the van’s oil change across town. 8 had to bump my dog’s playdate by a day because of it. We need one as we’ve gone slightly over due to extended holiday traveling, and my not recalling the mileage correctly. Second thing is to take the tree down. I started on the ornaments. Will tackle the tinsel and lights next, then boxing up the tree and putting that away. Third will be to shovel all this new snow we are in the middle of accumulating as we speak. Then after that I can look at the laundry, floors, and kitchen. It’s a domestic duties Monday! First day back for everybody in our household anyway.

Sad to put the tree away, but it’s nice to have it packed away neatly, and at my own pace. I was going to listen to music, still might. But I have to get the car across town for an appointment shortly, so I didn’t want to get carried away, and forget about the oil change while working on the tree. Still have a way to go on this, so I’ll leave it be, for now. And will come back to it upon my return.

Filling my bins neatly!

The third bin is for ceramic ornaments, tree skirting, tinsel, and the light strands. Perhaps some stockings etc… to keep the ceramic stuff intact when moving them up & down stairs. Shame to lose them all in one ill timed drop. I say this from experience because I dropped a separate container that had the only remaining paw imprint ornament from our previous dog, and an infant hand print from our eldest daughter, and I could not save either one. The medium was too brittle and shattered into an untold number of pieces. Unlucky.

So the van is done, the snow has been shovelled at least once (still actively snowing though) and I have eaten breakfast, and I am set to take the rest of the tree apart. I even brought our tree bag inside to warm up a little before it goes back out to the shed for another ten or so months! How thoughtful. I will set the dishwasher to run first, get some kitchen issues settled before I dig back into the tree. Wandering minds make for chaotic housekeepers. I eventually get to what I wanted to do, I just find other tasks along the way!

Enjoy the remainder of your Monday January 5th, 2026.

Savouring the last hours of the warm colourful glow of my tree, tinsel, and various coloured lights in my living room. The four foot diameter, seven foot tall tree is going away later on today, and I’m going to miss it. Usually I would have it down and stored away by lunch on January first, but I feel a little sentimental about it this year for some reason. Could be the possibility of all out war coming to our southern neighbours the US for striking Venezuela, or having their eyes on Mexico, Panama, and Greenland, and potentially us in Canada too. So I’ve kept the tree because who knows just how bad the next few months, or years are going to get. That’s a real downer, I get it, but… Shits fucked yo!

So while I’d like to have the front window unblocked to allow in as much sunlight as possible now that we are into January, the calm normalness of the tree, with the associated excitement of the build up to the Christmas holidays is a pleasant warmth that I don’t really feel in the pit of my stomach right now. It’s at times like this where I envy people who don’t have children. It’s one extra layer of existential dread that I hold about what future my children have on the horizon that eats at me when things go sideways from circumstances outside of my control. Love my children, hate worrying about how fucked their potential future is. Not cool.

It’s going to take me some time to pack it all away later today, but it’s likely for the best. Eyes forward to see the new year with clear sight, and a level headed gaze.

I need to go shovel the new snow we got last night. School begins on the morrow! Back to seven am wake ups, drop offs, pick ups, and extracurriculars! Onwards and upwards.

Oh it feels good to know that our regular schedule is returning soon. I have emptied all the garbage bins in the house, and cut down the cardboard, and placed all the recycling in the new giant bin out front. I have piles of waste wood to go to the farm for burning, and new logs piled up for bucking into splitting rounds. I might take a moment one morning to sharpen my old axe. The original, very first one that I bought back in 2006 for my landscaping side hustle. That would give me three options for wood splitting should I desire to chop, rather than spend some time sawing rounds.

I know I have potentially three reports for the winter season to contend with. Two long ones that take a while to complete due to their complexity, and the shear volume of data involved. One new report for a place, or event that I have not done before. That’s always exciting! Building resources for a new client from the ground up. Could be a good time ahead!

I am contracted for a number of hours for the new year, so that’s good to know too. Slightly less uncertainty is a good thing. I do need to put in some leg work to try and add one more mid sized client, or two small ones to even out those whom shut down due to the pandemic, or were bought up by competitors and the work went in-house instead of to me. Knocking on doors, or advertising, or networking sessions are in my not so distant future. I primarily work off of word of mouth from former colleagues, and the ever changing roster of marketers I interact with, but things have slowed considerably since the last US election. May not be a way around that while uncertainty is so high. Best to budget well, and focus on what I do have, instead of what I “want“.

