Looking Back on 2025

Before we hit 2026, it seemed fitting to take a little look back at 2025, good and not so good.

We started our year at the beginning of January with a lovely holiday in Tenerife, with two of OH's siblings and his mum. OH's mum hadn't been on a proper holiday for years, having nursed her husband until he died in October 2024. We never usually go away at this time of year, save to visit family, so it made a nice change to be somewhere warm in the depth of winter and spend time with OH's family to boot.

There was some bad news in late February, when OH's brother suffered a severe stroke and was hospitalised for months. Thankfully, he pulled through, but is still suffering from the debilitating effects of the stroke, although he is now being cared for at home. We're all hoping he makes progress in the coming year.

I got some good news in April, that a course I'd been wanting to do for over a year was finally being run. It was a YMCA Certificate in Gym Instruction. I was the oldest student on the course, but it didn't stop me. I attended college one day per week for a few months and although it got challenging, because part way through I was given lots more hours at work and struggled to find the time to keep on top of the college work, I did pass, which I was really pleased about. I didn't study to work in the field, it was mainly for my own personal knowledge base and the information I gleaned has been useful.

Talking of studying, LB successfully completed her degree studies this year and we enjoyed visiting her final show and graduation ceremony. She worked hard and did well. She returned to live at home with us in July and it's been lovely having her around and we've had a few day trips out together, which has been lovely.

We had a great family holiday in Portugal in July, but almost as soon as I got home, things suddenly changed at work. I had a bit of a run in with a particular member of staff and it shifted my whole perspective of the workplace. There had also been a lot of management changes and I'd been working way more hours than I wanted to for the previous three months. It was feeling way too overwhelming and the working environment was getting a little too toxic for me, so I just felt like it was the right time to make a change and resigned. I was a little sad to leave, but I know I did the right thing. Sometimes, it's easy to stay in a situation that you are no longer enjoying and I really didn't want to do this, as in my experience, once a situation starts to feel off, it often gets worse very quickly. Life is way too short for this.

I haven't found another job since, and I haven't really been looking seriously, as I wanted to enjoy Christmas this year, but I may start looking in the New Year. Ideally, I just want to work a couple of shifts/days a week and be able to develop a reasonable weekly routine, not be all over the shop and having no work/life balance.

As a consequence of my work situation, I've had to be very careful with money for the last few months. Luckily, I'd put aside money for Xmas and it didn't affect our celebrations and gift giving too much. I've gradually got used to having less money to spend and I actually find that I'm at my most resourceful in this situation. As funds gradually run out in this coming year, I will probably need to start earning again, otherwise I will be living off my long term savings, which I prefer not to do. But if I have to, I will.

I've enjoyed the final few months of the year, having the freedom to do more sewing and other craft projects and not being answerable to anyone but myself. I don't feel particularly panicked about not having a job this time around, as I'm nearly 60 now and I am due to start receiving a couple of small work pensions in the latter part of 2026, so we'll see what happens. I think my retail era might be over though, corporate retail at least.

In retrospect, it's not been an awful year, but it has had it's challenges and it has been a horrible year for some family members. We've tried to support them where we can and just hope things get better going forward. At the end of the day, family matters most and it's good to be free to travel and spend time with them, not working all the time and unable to get away to visit.

I don't know what 2026 will bring, but I will keep persevering to get the right balance for myself and my family.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2026.