{"id":3495,"date":"2025-12-31T20:58:02","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T20:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/?p=3495"},"modified":"2026-01-28T18:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:32:43","slug":"2025-end-of-year-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/31\/2025-end-of-year-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 End of Year Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m actually happy this year is ending; it started off well enough.  Good times, with the trials.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In February, there was an incident with my mom.  It was like a light switch.  She was no longer mentally clear.  I\u2019m told there that was no evidence of a stroke, but that is what it seemed like.  It\u2019s not gotten better.  She is no longer living on her own.  After my visit up there in Aug.  I was very concerned about her being alone.  Since she let me in the house, but had no clue who I was for the first 15 minutes of talking to me at the dining room table.  Scary!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weather was amazing if you overlook the no moisture from November to April.  A concern when you live in a high desert environment.  I was able to start planting outside in April, which is usually not a good thing to do.  Pretty much a sure thing that you are going to kill off your plants with a few more freezing nights.    I started the worm bin and my obsession with making my yard a soothing oasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I finished up with sealing the roof so I shouldn\u2019t have to worry about it for quite some time.  I also painted the parapets, so they are good for a few more years.  The exterior of the house is good to go for at least a decade.  I got the new fans\/lights I had been wanting for the great room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I picked up a new to me trials bike.  Mal\u2019s 2024 250 Beta Evo\u2026. I LOVE THAT THING!!!!!   I can ride and turn that bike better than my other one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This was my second year as a supervisor.  I\u2019m still learning and I had a few trying things hit plate that made me really step up my \u201cgame\u201d.  It does sometimes get in the way of things I would like to be doing instead of being at work.  I did have to modify plans several times this summer to ensure coverage at work.  Just part of it, so I\u2019m told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came Aug.  with that the suicide of a dear friend that I used to race with.  To say I was heartbroken is an understatement.   I had seen and talked with him just a few weeks earlier.  He said that he was happy.  It was a shock to most of us who knew him.  The funeral was the week after the National event that I rode, so in my down time that weekend I spent a great deal of time in my trailer crying over this loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Right after the funeral I was off to Alaska to see my mom.  I needed to see her in person.  Talking to her on the phone is out now, she won\u2019t wear her hearing aids, she can\u2019t see to read letters, so I haven\u2019t had a chance to talk with her for a few months.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I timed it so that I could also a bit of fun by attending my 50th<\/sup> high school reunion over one of the weekends.  Lori was kind enough to bring her awesome little Alto Trailer down to Anchorage, Kevin and Ann let her park in the driveway (I love Kevin’s pirate ship), so I was able to do the trip on the cheap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It will likely be the last trip I take to Alaska for some time.   It was great to see a number of people that I don\u2019t get to see, other than on facebook or Instagram\u2026  It\u2019s a way to keep up on somethings but it doesn\u2019t really isn\u2019t the same as seeing and talking to people.  It was a great trip. The only downside was the realization that my mom isn\u2019t with us anymore.  It\u2019s a stranger in her body.  On the upside of that she isn\u2019t able to push the buttons she installed\u2026 \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In September I had another blow.  Margie passed away unexpectedly.   I had kept my in-laws through the divorce from their son.  They have been a major part of my life for my entire adulthood. I met them for the first time just after I turned 18.  They were always great to me and I spent a lot of time with them every time I was in Alaska, over holidays and when they were in NM to visit their son.  Margie called me almost every week to check on me for years.   She meant a great deal to me.  It was another heartbreak.  I went up to Bellingham in Oct to stay in the condo with Ray.  He was more heartbroken over it than I was.  I have a new respect for caregivers, it\u2019s exhausting, and I only did it for two weeks, with help during the day for a few hours.  Ray is also now living in a facility, since his Parkinson\u2019s and dementia keeps him from being left alone for any amount of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visitor we have a number of times while I was with Ray at the condo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I would love to say that was the end of the difficult things for the year, but there was one more at work that set me back.  I can\u2019t give any details, but it was also one of the hardest things I\u2019ve ever had to deal with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sprinkled in there was an incident with the trailer.  Likely, because I was not coping as well as I thought I was.  I caught the bottom of the trailer on a tree stump\/root jumble that cracked my black tank, bent the jack, and busted the pipes.  I still haven\u2019t had the bandwidth to deal with getting it fixed.  I am still able to use everything but the toilet.  So, it hasn\u2019t been moved up to the top of the priority list yet.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was maintenance on the truck, like the battery dying, a flat tire at the long-term airport parking, and a faulty TPS on one of the tires.   I am still dealing with that one.  It got worse after they put new tires on it at the end of Oct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Nov there were some fraudulent activities on one of my credit cards\u2026  Dec So far has been interesting too.   I started to break out in hive in the evenings.   I have no idea why.  Still trying to get that figured out, by cleaning everything, eliminating things, and adding them back when there isn\u2019t a change.  Waking up at 2am itching and covered in hives does not lend to a good night\u2019s sleep.  I am a person who needs sleep.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even poor Sable had a rough year. She was attacked by raccoons as she was heading out her doggy door. There were two right there. I have never jumped out of bed so fast. I was out there and grabbing one off her before I really thought about what I was doing. As I grabbed the fat thing, all I could think was great I’m going to have to go get a rabies shot at the ER tonight. Right after that the next thought was … oohhh he’s really soft and heavy. As I was throwing him across the yard. The other one than moved in on her so I kicked him with my bare foot. I pushed Sable to the front door, only to find two more trash pandas in the way. I no longer think they are cute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ll be spending time around Christmas with some couple groups dear friends at their new homes.  I\u2019ll be spending the New Year\u2019s week working on decluttering the house and thinning out unused stuff.  I\u2019ll also be working on the trailer.  Along with setting up the seedling racks, prepping the starts and working on the starting schedule.   I still need to spread more compost around the flower bed, add more to the other pots and start moving the planters\/troughs around to their new locations for 2026.  It\u2019s also the time to scatter around some of the seeds for the spring.   I\u2019d also like to spend the last day of 2025 on the dirt bike along with the first day of 2026 to make sure I start off the year in the manner.   It sounds overly ambitious.   Time will tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think getting all this out has helped, I feel lighter.  Explains, why I\u2019ve been so focused on the house\/yard\/gardening and spending so much time there alone, it was calming and thriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On another very personal note: Thanks to a DNA test I found out who my biological mother is. I did learn a little bit about her, reached out, the response wasn’t what I would have preferred, but I do understand it. Looks like I have some half siblings too. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to put me into the funk that it did, but I worked my way out of it after some time. It would be interesting to learn more family history, but since my adopted family wasn’t huge into it. I have never really been wrapped up in learning too much about it, or felt a connection. I’m sure it had to do with moving so much as a child. By the time I hit high school, I’d been to 7 different schools. Moving a lot teaches you to not be super dependent upon close friends. I do have a few that I’ve maintained since grade school and Jr High, they are very important to me. As are some of the other “family” I’ve found over the years. Like Margie, Ray, Tony, Pam, Lori, and the Brewsday group. Family isn’t just blood relatives. They are those you can count on and that you’d do anything for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m actually happy this year is ending; it started off well enough.  Good times, with the trials.  In February, there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3495"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3613,"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3495\/revisions\/3613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diomederacing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}