Final Post of This Blog

I've decided to move on to yet another new blog, as I've grown tired of this chapter of my life. Find me over at Kenozoic Kingdoms for 2026 and beyond.

To end this blog and this year, here is a photo of every bottle cap and topper I used in 2025. I buy milk in half gallons because I don't use it fast enough for gallons. I rarely buy soda. Bottled water only finds its way into my home when I choose it at the drive-thru over a 32 ounce sugar bomb (soda). And the Dawn soap I use to wash dishes in the sink lasts forever. The biggest pile (the small white caps) are from half & half cartons. For some reason, American milk producers decided that its customers were too stupid to open cartons from the gable (like I did my entire childhood and early adult life), and added unnecessary plastic to the paper cartons. There are still a few places that make them without plastic caps, but the gas usage and time expenditure balance out the issue. It's one of my biggest pet peeves about consumption and recycling in America. And if I use this many caps while living alone, think about how many an average family goes through (larger containers notwithstanding). And these are just the caps, not the plastic jugs... Food for thought.

Christmas Eve

I couldn't sleep last night and I didn't fall asleep until after 4:00 am. So I got out of bed at 11:55 am (haha). I spent the early afternoon watching "Culinary Class Wars 2" on Netflix, and then I got ready for the family Christmas party at my parents' house.

Judy and Rich were there, but because of various illnesses running rampant, only Jared & Sam and Drew came from Kevin's family (Jackie has COVID, and Holly's been exposed to it), and Sarah, Hayden & Audrey, Celia & her bf, and Helena came from the Shampine clan (Jon is sick and Georgia is in Florida w/her bf's family). Plus Dad and Ma (of course). Dinner was a ham, very good soft Italian bread, and various cheeses & meat & crackers. The whole thing ran from 5:00 pm or so ( I was last to arrive at 5:30), and by 7:00 pm people were trickling out. I left last, a little after 8:00.

My lack of funds saw the kids all scratching $2 tickets (no winners, what?). Kevin's family gave me a Starbucks gift card and a funny painting of a black cat (Chumble ♥) winning in a sea battle vs a shark. Sarah's family gave me various pastries and $40. And Dad & Ma gave me $150, 3 bars of my favorite soap (green tea), a jar candle from Candle Scents that smells like a Christmas tree, Patrick Stewart's autobiography, and some Lindor chocolates.

Jason's family face-timed from California (Stacie & Ryan are also sick!) just before I left. Ma sent me home with some of the ham, and the rest of the cheese/meat/crackers, plus a whole chocolate cream pie and a can of whipped cream.

It was a fun time, but it felt rushed, and I didn't like the fact that I couldn't "wow" the kids this year. Oh well, any family time is good time...

Lingo Deer

I read in a few places that Lingo Deer was a more effective language learning app than Duo Lingo. I downloaded it and found that it was indeed a bit more effective out of the gate, especially with learning the Korean alphabet. I've only used the free version for the last eight days, but I definitely want to buy the whole year. So every night I do lessons on both apps. It can't hurt, right?

A Whole Lot of Lingo

 Another milestone reached, with no end in sight...

Sleepwalker

I do the vast bulk of my Korean language learning on Duo Lingo just after midnight. 

Here is the proof (haha):

First Real Snow Storm - WS Chan

Winter Storm Chan was supposed to drop anywhere from 3" - 12" of snow all day yesterday and overnight. I wound up getting 6" here in North Central Massachusetts. My big meal of the day was Ragu sauce over angel hair pasta, ground beef, and quartered button mushrooms. It was ridiculously good, and well suited to the weather. Also, as you can see in the first photo I had my Yankee Candle burning all day, to make the house smell foresty (haha). Add in the first half of "Thor: Ragnarok" and a few episodes of "Three Meals a Day: Doctors" (a fantastic South Korean show featuring the cast of "Hospital Playlist" camping, which is both interesting and soothing, and makes me want to watch the original 24-episode series), and today was well-spent.

Duolingo Yearly Statistics

This has felt a lot like my school days, both elementary and junior/senior high school, with the high scores and percentiles. I am so happy to have a worthy project for my brain! 

Here are the official 2025 numbers for my progress in learning the Korean language: