Welcome to 2026! 2025 is officially old news.
December was, predictably, a lot.
It started with good intentions and a vague sense that I would ease gently into the festive season. It did not end that way. I was ill for approximately three quarters of the month, and somewhere between school deadlines, end-of-year admin, dark afternoons and a frankly ill-advised decision to watch a Christmas film every single day, December became less ‘cosy’ and more ‘endurance sport’.
This month on the blog has been almost entirely festive. There has been tinsel, romance, snow, and a large number of men who improve dramatically once they are written by someone who has never met one in real life. I have watched more Christmas films than is medically advisable and formed strong opinions about all of them.
Away from the screen, December was the usual mix of busy, loud, emotional and oddly quiet. The kids hurtled towards the end of term. Time lost all meaning. So this update is less of a neat summary and more of a check-in. What I watched. What I wrote. What survived. What didn’t. And why I am very much ready for the normality of January!
(If you want to read my other monthly updates stretching all the way back to January of 2024, you can find them all here).
Two trips to London and a gig
In the one weekend in December that I wasn’t feeling like death, I went to London twice, on consecutive days. I do not recommend this.
London itself was very prettily lit up and doing its best festive impression. The people however…. The train home on the Friday was a particular low point. After staying out a little later than intentioned, I fortunately managed to get a seat on the last fast train, which felt like a win, until the train sat there for an hour because a group of twats were having an argument that escalated and spilled onto the platform. Festive scenes. Luckily I was sitting next to a nice chap who chatted and kept me entertained on the very long journey home, which helped distract from the creeping sense that I might never leave London again.
The following day I went back to London with the boyfriend to see Badflower and Three Days Grace play Brixton Academy. Despite the long queue to get in, and missing the first two songs, both bands were excellent and I was reminded what a great venue Brixton Academy is. I’d forgotten about the sloping floor, which is a genuinely underrated feature when you are neither tall nor particularly interested in being elbowed in the face.
We checked the set list in advance and the second the final song ended we made a run for it. This was wise. We somehow got on the last quick train home, although it was even busier than the night before. Standing room only, and only just. The kind of proximity that removes all mystery from strangers very quickly.
Our fellow passengers were, without exception, extremely loud, extremely drunk, and clearly not seasoned drinkers. At one point someone decided that having a piss in the bike store was a reasonable course of action, which felt like a fitting end to the experience.
London: Lovely to visit, exhausting to survive.
It was Christmas
Christmas itself was deliberately low-key this year. I had the kids and they decided they wanted to stay at home just the three of us, so that’s what we did. No travelling, no hosting, no overplanning, no pretending we were missing out. Just home, food, films, a dog wearing a Christmas jumper and the vague sense that time had stopped doing anything useful.
After that, the children went to their dad’s and I briefly became a host; one friend came to stay, then another.
There were conversations, cups of tea, cheese boards, more festive films (minus note taking; bliss) and the kind of catch-ups that don’t need organising beyond asking if anyone wants another drink. It was lovely.
Then the kids came back and we drove down to Sussex to see my parents. I managed to squeeze in seeing another friend I hadn’t seen in far too long, and suddenly it was New Year’s Eve.
Although my kids stayed up to celebrate, I went to sleep, woke briefly to grumble about fireworks, and then went back to bed, which felt about right.
I’m (kind of) giving up Facebook
In other fun news, my Facebook page was demonetised on the last day of the month because they bafflingly believe I breached a policy relating to buying and selling drugs. This is, objectively, nonsense. Sadly, there is no way to explain this to a reasonable human who speaks English, so that is where we are.
I know what I’m supposed to do is continue posting as normal in anticipation of it being reinstated. What I am actually going to do is stick two fingers up and spend my time more usefully elsewhere. I’m tired, it’s a new year, and I do not work for free.
I’ll still share blog posts over there, even though Facebook hates links and no one will see them, because Facebook are total cunts. I may also reshare the odd memory if it pops up and amuses me. But after the Christmas reviews, I’m done chasing an algorithm that actively resents my presence.
If you want to keep up with what I’m doing, this is the place. I’ll probably be back on Facebook properly at some point. Or I won’t. We’ll see.
Behave!
Other things I wrote this month:
Well, Christmas film reviews. A LOT of them. You can find them all here.
It started off with this one, if you were interested in the origins of this slightly mental escapade:
And that’s 2025 done.
Thank you for sticking around, indulging my nonsense, and enabling yet another festive spiral. I hope 2026 brings you decent sleep, manageable expectations, and fewer opinions from strangers on the internet. Happy New Year.
I’ll see you on the other side.
If you enjoyed this and you’re feeling generous, you can buy me a cup of tea or a glass of wine – or donate to my houseplant addiction fund – here.
You can also see my Amazon wish list here.