So here we are again :). You, my (mostly) imaginary reader, and me, attempting yet again the exercise in futility that is trying to sum up the year that has been, in some sort of sensible way, within the confines of a single blog post :). But hey, that's never stopped me in the past, so why bother now :D.

Another end of year post from the UK, a bit of an extended Christmas break this time. Partly because I was left with extra days off because of bad planning (or serendipitous oversight, depending on how one looks at it), and partly because of the way the days of the week matched up with the days off. We've been here exactly two weeks now, and don't head home till the end of this week :).

Apart from the complete and much needed break from work that this has allowed, it's also been particularly good timing with respect to a partial hip replacement situation that came up :/. Fortunately that has meant maybe even more time spent with family that may otherwise have been possible.

As for the rest of December, it actually snowed!! Not huge amounts, but enough to make it feel like proper winter. It would appear that as I type this more snow has arrived back home, so who knows, maybe it'll be cross-country season when we get back!

Speaking of, last season wasn't really much of a cross-country skiing one for us. And for a change, this was not for lack of amazing conditions! It was just that this time last year we were trying really hard to get the new flat ready to move into! Feels like an absolute age ago now :). Not only did the move go like a dream (with a lot of help from some friends), we've had quite a lot of our close family visit since then, from India and the UK, which has felt really fun!

I guess travel was a bit more limited this time around, although the train trip to the west coast of Norway with my parents in the summer was a highlight. Do I wish for more travel in the coming year though? Not really. Maybe a bit more adventurous cycling might be fun, but if not, I'll be happy if we can just keep up the rhythm of cycling to and from work once or twice a week in the summer :).

When it comes to reading, it feels like an oddly off and on year. I think I've spent a lot of my spare time on NFS No Limits instead... which, I guess has been a lot of fun. But do I miss spending more time reading? Not sure. I mean, I did manage to get totally mesmerized by two completely different types of fantasy in The Murderbot Diaries and The Invisible Library. The book club books, as usual, were a bit of a mixed bag. Maybe a few too many non fiction choices this year, oh well.

Speaking of book club books, I'm currently sort of meandering my way through The Game. It's the first book of a trilogy originally written in Swedish. I was having a hard time locating a copy in English, so decided to go for the copy in Norwegian from our local library. Hmm. Possibly a mistake. I think when I do get into it, I really enjoy reading the book. But the language is definitely more complex and dialect-wise heavy. Definitely a step up from anything I've read in Norwegian before. So maybe I should have given myself some more time, really :/. I have been enjoying it so far, but there's a very real chance that I'll end up not being able to finish a book for the first time, not because I gave up, but because I'd run out of time!!

Before that though, I had no issues racing through The Library at Mount Char in no time! With the possible exception of the logic behind the title, there were absolutely no let downs! The plot twists, while sometimes almost literally outlandish, always kept me engaged. The characters were interesting enough, but mostly it was the world mechanics and the plot that kept me glued to it.

So there we have it. A year where the beginning feels so far away as to almost defy belief, yet one that has simultaneously run by way too fast for me to really catch my breath. I can hear the fireworks going now :). As we drove the rental can back from helping babysit our niece (yup, right-hand-drive for the first time in a while, was good to keep the habit alive I guess) we did notice some going off pretty early on in the evening, but feels like things are now properly picking up around here. The other thing I can hear is the wind howling :).

So, fireworks and storms. Interesting way to start a new year I guess? Who knows. I'll hope to keep a more even keel than maybe I've been able to this last year. Continue to be grateful for the amazing blessings I can count. Beyond that, I guess it's just a case of strapping in for the ride :).