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Update - New year

Another year gone by. I had a great moment where I was talking about this years card (these get sent in the mail). They said they wanted to compare this year's to others, and happily, I was able to point them to the New Years Page.

happy 2026

2025 Big Goal's achieved!

I've never been a good swimmer. But at the start of last year, my foot was injured and I couldn't really play soccer, and when I realized there was a pool right next to where I drop my daughter off for pre-school, I decided to give it a go.

It proved a big success -- and over the course of the year, I swam 53 times - averaging over 1 a week. With two children, I consider this a big success!

With this update - I've added a page about my swimming journey.

When I hit 52, I came home to this lovely certificate.

52 swims

My new son is chillest in the early hours of the morning. In the beginning part of the year, we got into a rhythm of waking up very early, and then while he chilled out, I'd be able to get some reading in. I got hooked! I've maintained a steady "couple-books-a-year" pace for the last decade or so, but this past year, I was able to average over 1 a month!

I love Tom Macwright's reading tracking. I have something like it on my machine -- and maybe this year will get around to it. But here's a quick list of the 2025:

| Title                       | Rating | Format   |
|-----------------------------+--------+----------|
| An Immense World            |      5 | Listened |
| Rejection                   |      5 | Listened |
| Tortilla Flat               |      5 | Read     |
| Our Band Could Be Your Life |      5 | Listened |
| Mysteries of Pittsburg      |      4 | Read     |
| A Separate Piece            |      4 | Read     |
| The Lost City of Z          |      4 | Read     |
| Other Minds (Octopus book)  |      3 | Listened |
| The Foghorn's Lament        |      3 | Read     |
| Why We Swim                 |      3 | Read     |
| I Contain Multitudes        |      3 | Listened |
| Influx                      |      3 | Read     |
| Fourth Wing                 |      3 | Listened |
|-----------------------------+--------+----------|
| TOTAL                       |     13 |          |

And a placeholder page reading