My husband ended up being absolutely traumatized by it. Welcome to the Only Child Diaries podcast. I'm your host, Tracy Wallace. Have you ever felt like you didn't receive the how-to brochure on life, that you didn't get enough guidance about major life issues? So did I. You don't have to be an only child to feel this way. In my podcast, we'll explore some of the best ways to better navigate adulting, while doing so with humor and light. Welcome everyone to the Only Child Diaries podcast.

Today I'm going to talk about, well, the new year. Happy new year everyone. You know there's always a lot to think about, right, and I hope everyone had a good holiday holiday. I was really busy and productive over my days off over Christmas and New Year's, which is different for me. Usually, I'm very lazy and then I end up getting sick but I was very productive. I did a lot of things around the house. There's never enough time to do everything that I want to do, of course, but I did get a lot accomplished and I'm happy about that. I feel good about that. I hope you've had a good holiday. I know a lot of people are sick this time of year and it just goes without saying with the weather changes and the stress and whatnot. So, anyway, but I've been doing a lot of thinking about, well, the new year. It's hard not to, because everyone talks about it.

Here we are in 2025, right the other night, my husband and I watched a film called Night Bitch yes, night Bitch and it stars one of our favorite actresses, amy Adams. And society, especially a mother, which I'm not and giving up or taking back your individual identity, identity and I'm always reevaluating where I am, because there's so many things that I want to do. Right, I want to work on fixing up my house, repairing things. I want to work on the garden, I want to go through and purge in the house, which I didn't get to do very much. I did do some, if you listened, last week I did do some, but mostly I've worked outside because there's always a lot to do everywhere. I haven't been able to do anything on the repair side. I could live to be 200 and I don't know that I would ever get done with everything that needs to be done here. I've made some of the calls and appointments that I've had to make, but these last two weeks I've also been incredibly busy with work, with work, work. I've had a big deadline that's coming up next week that I've had to work on. That's very important. I had to give myself a lot of time for that, dedicate a lot of time for that, and just resting right that's very important too. Try to take a little time for yourself, but there's always so much to do, always so much to do.

And, oh, the exciting thing that I did was, you know, every year with the Rose Parade it's right here, and I did get to see the flyover of the stealth bomber, which was absolutely incredible. It was better than I would have anticipated. It was a little stressful because I had to walk up a hill and I didn't realize how out of shape I am to do that. My knees, my knee replacements, have left me with not the best balance. I can go upstairs, but going downstairs is a little difficult, and whoever did this in the side of the hill put, you know, makeshift stairs with railroad ties, which is very helpful. It's better than sliding down the hill and trying to find a spot to put your foot, but there's no railing to hold onto. So I was able to make it up the first leg because there's a fence, a chain link fence there, there, and I was able to stand there at the kind of the landing spot between the two levels and see the bomber fly over, and it wasn't too high and I got a really incredible video so I'll post that for you. As the crow flies. We're not very far from the start of the Rose Parade and I've never been actually to the parade itself because you have to get there ridiculously early and it's ridiculously cold. But I have seen a lot of the floats in person. I volunteered to put flowers on one year when I was in high school with my friend and although it looks like a lot of fun, and it is a lot of fun, the glue that they used at that time I don't know if it's any different now, but the glue that they used at that time super sticky and so if you go to wipe your nose or your forehead or something, it gets in your hair and it gets on your clothes and you're screwed.

Anyway, back to the film. So we were watching this film and my husband ended up being absolutely traumatized by it. But it talks a lot about and it deals with the subject of what a woman gives up in her life to take care of others, and this is such a fascinating concept for most women, right? Even if you haven't had children, you end up giving up sacrificing for others. And it started me thinking about, you know, my comedy career and when I was going out doing standup in person, and that was a really exciting time and, anyway, food for thought. And so I think it's a valid topic because, as your life goes by, you start to think about the things that you want to do and the things that you can do, whether it's physical or financial or time-wise.

And you know these are important things, because I don't think you want to get to the end of your life and say, oh, I really wish I had done that, or I really wish I could have gone here. And what do you want to accomplish? And for me the list is pretty much endless. I'd like to accomplish everything, but I know I'm not going to be able to do that. So I have to think about what's important and what's best for my family. What's important and what's best for my family, right, does that make you sad? Does that make me sad in a way? But I have to prioritize and I think that's what we all have to do in this life, and I know men have to do that as well. So there goes. The trade-off between being single and being with someone in a marriage or a relationship is that you do have to trade off, and even a trade-off having pets. You have to sacrifice things when you have animals that you love.

Anyway, I'm rambling a bit, but just some thoughts for the new year. I know I've thought a lot about my health. I always think about my health, but this year in January it's always easier to think about it because everybody's talking about it on the news, because they're trying to tie in the resolutions and what everybody's doing to lose weight or get healthier or get fitter, so it's hard not to think about it. Again, I try not to make resolutions, but I do like to try to reinvigorate myself health-wise. I still am carrying more weight than I'd like to be carrying, but that's a tough thing for me to be caring, but that's a tough thing for me.

But I do need to be more active. I know because I get up and I have something to eat and I sit here and I work, and I'm very grateful to work at home. It's very convenient. I can take care of everybody during the day and keep a watchful eye out on my husband and my pets and my house, and I don't have to travel back and forth to an office, which saves me a lot of time and energy. So I'm very grateful for that. But it's very sedentary, so I have to remind myself to get up and walk around and go outside and breathe some fresh air, if it's fresh. Right now we're on a no burn warning, so people are not supposed to use their fireplaces because the air quality is bad. I'm not sure why it's bad, but anyway it is bad. You can feel it in the air. So I just want to wish everybody a very happy new year, a safe and healthy new year. There's a lot going on in the world these days and we have to be mindful of ourselves and our families and our jobs and our finances and everything. But we'll get through it. That's all I've got for today, folks, but next week we'll tackle another topic together. I hope you'll join me.

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