I was going to take the kids climbing this morning, but I slept until ten, and now it’s snowing rather heavily. Not ideal for highway travel, and being gone for several hours. A recipe for unintended consequences I’d rather not face with my kids in tow. Different if I get stuck in heavy snow on a major highway. Bit different of a  scenario if both my children have to suffer through it with me too.

The tree is coming down tomorrow, and I will try to take down some of the smaller, and more easily accessed exterior lights too, if I can. Namely the two light up wreaths on the garage facia that are on pegs and nothing more, so I can take those down with no ladder needed. Get them stowed away inside the garage. Maybe try to take up the extension cords from off the ground too? I don’t know, the previous ice Storm might have welded them to the ground for the foreseeable future! Ha. I think we will leave the tree wrap lights on for another few days or weeks. It can get so bleak around here, a little light can go a long way.

It will be late March or early April before I get the lights off the house, or out of the trees, so we might as well enjoy them. I think that next year I might start even higher up in the trees, and get a couple more lights into them too. They do make a statement when done properly I think. Not too showy, but also a really exquisite feature to have tightly wrapped trees full of lights. I aspire that such a high level of illumination showmanship! Not quite Griswold level, but I near third place. Ha!

I took some time this morning to cut down all of the cardboard boxes we’ve gathered since before Christmas. We missed garbage day because… Well let’s just say those left in charge got their timing muddled up, and it affected just us. So now we have additional two weeks worth of garbage to be rid of, plus all the Christmas waste too. Going to be a tight fit when garbage week rolls around again in ten days time. Oof! Nobody buy, or open nothing! We can’t spare the room in our bins!!!!

By God it was a cold evening at Canada’s Wonderland Wonderfest yesterday. I think we all left with ice cold toes, fingers and raw wind blown cheeks. Hard to enjoy the splendor of the lights & rides with family when all you keep thinking about is how fucking cold it is. Loads of hot chocolates, fries and warming station visits kept us out of the ER, but holy moly it was bitterly cold and ever so windy! I wished I had battery heated boots and gloves! I opted for long johns, when I should have used snow pants as well. Silly mistake on my part. I’m my own worst enemy when I convince myself the outside elements won’t be so bad after all. Wrong. Go with your gut and over prepare!

It’s now Friday January 2nd, so the kids have three full days left before school, and afterschool programming all start up again for the new year. So they should try to squeeze every ounce of fun out of these last few days because the rest of winter will be a real slog. I will take them climbing at some point, either later today or early tomorrow. Depends on a few factors out of my control at the moment. But the kids seem content to build new Lego sets, or take turns playing on the VR headset. Gorilla tag has pulled ahead by a fairly wide margin. I am pretty partial to fruit ninja and beat sabre, but I have only had one brief go at fruit ninja while I was setting up the headset, and calibrating the wifi, and accessibility options. The children have monopolized the VR experience thus far. I can change that when they go back to school! Ha.

My only consolation is that in four months time the weather will break, and we will start to see life return to the neighbourhood! I really do hate being out in the cold. School drop offs, pick ups, getting gas, grocery shopping, dog walks, shoveling, cleaning off the cars. It’s all terrible in bitterly cold blowing snow. I look forward to being back out in my garage shop building furniture come spring time. I could technically cut joinery now and wait for the glue up, but I’d rather not leave the wood to buckle and twist by cutting it now, and then leaving it for months before I can assemble it, and do all the finishing tasks. All my joinery will be off by then. I learned that from doing our screen door, and again when I made a children’s bed. Best to work it all together and leave it to settle all together in situ.

I imagine if you were dressed warmly enough in really good cold weather gear that you would likely have had a great time outside at Wonderfest yesterday. I think it ends this weekend, or next week so it’s now or never. I went to Wonderland fourteen times this year so I feel as though I got my money’s worth out of not only my pass, but the perks, and add-ons too. I ate every time I went, and I had multiple beverages too. Parking was paid for by the third time you go, so I’m golden baby yeah!

Not only that but we rode the new Alpen Fury at least three times this year. Once it opened in mid July or early August that is. Waited an awfully long time for it each time. Three hours, two hours, and one hour plus each time. It was kind of insane. The first three hour plus wait time was in 43°C heat, and other folks were passing out as we waited in line. We should have had 2 to 3 drinks each in that line, but made do with one each. It was very dangerous. We both felt woozy in the extreme heat. I no longer wish to wait more than 1 hour for any ride, like ever. Not sure if that makes me a snob or what, but if I can’t fast pass an individual ride, I don’t want to ride it.

