Working Towards Wellness: December 2025

[itsfi]

Happy holidays, BIC!!! The year has flown by and the days will only go by more quickly as we move closer and closer to the end of December. With all the events, festivities and holidays this month brings, the season can be a fun and joyous time, but it can also be a very busy, heavy and sometimes stressful one as well. It's important to prioritize self-care during the holiday season; consider this month's game of BWell bingo one of the tools  available to help you keep wellness top of mind. 

Wellness Bingo: December 2025

All are welcome and encouraged to take part in this wellness bingo challenge, wherever you are in your own self-care journey, and in whatever manner this challenge will serve you best. Wellness takes work; let's do the work together, BIC!

For more information on this month's wellness bingo activities, take a look at: <<links to be posted>>

• How To Play
• Rows 1 Thru 3 Activities
• Rows 4 & 5 Activities
• How To Post

[missjeanie]

Well December sure got away from me!! I was taking care of one of my nieces for a while and she spotted my print out of Decembers card and wanted to join in, so I actually have two updates this month!

Me

 - healthy meals— it turns out when I’m responsible for keeping a child safe and healthy I’m much more inclined to cook good meals as opposed to when I’m making girl dinners for just myself.

-winter walk or hike— I also was a lot more inclined to do things in the evenings with a 10 year old. Though I’m sure she would have preferred online shopping lol. We went in to my office for an afternoon so that I could do a few things from there, and took a walk through the park site to see what wild animals we could spot before heading home for the night. I normally work in office and have the entire park at my disposal and I feel kind of guilty I don’t go out and enjoy it more often. 
-prioritize sleep. I feel like I’ve been tired for years but I’ve been trying to get a lot better about getting to bed at a decent time lately. 
-check in. With one niece sick and one with me away from her mom n dad I was doing a lot of this all month. To make it more intentional I made a point to reach out to a few friends who I used to see more often but life has just gotten away from us a bit. 
-exercise. Ever shovelled snow? I currently have about 5 feet of it in my front yard. People regularly have heart attacks doing this. I’m counting it. 
-gratitude. I have so many things I’m thankful for in 2025. I’ve tried to expresses that in different ways to different people this month. 
-hydrate. lol. I’m just so not good at this. A lovely friend sent me a new canned water to try that tastes like pop. It’s pretty good! We don’t have as great a selection in Canada but I’m making it a priority in December to replace two pop a day with a sparkling water of some sort and then one still water. 
-pay it forward. The last few years I’ve taken items from Sephoria loot and created a few baskets to auction off for charity in December. This year I took my niece shopping and we made our own ‘burr baskets’ as she calls them to auction off. We also decided to pay forward to a few different group who’ve been helpers in our lives. Nurses at the hospital and at the home taking care of our sister/niece and grandmother/great grandmother, got baskets of energy drinks and individually packed snacks. Then we did a great big grocery shop at the warehouse club here to donate to the local hospice. 
-aromatherapy. I’m guilty at times of not thinking to just light candles randomly. But we went through my stash and swapped out candles in my home office and living space with more seasonal ones and I was more intentional with lighting them. 
-be kind. I kind of feel like I took a cop out on this one… i asked my niece what we could do for this square and we decided to do the snack baskets for the nurses at the hospital and home. 

-seasonal drink. I had a 10 year old with me most of the month who isn’t normally around a Starbucks. We had seasonal drinks from there more than usual. We also got to have some concoctions we fixed up ourselves after stocking my bar. All NA of course. 
-create. I maybe did more teaching with baking and cake/cookie decorating this last month. While I left the creative decorations to my helper.

-brain teasers! We have a worse group at work with a few of us on teams. After hearing everyone here talk about the other games on the NYT website I’ve added them to my daily routine! 
- new to me. Well I bought a house this year and I’ve had to figure out a few things about this place as I go. In December it was how to host both a little girl and Christmas Day here. It’s a much smaller home than I was in before so we had to figure out how to get enough space but we did it! First time hosting Christmas Day in my new home!

-treat yourself. Alllllll month up to the 25th!! Too many fun sales. 
-holiday fun. I did go to my work Christmas party this year, hosted Christmas Day as well as a gathering the weekend before. It was a bit of a blur and it all went by way too fast.

-music. I’m not a big music person but my nieces are. It was on alllll the time last month! I tried to also put my truck radio to a holiday station and left it there for the month.

-stretch. Not something I’m great at, but I found some YouTube videos to follow along with while I psyched myself up to do all the shoveling this month.

-celebrate. I’m looking at this as a gimmie square since so much of the season was spent celebrating Christmas. 

[Samtian]

@missjeanie Great job!!!!

[itsfi]

Oh goodness, you had a veeeeery full December, missjeanie! And look at all those BINGO's! 😍

"create. I maybe did more teaching with baking and cake/cookie decorating this last month. While I left the creative decorations to my helper."

Ummmm ...., let's not forget @missjeanie 

Love these updates and I love your niece's INSPO with your self-care. Good job, E! 

[missjeanie]

Miss E’s card

As told by her. 

 -joy. She says she is always full of joy. 
-healthy meal. She says she’s responsible for me eating healthy this month. She’s not wrong.

