What can I say that I haven’t said before?
Call it recency bias, or any other construct that makes sense, but I’ve never been good at summing up a year from a personal perspective. Time is not linear for me. In the grand scheme of things I have been fortunate this year.
Certain places make me quite uneasy for no rational reason—for example, large expo centers when no expo is on and it’s just vast, vacant, and dark; or one of the pedestrian corridors between terminals at Heathrow Airport (I ended up walking through it earlier this year, not on purpose, mostly alone for about 10 minutes… again, recency bias). My other half put a name to these places for me: liminal spaces. They are a bit freaky because you’re neither here nor there. Airports in general can be like that when they don’t have glitzy shops open to provide distraction.
I mention this because the idea carries over into this time of year. Usually the mind gets all caught up in the past, the future, work, plans, to-do lists (mine does, anyway)… but the day or so before a major holiday is, to me, a liminal time, when everything feels paused but not for long. Do you feel this way at all?
The Christmas period was spent visiting extended family in New Mexico and Arizona, which was really nice, with sunshine and light-jacket temperatures as a bonus. We’ve all simplified gifting over the years, so instead of guessing or asking what people wanted, most of us did a Yankee swap/white elephant exchange with gift cards. I’ll admit I didn’t love the idea at first, but now I think it was brilliant as it worked out so well.
No gifts of perfume for or from me this holiday, but I was happy to see that others—both adults and children—got some perfumes from Santa. My interest in perfume has definitely waned this year, although I managed to wear 85 unique perfumes from 54 different brands (way down from previous years, mostly because I almost completely stopped buying discovery sets). Most-worn were Masque Milano L’Attesa (32 days) and Akro Infuse (31 days), both resulting in achieving the goals of using up my bottles.
Wishing all a safe and healthy New Year 2026, truly.
Nose Prose 
TWO bottles thunked in a year is a very big deal. Congratulations.
Have a satisfying 2026.
Portia xx
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It helped that they were 30-mL and 35-mL bottles! Not having samples or decants to compete also facilitated the bottle thunks.
Hoping the same for you!
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Liminal spaces… love that description. Something I can definitely relate to. There’s a lot to be said for finishing what one has already. Wishing the same for you in 2026!
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Thanks, and that makes me feel validated! 🙂 Looking forward to reading where 2026 takes you!
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This time of year was always my favourite time to work. No visits from CRAs, research visits were minimal to enable participants to enjoy their celebrations. Everyone was more relaxed. Only once did I take leave. It was discombobulating. Limbo, liminal as you say.
I am extremely grateful for 2025, largely that DH did far better than expected & we visited our spirit home, possibly for the last time.
May 2026 bring only happiness
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I used to work during this period, even on Christmas Eve at least once, while I was on the “service” side of my industry, so I’m grateful to have the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day off now that I’m on the “client” side.
I’m really happy for you both that you had time to enjoy yourselves and go on that holiday, and I hope you will have better than expected times in 2026 as well.
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There’s nothing worse to me than gigantic places that evoke feelings of uncertainty. I completely understand, Nose Prose. I’ve made numerous trips to southern New Mexico and Arizona for leisure, family visits, and to reconnect with lifelong friends. Southern New Mexico holds a special place in my heart, and it’s on my list of potential retirement destinations. Your Christmas celebration sounded delightful. Like you, I was initially hesitant about White Elephant gift exchanges and this gift card idea. However, after enduring numerous disappointing Christmas presents over the years, I’ve learned to embrace them with open arms.
Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year!
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Thank you, Flaconneur, and a Happy New Year to you and yours as well! I’m glad you can relate.
I was quite captivated by the desert landscapes this time as I have been in the past. Not sure if I could ever live there, though, as I’m a city girl at heart. What other potential retirement destinations are on your list?
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I never imagined I’d be so captivated by the desert landscape, but it’s a natural beauty that truly inspired me. Upon my return landing in Chicago, I glanced out the plane window and realized that almost everything I was seeing was man-made. Currently, I’m considering two places: New Mexico and western/southwestern Michigan. However, I’d love to escape the winter weather.
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In parts of Arizona you could get the best of both worlds – saguaros in your front yard, for example! I’m not familiar with Michigan but can imagine parts of New Mexico being great locations for retirement.
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Southern New Mexico is particularly intriguing to me. The weather is nowhere near as scorching, and the winters are surprisingly mild. The scenery is equally impressive. The part of Michigan I was referring to is the region between Holland and St. Joseph. The summers are beautiful, but you must be prepared for the snow. I’m at the point where I’d like to leave the snow behind, but the Michigan beaches and their dunes are wonderful.
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Yes, those liminal spaces and time can bring on a feeling of disorientation somehow, I know what you mean, Nose Prose. We have our summer holidays at this time of year, and I can remember as a child that as we hit this in between Christmas/New Year period we still had weeks left of holidays. Now it’s often straight back to work early January, so it can be a little bittersweet and nostalgic. To combat this, I usually try and take that first week off when everyone goes back, and ease into it. Happy New Year to you and all the best for 2026, Nose Prose.
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Happy New Year to you too, Daniel! That’s a good idea, easing into the year and work. I miss the weekslong student holidays as well, although I’ve been conditioned to think I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I had them now! I’m back to work next Monday, and I’m sure I’ll be thinking of your strategy and telling myself I should have adopted it!
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