Not much. But we are glad to be home even if that means shoveling snow, scraping ice, and salting first thing in the morning. We had a small puddle in the basement while we were away, and I can not track from whence it came. Windows are dry. Floors up under the ground level windows and drywall are dry. The hot water tank, and water softener are both dry. The drain pipe in the laundry room is dry. I wonder if it just took a couple of days for the excess water from the tank swap out job to finally coalesce into one spot. Would help identify why the water mark was dark. I have triple checked the fittings, and the floors around our water supply and they are all good, at least visually. Bone dry too. The water spouts are all tucked into the drain, though one or two not as deep as I like. But the wall where the water would seep from if that was the case was dry, with no new staining or patching or discolorations. Who knows at this point.

We’ve had a winter’s worth of snow and we aren’t even into January yet. Hardly ten days into actual winter with almost two feet of accumulated snow from all of December, and part of November. If this keeps up I do not know what I am going to do with all this snow. I’ll have to wheel barrow it out of the back yard and onto the front lawn to keep it from getting into the basement. Hell I might have to attempt to pull snow off the roof lest our bungalow cave in under all the additional weight. I know they make tools for that sort of thing, I just don’t know where I’d find one locally. Something to consider, along with a snow blower.

It is likely that we take the tree down tomorrow. But given how cold it is the exterior lights will stay up for quite some time. Not to mention I need the ladder to unwind the trees, and I won’t be doing that until it’s nearly spring, and not minus twenty or below. I am willing to do lots of things, but freeze up in a tree for the sake of a few lights isn’t one of them.

The list of books I read this year goes as follows

1.) Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen which was terrifying yet informative, a quick read if you don’t want to be able to sleep.

2.) Mercy of God’s by James S A Corey a very strong first book for a new intergalactic series which I am excited to grab the second book in April of 2026. Hard cover bay-bee!

3.) Steel Egg (Aliens) by John Shirley. A perfectly reasonable entry into the Aliens novel franchise. Short and Sweet. Adds new extraterrestrial species to the canon. Not bad.

4.) Rogue (Aliens) by Sandy Schofield which was an older book I picked up used, but was a rip roaring tale of space marines, and scientific devilry combined into an action thriller.

5.) Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, which I only got a hundred or so pages into before I got bored and put it down. I may yet come back to it, but I did get over 100 pages into it, so it counts as a “tried to read”. Oddly enough not the first time I’ve tried to read it and given up to read something more up my alley, but I digress. Not bad per se, just not what I was hankering for.

6.) Martian Contingency by Marie Robinette Kowal which was a new entry in the lady astronaut series. It was ok, felt like a link with exposition to a larger or more compelling story. Not as good as the first two or three books that for certain. Alternate history be damned, this meandered and didn’t go anywhere vital. Could have been a perfectly useful short story on her website.

7.) The black box of doom by Jason Pargin. Here’s a good example of a book I wish I had found ten fifteen years ago, as it reads very of the times, and I’m not an anxiety ridden teen, so much of this feels performative to me. Very meme, and Reddit aged bias here. Not my jam, but not bad by any means. I have been moving slowly with this. In fact I put it down in order to read number eight cover to cover over a two day period. So not finished yet, but I haven’t totally given up on it either.

8.) The shattering peace by John Scalzi, which was a very entertaining entry in a series about humanity and aliens out and about in the universe. Fun and snarky. A quick read. Fun times.

Whilst I am disappointed I didn’t get around to the last two Dune books on my shelf, nor the volume seven omnibus for Aliens, or my Gaunts Ghosts omnibus by Dan Abnett, I have those ready and waiting should I feel the urge to go headfirst into some longer reads.

This year end in review post might wind up fairly long. Though I do not intend to show images of all of my projects I will mention I started two sculpts and have not finished either of them. Pictured here.

The Hellboy might even be older than a year, I do not recall. But the fat wasting goblin King is from this year (started anyway). I have an armature waiting for me to process some super sculpey so I can get that going for next year’s fair entry. It will be a permanent version of the wasting goblin King whom is far from complete at this point. Needs his head, arms, clothes, armor, and textures put in place. Need him done so that I can recreate it for my fair entry in ceramics. I’ll have to paint him too.

Speaking of which I painted the Ninja Turtle this year and he went to the fair in place of anything new. I ran out of time, and didn’t have the will to start from scratch on anything else. A big theme this year. Probably why I only made a couple of items in the wood shop in 2025, however I cleaned and organized the hell out of my shop this year. So clean! New racks, new two tier rolling tool chest, new sliding double compound mitre saw, and an upgraded air compressor. While I may not have worked on any specific jobs as much as I would like, I cleaned out the shop, and tossed so much junk it’s not even funny. Now it’s set to press play on my next furniture build. Which might be the end table dog storage for the family room / front door area. Or a desk, or a cubby for Nick knacks for my youngest daughter. Hard to say. I’d like to remove the dog cage as the front door space is tight without that massive wire block taking up all the floor space.

