A very mixed bag for me. My job was made permanent last year and so I decided that it was time to sell my flat and buy a house this summer. I didn't quite get round to it though, but it's probably just as well...
I had an amazing summer break this year - I made it to the Nürburging 24h and Spa 24h races back-to-back this year, staying in Adenau for the 'Ring and Francorchamps for Spa. I've been to both races before, so this time I was forearmed with a decent amount of local knowledge, and both visits were pretty much perfect - I even met Kazunori Yamauchi at the Nürb, and I was on the grid for the start of the Spa 24, and also had a brilliant 'back stage' tour of the facilities at Spa as well. I didn't make it to the LM24 but I did have a ticket, but decided to do the N24/Spa24h double-header instead, and will never regret that choice - it was, frankly, mindblowing.
I turned 50 in January and this year has been a mix of 50th and 51st birthdays amongst my friends and I. My mate got a pretty crazy shock in July when he had a stroke while at the dentist - thankfully, he received immediate treatment and has since made a full recovery, but it was a kind of a wake-up call that we're now 'middle-aged', but it has also had the positive effect of making us a bit more open to talking about our changing needs, our problems and our families, as we're all going through different stuff.
After coming home from a normal day of work on Monday 1st September, I started to feel a pain in my abdomen about 8pm, and was in quite a lot of pain by the early hours. A friend took me to hospital in the morning with suspected gallbladder issues, but unfortunately it turned out to be inoperable bile duct cancer. Since then, I've moved out of my flat and back to my Mum's house, but for now I'm doing well and am being very well looked after. My treatment also started last week too. I am, however, grateful for the fact that I never got round to selling my flat and being in the middle of a house-move right now.
I must admit, that while I am not at all depressed by it, I am having some moments of upset and worry - but I've been overwhelmed by the support I've been receiving from friends, family and colleagues. I'm mildly optimistic about getting back to work, but for the moment I am focusing on eating well, staying mentally and physically as fit as I can, and getting back into some fun stuff like setting up my music studio again. I've no doubt that 2026 will be challenging, probably extremely so, but 2025 has been a reminder of how life can be a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous.