Sid and I try our best not to place an emphasis on material gifts during the Christmas season. Not only is it not what the holiday is about, but I much rather give (and receive) an experience-based gift like sending the kids to see Gami and Dada in South Carolina.

Thus, it probably doesn’t surprise you that Sid and I don’t go crazy when it comes to exchanging gifts between the two of us. Although we do set some time aside late on Christmas Eve without the kids to hang out and exchange presents, we typically set a $50-$75 limit. The gifts might be of the humble variety but they are always meaningful and are typically used for years.

I want to share a gift I got for Sid and a gift that Sid got for me.

In the South, all bedrooms seem to come equipped with ceiling fans. Not only do they give relief during humid and sweaty days, but they are also therapeutic to a degree. Sid swears by the fact that she can only go to sleep if there is some type of “white noise” in the background. The sound of a fan checks that box.

When we moved to Spokane, Sid figured out quickly that this area of the country doesn’t share the same fondness for ceiling fans that her neck of the woods did. Without a ceiling fan to switch on at night time, we went for the next best thing. In the four years that we have lived here, Sid and I have used a table fan we borrowed from my parents’ house. The 30-year-old artifact didn’t necessarily compare to a ceiling fan but it still managed to do the job by generating some coolness and plenty of noise.

But it was time for an upgrade.

A look at the new fan I got Sid for Christmas.

We gave Sloan the old table fan for her room because we got a pedestal fan for ours. I found the gift at Lowe’s as it gave my wife everything she wanted: better aesthetics, increased power, and more modes. But the absolute best part that made me a hero? It came with a remote control! If you only knew how many times we hopped into bed before realizing we forgot to turn on the fan. Now, Sid is able to control everything with the remote that rests on her bedside table.

A look at the fan set up.

Sid gave me a present that was probably even better than the fan. As some of my readers know, I am an avid journaler. My numerous journals that I have filled over the past 25 years are my most prized material possessions. However, if you look at my box of journals you will see that a lot of them are in rough shape. Because whatever journal I am using at the time goes everywhere with me, it tends to get beat up. Until this past Christmas, I would just always throw the journal unprotected into my bag.

Sid got me a case for my journal.

Well, for the first time ever, I now have a case for my journal. Sid bought me a Five Star case that was designed for a tablet but works perfectly for the types of journals I use. It even has a pouch for me to transport the special pens I write with. The case has already gotten a lot of use and it is offering my journal the protection it deserves.

A look at how my journal fits snuggly into the case that Sid got me.

Truly friends, life is about the little things. We couldn’t be more appreciative of our Christmas gifts. Don’t Blink.

Confusion. Haze. Doubt.

That’s how I felt over the past two weeks when anyone asked me what day it was.

To be fair, things always get a little foggy during the two-week holiday season. People take off work, kids are out of school, and we celebrate major holidays. Routines and calendars take a backseat as we enjoy the season. It is a recipe for completely losing track of the day of the week.

During the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Day, I need to keep a calendar close by to know what day of the week it is.

Perhaps I am just getting old and absentminded, but this holiday season seemed to reach new levels with day of the week confusion. Adding to my advanced age might be a couple other factors as well.

First, Christmas and New Year’s Day, which always fall on the same day of the week, landed on Wednesday in 2024. When these holidays land on a Friday, Monday, or actual weekend day, they can become absorbed into a general holiday weekend. However, because Christmas and New Year’s Day were on Wednesday, it simulated an additional weekend itself. Thus, Tuesday felt like a Friday and Wednesday felt like a Saturday. Logically, that meant Thursday felt like a Monday (and so on).

Second, working a portion of the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day also didn’t do me any favors. I usually take that week off, but since Sid and the kids were in South Carolina and because I am still a new EWU employee, I worked Dec. 30, Dec. 31, Jan. 2, and Jan. 3. With the Wednesday mid-week holiday, which was preceded by another Wednesday holiday, everything was thrown off.

Can you imagine how hard it was to keep track of garbage day? Our service got bumped from Thursday to Friday for both holiday weeks. Just that is confusing. But add in all the haziness about what day it actually was in the first place and you can understand the conundrum.

But maybe this is by design. During the holiday season the argument could be made that we shouldn’t worry about what day of the week it is. As I alluded to above, there is something about the embracement of a special time of the year where we aren’t confined to whether it is a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.

So, as long as I can keep tabs on when the garbage truck is coming by, I won’t worry about the calendar as much next year. Don’t Blink.

Did you know the men and women who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier space their uniform medals at 1/64th of an inch? I didn’t either. Of course, I didn’t know a lot of things before reading 600 books with Sloan in 2024.

Sloan holds “Twenty-One Steps,” the 600th book she read in 2024. She read this book to Beau and me at the Spokane Public Library – Central.

On December 27, 2024, Sloan read her brother and me Twenty-One Steps at the Spokane Public Library – Central to reach her goal. The book, which explained the origin and significance of the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, was the culminating story in a year dominated by reading.