I recently had to pull our garbage box apart on the front porch because the new provincial blue bin program uses a 360L wheelie bin that doesn’t fit the current box. I think it’ll end up in the garage much to my chagrin. It’s huge! Plus I need to buy a new garbage bin, and a new green bin that locks. The whole reason for the bin box was to stop pests from getting into it all. Now they changed what we put to the curb I need to adjust accordingly. Fine.

Cleaning the garage out meant taking a whole lot of wood to the farm for the burn barrel. I once again have a whole lot to take down there once again. It can wait for spring, or a milder day or two in the winter. Think like a zero degree day with blue skies and sunshine. That’s the ticket.

My wife and I went out to see several comedy shows this year. Now that the girls are growing up a bit we can venture out a few times a year just the two of us. It’s bliss. A quiet dinner out by ourselves. A show or two here and there. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m excited to keep it going.

Loads more happened this year what with uncle Fred passing in February, and Great Grandma going in the spring, and any number of new updates with the farm, family, school, work and the like. Too numerous to mention. I hope you all have a great New Years Eve, and a better 2026! Ciao Bella.

Luckily the worst of the ice Storm, and the snow has blown itself out (at least as far as we have driven) making the drive home somewhat pleasant. Traffic isn’t too terrible either. We are moving steadily at a good pace. The trek will still take us close to five hours with multiple bathroom breaks for us, and the kids. Not much else we can do besides drive safely, and eat regularly. The temperature sure has dropped by double digits since yesterday that’s for sure.

Only a few days left for me to top 4,700 views, and 2,800 visitors! Can you make that happen!?! I’d be interested to see if we can. I’ll see check in to see my final word count tally too. Did I break 100,000 words or more again this year? We will have to wait and see.

If I remember I’ll write about the books 8 read this year, which was only a half dozen. I got into two others, but I only finished six cover to cover. I did split a shit tonne of wood though down at the farm, and spend several hours with my chainsaw stacking rounds. So I just aimed myself at different targets this year besides reading, and writing this blog. Variety is the spice of life.

Had a great time visiting family in Ottawa. Shame the bad weather followed us there – again! My eldest daughter randomly throwing up one afternoon put a slight damper on things, but so did the ice Storm slash freezing rain that swept through the province. Can’t have everything!

I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed with my pillows, and sheets. Using my own shower, and not having the whole family in bed around me tossing, turning, talking, And kicking me. Will be nice to see the dog and have a puppy cuddle while I watch rotk.

First it was freezing rain, and it will soon be followed by a snow storm, so we are hunkered down trying to wait out the worst of it before we venture out back into the main roads and highways. Our second destination looks to be cancelled and we will head home instead. No working out way back leisurely with additional stops to soften the blow. Given the weather our drive will likely extend from five hours to seven plus. Which will require additional fuel stops, bathroom breaks, and chances to move around so that my hip, and leg don’t cramp up something awful.

Luckily our eldest has only thrown up once (so far), and looks to be a better colour than she was yesterday afternoon. She has since slept off and on for double digit hours, so she must be feeling rather run down, and not quite herself. We will see how things progress.

Ottawa – where terrible weather comes to greet us! Ha.

Deep pockets of freezing rain across the province are plaguing us as we move about. If we didn’t go the weather would have been calm and innocuous, but because we ventured out the weather has conspired against us! Such is life. Happy Sunday.

Adding to this unpredictable theme, my eldest randomly threw up on her way into the community centre to go for a family swim. That out the kybosh on our evening plans. Well, no, not exactly. The impending freezing rain slash snow storm out a stopper on our night out to see a concert, but the puking child made us cut our afternoon plans short, and hole up in our hotel room to regroup and assess the situation.

She has more colour & sass now, but is still under the weather and not quite right. Now we wait to see what exactly the weather brings, and we plan accordingly based on the outcome we meet in the morning. Can’t control the weather, so no point fretting about it. We will sort ourselves out once we know more. But it adds yet another weather notch to our long list of weather related travel events that we laugh about years later. Emphasis on the years later.

We are as prepped as we can be. Vehicle filled with fuel. Snacks and drinks in the room. Clothes, medication and charged electronics. It’s as good as it’s going to get for us until we get where we need to go. I pray for a nice drive, and not a white knuckle hellscape up in the north country. We’ll see. Ha!