-winter walk or hike—was done with me.

-prioritize sleep. She says she’s been really good about not waking me up early so that was her prioritizing my sleep. 
-check in. I have to say she was really great at checking in with her sister. 
-exercise. Miss E does competitive dance that makes me out of breath just watching. Check.

-inspired. Tbh… I dont remember what she said on this one lol

-gratitude. She made Christmas cards for her school and dance teachers and was sure to say thanks for something each one did for her.

-hydrate. This kid walks around with a water bottle and has no struggle here. 
-pay it forward. She was beyond excited to pick out goodies for others this season and help me pack up baskets.

-aromatherapy. E was in charge of picking out my holiday candles and back ups for when I burn through. She’s also been throughly enjoying picking out a fragrance of the day. ‘Auntie has the most choices ever’. Maybe I need scale back fragrance purchases…

-be kind. ‘Auntie I’m always kind, but we’re helping a lot of people smile and that’s pretty kind’. Preach kid. 
-seasonal drinks. So much starbies when I’m here. She also would like everyone to know that any drink is special when put glitter in it. I would like everyone to know the glitter is edible.

-create. Decorated so many cookies!

-brain teasers. School is one giant brain teaser. 
-new to you. She got to learn how to use a piping bag for her new cake/cookie decorating hobby.

-treat yourself. She picked out one item from Sephora for herself but the rest of the shopping was for others. Starbies should count too… this statement was followed with quite the performance of an original song titled ‘treat yo self’

-holiday fun. Sledding in the back yard off the deck was her call for this square.

-music. Her dance company put on a community variety show that included lots of holiday music. (Guys it was so hilarious) 

-stretch. I’m told she stretches all the time before dance class. 
-celebrate. All of our Christmas dinners count. 

 

[Samtian]

@missjeanie Yes!!! Way to go Miss E!

[missjeanie]

@Samtian She was so much more into it than I would have ever thought!

[itsfi]

Okay, thiiiiiis this just made my January! And it's only the 3rd. You're amazing, Miss E. Congrats on your BINGO's (and all the BINGO's you inspired your auntie to earn!)

My comments are underlined.

-joy. She says she is always full of joy. No doubt. Full of joy yourself and a joy to others.
-healthy meal. She says she’s responsible for me eating healthy this month. She’s not wrong. Brava, brava! 👏👏

-winter walk or hike—was done with me. Yaaay!!

-prioritize sleep. She says she’s been really good about not waking me up early so that was her prioritizing my sleep. Oh my goodness, how precious is she?!! 
-check in. I have to say she was really great at checking in with her sister. (clutching my heart reading this. So sweet.) Of course, she was. She's a good sister.
-exercise. Miss E does competitive dance that makes me out of breath just watching. Check. I have no idea where they get all this energy. I don't remember having that much energy at that age.

-inspired. Tbh… I dont remember what she said on this one lol Ummm, she is the inspiration!!!

-gratitude. She made Christmas cards for her school and dance teachers and was sure to say thanks for something each one did for her. How amazing is she?!!!

-hydrate. This kid walks around with a water bottle and has no struggle here. Love, love, looooove this!!!

-pay it forward. She was beyond excited to pick out goodies for others this season and help me pack up baskets.

-aromatherapy. E was in charge of picking out my holiday candles and back ups for when I burn through. She’s also been throughly enjoying picking out a fragrance of the day. ‘Auntie has the most choices ever’. Maybe I need scale back fragrance purchases… "Scale back?" Are you nuts?!! You can't scale back. If anything, this is a call to maintain your status as the person with the most candle choices ever. That's right, missjeanie!! The correct response is "Challenge accepted!!!" 🤣

-be kind. ‘Auntie I’m always kind, but we’re helping a lot of people smile and that’s pretty kind’. Preach kid. In case it hasn't been said, this kid is amazing!! Truth, E!
-seasonal drinks. So much starbies when I’m here. She also would like everyone to know that any drink is special when put glitter in it. I would like everyone to know the glitter is edible. Hahahahahaha! She's not wrong.

-create. Decorated so many cookies! 'tis the season or 'twas (?) the season.

-brain teasers. School is one giant brain teaser. True story.
-new to you. She got to learn how to use a piping bag for her new cake/cookie decorating hobby. Awwww, how fun!!

-treat yourself. She picked out one item from Sephora for herself but the rest of the shopping was for others. Starbies should count too… this statement was followed with quite the performance of an original song titled ‘treat yo self’ She's got self care (for herself and others) down!

-holiday fun. Sledding in the back yard off the deck was her call for this square. That is definitely fun and I bet you had a lot of snow!

-music. Her dance company put on a community variety show that included lots of holiday music. (Guys it was so hilarious) I love those performances! They're the best!

-stretch. I’m told she stretches all the time before dance class. Atta girl!! 
-celebrate. All of our Christmas dinners count. Indeed they do; indeed they do!

[missjeanie]

@itsfi She's back in school today but I read this to her last night and she was so excited to see that people were interested in her wellness.  I told her... It's all about finding the right people and BIC is the right people!

