Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

And just like that, here we are smack in the middle of 2025. A good time to review how the year is going—if you have any special goals or plans, how are you progressing? Has this year held any surprises?

I feel a little weird doing a mid-year review because I didn’t set any big personal goals in January that need to be checked on. (Did I? *Checks notes* No, I did not. And that “setting goals by quarter idea? Nope, didn’t do that, either.) Still, I think it will be helpful to review what I have done, and think about what I might like to do during the remainder of the year.

Here’s what I did: Other than the normal tasks of life and a bare minimum of writing, the first six months of 2025 have been devoted to preparing and selling our family home of 28 years, and getting settled in our new home.

That’s it, and that’s OK. Most of my time has gone to coordinating (and helping with) home repairs and remodeling, unpacking, organizing, and simply figuring things out. Even though I love my new home, moving is stressful. It takes an emotional and physical toll. I love to check off goals, but some seasons it’s not possible. My personal projects and goals had to step back while I dealt with the admittedly major projects of selling a house and moving.

Looking back over my calendar I also see plenty of meet-ups with friends, a couple of movies with my husband, regular walks and yoga sessions. I’ve read a lot of good books and seen a favorite author in person. And—control your excitement—I renewed my driver’s license. This has been hanging over my head because I had to appear in person with multiple proofs of my existence so I could become Real I.D. compliant. It was a hassle, but it’s done.

All of this is the stuff of a busy season of normal life. Being able to find satisfaction in it is a wonderful thing. I’m learning that I don’t have to check a flurry of personal projects off a list to feel contentment.

25 in 25

That said, I do enjoy setting goals and accomplishing projects. I’d like to be able to have more to show for 2025 than just getting settled after the move.

While I didn’t lay out a bunch of goals to work towards at the beginning of the year, I did fill out Gretchen Rubin’s “25 in 25” list with a combination of things big and small, fun and tedious, that I’d like to have done by the end of the year. I’ve completed 10 out of my 25, including “Finish Agatha in Order project” and “Design and install a closet system for our bedroom closet.”  I’m 90+ percent done with two more. Not bad, about halfway done at the mid-year mark. 

Word of the year

Ease was and is a great choice to guide me in 2025. It reminds me not to pack too much into my days, weeks, and months. It also encourages me to look for the ease-ful way to approach various challenges. Instead of rushing headlong into whatever-it-is, take a beat to consider what might be the most mental- and physical-energy saving way to proceed. Also consider whether that whatever-it-is is necessary at all. Especially during summer, I’m better off conserving my energy for what is truly important. When I have a choice of activities, I consider which one feels more aligned with ease.

Now what?

Which brings me to what’s next. We’re not done with house stuff (will we ever be?!). There’s a leak in a wall which pushed our prospective bathroom reno higher on the schedule. We need cabinetry installed in our laundry room. My office is still a work in progress, and I still have some sorting and storing to do. My husband and I need to take at least a weekend getaway to completely disconnect from all of the above. I still want to go to California to visit family, but that has been pushed into the fall because of a family member’s surgery.

After so much turmoil over the past couple of years, I want to feel calm, joyful, and at least a little bit in control of my days. I want to be relaxed, but also productive. Maybe that means choosing just one or two goals or projects, rather than 12 which is my usual tendency. Concentrate on the house and on scheduling that weekend getaway.  Fight the urge to commit to more. For July, August, and September, keeping it simple and low-key feels right. October, November, and December will have a different vibe, usually a more energetic one, and I hope and plan to capture that energy.

I share my goals and mid-year reviews here because I think part of a happy life includes, as Gretchen Rubin puts it, an atmosphere of growth. I like sharing progress with you, my online friends, because I hope it sparks ideas for what could add happiness to your life. I share missteps because that’s real life, no matter what social media tells you. Mistakes Will Be Made. We all fall short from time to time, we all sometimes take a different path from the one we thought we’d be on, sometimes on purpose and sometimes because of life being life-y.

If you’d like to share what you’ve been up to so far in 2025, please do so in the comments below. I’d love to hear how it’s going, and what plans you have for the remainder of the year!

Photo by Todd Trapani on Unsplash

“A Night can NEVER defeat the Sunrise.”

—Sumit Sharma

This past week has been the first in months that didn’t contain a huge number of extra “have-tos” on top of my normal activities that keep our lives functioning. I’ve allowed myself to slow down a little…but just a little, because there are sooo many things in progress that need to be moved along now that I only have one house to manage. We’ve lived here six months today (!), and 99 percent of the boxes are unpacked. Some of the remaining boxes are waiting on additional storage we need to add to the house (laundry room cabinets, for example). Not bad, but not finished, either.

Finishing can be hard

I’ve noticed that I have a hard time finishing larger or more complex projects, and unpacking is no different. Sometimes one small hurdle will derail me—it doesn’t have to be a major obstacle or unexpected event, just something that requires extra time or thought. Sometimes it’s decision fatigue. Where should the photo albums go? How about these puzzles? Where will I keep the extra pet food and toys? I’ll get one area of the house unpacked and organized, only to find piles from another part of the house stacking up there while I work on that other area!

So this week I devoted my spare time to finishing as much unpacking as I can. And I’ve discovered that there is definite joy in finishing. It feels so good to walk into my bedroom and no longer have any boxes stacked on the floor, and to be able to actually close the closet door in my office!

A work in progress

This week, not only have I (re)learned how good it feels to finish, I also (re)discovered that finishing often takes a lot less time than I think. Sorting the box of art supplies and putting them into the new storage containers I’d bought probably took less than an hour, for example.

It helped to break things down into small tasks, use a timer, and give myself permission to change activities when decision fatigue began to kick in. I also kept at it all week even when new and necessary projects appeared. I’ve rewarded myself with cold drinks and reading a book, but also with the vision of what it will feel like to be done. Completely unpacked and settled.  I’m not quite there, but getting close.

Closing the tabs in my brain

When too many things are in progress, I joke about having too many tabs open in my brain. I don’t feel internally peaceful when multiple things are undone or in progress. Eventually it’s more uncomfortable to leave things as they are than to actually finish. That’s what this week has been all about: finishing what can be finished.

If you’re not unpacking (lucky you), what projects do you have in the works? Are you making progress or are you stalled? Are you good at starting but not so good at finishing (raises hand)? What step could you take right now to move forward? 

Photo by Anna Demianenko on Unsplash

I know it’s not technically summer yet (it officially begins June 20), but it’s summer in Florida. (It’s almost always summer in Florida, but that’s another story.) I’m bracing myself for getting ready for summer by planning things to look forward to, simple pleasures and everyday adventures to make this season bearable, if not actually happy.

We do summer in Florida the way those who live in cold climates do winter: we spend a lot of time escaping and working around the weather.

We’re not here yet, but it’s only a matter of time:

CleanMemes.com

Summer fun for the weather-impaired

First on my list is: coordinate a California visit to see my aunt, my stepmom…and my mom’s grave.

Watch Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning in the theater with my husband. Looking for other movies to see in the theater as well. 

Take an in-person yoga class.

Stay at the beach for the weekend with my husband—we’ve been trying to do this for a couple of years, but I’m confident we’ll actually get there this summer. When you actually stay at the beach, you can get out early before it’s as hot as the surface of the sun, or watch the sunset at night, then go back into air-conditioned comfort.

Make key lime pie ice cream.

Do at least one jigsaw puzzle.

Try some new recipes because I’m sick of what I make for dinner. Though I wouldn’t normally class this as “fun,” I’m trying to find ways to make feeding ourselves more enjoyable.

Rewatch some of our favorite movies on the new TV we bought when we moved.

Celebrate my father-in-law’s 90^th birthday!

Check out our new neighborhood pool. Maybe with a cold drink and a book if they have umbrellas (I can’t remember if they do).

As always, I’ll be getting together with friends, eating summer fruit like crazy, and, of course, reading. Which brings me to…

What I’ll be reading

I finally finished the Agatha in Order project that I started back in August of 2023. I thoroughly enjoyed my leisurely trip through her work, rediscovering favorites, and acknowledging that a few simply didn’t appeal. Now that I’m done with that, I’ve decided it’s time to get a handle on my TBR shelf again. When we moved, I lost the space I used to store my bought-but-as-yet-unread books and let’s just say, my new TBR shelf location is overflowing. Despite the fact that I’ve slowed down new purchases considerably since this post, one of my 25 in 25 goals was to read or otherwise dispose of half of my TBR shelf. I bought these books because I wanted to read them; maybe it’s time to, you know, read them? 

But.                                                                                        

(There’s always a “but.”)

When I looked through my TBR books, I realized many of them are non-fiction, very long, or one of a series that I’m not ready to read yet. I still hope to make some progress.  

Here’s a tentative list of what I want to read this summer in no particular order (TBR shelf selections marked with *):

*Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Unset. This is a chunky book I’ve wanted to read for a while, and I bought a copy so I wouldn’t have to worry about library due dates. I’m going to start it soon, and if I don’t like it, I’ll put it aside. If I do like it, it might take me all summer to read!

*Death and the Dutch Uncle, Patricia Moyes. A book series I enjoy that the library doesn’t have. I’ve collected most of my copies from Paperback Swap. 

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, Kathleen DuVal. I have a growing interest in learning about the United States’ indigenous people, and this book won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for history (tied with Edda L. Fields-Black’s COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War). 

Run for the Hills, Kevin Wilson. It’s described as “a touching and generous romp of a novel,” which sounds perfect for summer reading. 

Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put, Annie B. Jones. I’m all for honoring the ordinary. 

Heartwood, Amity Gage. Suspense on the Appalachian Trail. This sounds so good! I’m number 69 on the hold list at the library, but hopefully it will come in before the summer ends.

*Daisy Miller and/or Washington Square, Henry James (both books are in the edition I have). According to Goodreads, “Each work weaves an intricate tale of marriage, money, and manners.” 

*Travels with My Aunt, Graham Greene. I’ve not read anything by Graham Greene, and this sounded interesting. 

*Small Victories, Anne Lamott. Lamott’s essays are always thought-provoking and often hilarious. I haven’t read this collection, and I found it in my library’s book store for $2. 

*Bruno, Chief of Police, Martin Walker. Because WHY NOT start a new mystery series?? This one is set in France, so oui, s’il vous plait.

I’m a fairly fast reader, but we’ll see how this goes.

And that’s it so far. I’m not feeling all that ambitious after moving and unpacking. I’d rather relax with a cold drink and a book than do anything. Maybe I need another Summer of Kathy?

What summer fun are you planning this year?