Beau reads to Beau her 600th book at the Spokane Public Library – Central

After reading 500 books in 2022 and 500 books in 2023, Sloan became a little brazen at the beginning of 2024. Caught up in the excitement of New Year’s resolutions, Sloan wrote a goal at school to read 600 books during the year. Okay girl, I said, I am going to hold you to it.

And I did .

Sloan made the New Year’s resolution to read 600 books early on in 2024.

What is just an additional 100 books in a year, you ask? Believe it or not, it does increase the nightly reading output more than you think. A few times throughout the course of the year, Sloan had bouts with reading fatigue but for the most part she was committed to reaching the big 6-0-0.

Sloan holds up a couple books she read at Spokane Valley County Library in February 2024.

The lofty goal helped cover her nightly reading homework, scored her Silverwood passes, and continued to improve her reading skills. It also taught her (and me) a lot. In 2024, we transitioned to books that fit her level better. Mature themes (death, divorce, disease, etc.), biographies, historical events, relationships, processes, nature, religion, and culture were all subject matter we consumed over the year. But don’t worry, we had Curious George and Pete the Cat thrown in there as well .

Sloan points to a book she read at the Argonne County Library during the summer of 2024.

We managed the goal like we had in the past. Most of our reading material came from Spokane County Library locations where we would make bi-weekly visits to stock up. We read mostly at night during our infamous Books and Prayers period. We logged the books in the Notes app on my phone. At this point in Sloan’s reading odyssey, everything was pretty routine. However, despite the solid structure, the reading itself still needed to be done. And let me tell you in no uncertain terms: Sloan did the reading.

We logged our books in the Notes app of my phone.

However, things will change in 2025. Sloan and I won’t have a standing nightly date to read books shoulder-to-shoulder together anymore. Instead, she will be released to read independently on her own. She already does this but not with the consistency and structure that will guide the activity this year. My daughter enjoys chapter books—especially the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series—and it is time to allow her to grow with more challenging literature.

The books Sloan is holding here in a photo from early 2024 at Spokane Valley County Library, are now being replaced with books that more accurately reflect Sloan’s reading level.

But don’t worry, ol’ dad won’t be shedding any tears as he is left on the couch without his daughter. Beau will be taking his sister’s spot. In fact, he already has. Well, not her physical spot, but he has joined us for books over the past couple years. However, his undivided attention will be emphasized a bit more this year. I am excited to see the same growth from him that Sloan exhibited during the early years of our reading program.

Keep reading in 2025, friends! If you ever have any book suggestions for Sloan or Beau, please don’t hesitate to send them my way. Don’t Blink.

Okay guys, this 2025 business is hitting me hard. Yesterday marked a quarter century since I woke up in my bed and realized we all weren’t doomed. Although I had a pretty good idea that Y2K wasn’t going to be the end of us, all the propaganda surrounding the year 2000 proved a lot for an impressionable 13-year-old.

Perhaps an even bigger slap in the face is that if you do the math, 2025 is TWENTY YEARS after 2005 (aka my high school graduation year). It has now been two full decades since I walked across the Spokane Arena stage as a fresh Mead High School graduate.

Ready or not, 2025 is here!

News flash: While I am still very much a Mead High School graduate, I am most definitely not “fresh” anymore.

So, basically, the theme that is prevalent to me as a new year begins is that I am old.

But believe it or not, that is fine with me!

You see, I usually feel a lot of pressure at the beginning of the year. New Year’s resolutions, goals, and the desire to thrive all get into my head. However, as we begin 2025, I don’t seem to be balancing that weight on my shoulders this time around.

Perhaps I am just losing my ambition and drive. However, I like to think that the real reason is that I feel set up for success in 2025. I took a big leap in my career last year and I feel really good with where I am at. Our family is in a solid spot and some promising developments should hit early this month. A lot of opportunities for us to help others and ourselves from a faith-perspective await over the next 52 weeks. So, sorry not sorry, but I didn’t spend Tuesday night, a holiday I find depressing, wallowing in the dumps.

Of course by saying all this, I know I am setting myself up for a year that is anything but successful. Oh well, just trying to be honest. Even if 2025 falls short of my expectations and turns out to be the worst year ever, at least I am well-equipped to handle it. With a supportive wife, loyal friends, and Jesus walking by my side, I will handle surprises the best I can. And like what happened to a man I respected greatly at the end of 2024, terrible surprises do happen.

But again, I am optimistic and excited for 2025. For one, I didn’t spend yesterday vomiting into a toilet like I did on New Year’s Day in 2024. Even though I know that a year is a marathon, not a sprint—and, like last year, even a bad start to a year can’t sabotage the ensuing 364 days (and vice versa)—I am hopeful.

And I hope you are too. Have a blessed 2025. Don’t Blink.