[itsfi]

Awww, we love hearing how she's doing and she's such an inspiration for our own wellness @missjeanie! First day back at school! She'll have fun seeing her friends and teachers.

[danielledanielle]

1. I'm not crying. It's just dry here
2. Two, I got nervous about the glitter in the drink, but reading comprehension is super important. 
3. This is just wonderful, thank you for sharing
4. Congrats on the move @missjeanie 

[missjeanie]

@danielledanielle Having the girls here so much and participating absolutely made more of these squares fun! And I'm told that everyone should have glittery drinks all the time!

[itsfi]

Happy new year, everyone! Please keep using this space to check in with your December 2025 self-care activities. 

January's wellness bingo card is upWorking Towards Wellness: January 2026 when you're ready!

Spoiler

Tagging a few folks who have posted to previous Working Towards Wellness threads. Will try to update tags throughout periodically. If I inadvertently missed someone, I apologize. Feel free to tag others you think may be interested. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2026!

@adamsev @ather @bakeamuffin @blackkitty2014 @caitbird @CorgiMommy @curlychiquita @danielledanielle @missjeanie @nuinui933 @PrettyPaint @Samtian @Shosh85 

[ather]

@itsfi  Thanks for the tag!!! Can’t wait to participate! 

[itsfi]

Yaaay, it'll be nice to settle back into post-holiday routines and jump back on track with self-care activities.

[Samtian]

Managed to get one more square in, our family celebrated our Christmas yesterday since my brother and I both worked Christmas. 

[itsfi]

Finishing strong @Samtian! Congrats on BINGO! I hope you and your family had a fabulous Christmas together. Who did the cooking? 

P.S. You don't need it since you did amazing work on self-care, but in my mind, that 'pay it forward' square is checked off as well. You and your brother working on Christmas meant others didn't have to. 

[blackkitty2014]

Last update of the year 😘 I still missed that digital detox 

[Samtian]

@blackkitty2014 Whooo you did great!!!

[itsfi]

You'll get that digital detox one day @blackkitty2014! I know it. If I hadn't gotten it earlier, I probably would have on NYE; it's hard for me to stay up late anymore. 🤣 It's also been so cold that I just like being in bed where it's warm and cozy. 

Congrats on all your BINGO's. Way to finish the year strong!

[itsfi]

Last wellness check-in for 2025 for me 

Joy made itself known by way of: 

• opening homemade advent calendars generously sent my way
• slowing down, even if one of those days was sparked by a power outage - my block had power but the same could not be said for most of the city
• taking a break from being online - computer, phone, BIC, etc.
• a handful of meaningful (and sometimes silly) conversations with people
• tasty treats, the homemade kind and the ones from culinary masterminds
• unbridled laughter

Declutter and Reset:

Declutter:	Reset:
Unplug - Took an extended break from online activities for a few days after seeing that I was on my phone more than, let's just say, a lot more than I thought I was.	Set limits for my off-hours time online for 2026, both in terms of the number of hours and what and where I spend that time. A no / low buy for Q1 2026 will help I'm sure.
Getting rid of stuff - Sifted through unused foils, deluxe samples and full-size products that have been sitting unopen for several months. Also, taking @ather's lead, I went through a couple of closets in the hallway and did a quick declutter.  I did some drop offs earlier to Goodwill, local shelters, and a couple not-for-profits. Need to manage the accumulation of foils and deluxe samples better in 2026.	As of today, I'm on a no buy until spring 2026, subject to a few, limited exceptions, most of which I've allocated for in my budget for 2026. I went through most of my foil and deluxe samples, passing along those I know I will not use or tossing ones that have long past their shelf life.
Adjustments - Took some time to do some meaningful reflection on what or who creates unnecessary and avoidable stress, burden, frustration or disappointment, and whether or not that's me creating it for myself as well.	Came up with approaches to implement and identified boundaries to be set and/or enforced (should the need arise) that are balanced and respectful as well as practical, realistic and reasonable.

Free Space: 

There's always an abundance of things to do this time of year - 'tis the season, indeed. In the midst of the busy-ness, I set aside a few days to do a deep dive when it comes to self-reflection and to really just focus on some self-care work. It was very good - insightful, emotionally cathartic (laughter, tears, more laughter, etc.), and empowering even, exceeding my own expectations for that time. 

Be Kind: 

• to yourself - by putting myself on - and keeping myself high up on - my priority list. This goes beyond the treats I can  buy myself (and, in full disclosure, I did also buy myself something. Ha!)

• to others - took the form of a lot of effort (deep breaths and a few long walks) to exercise patience and humility with a few folks.

Digital Detox:

Fell out of practice a couple of nights with trying to get ready for the holidays but have been getting back on track with prioritizing sleep, and unplugging before bed with some restorative candlelight yoga.

Holiday Fun: 

Splurged on some holiday treats for myself. I'm spoiled to live in a city with many culinary talents. There are a host of places that offer preorders on holiday desserts; the most challenging decision to make is which one to go with, but I settled on a trio of mini yule logs from one of my favorite spots. I should have take a photo of what they looked like before they were cut into, divvied up and devoured. 

Celebrate:

Celebrating a full calendar year of wellness bingo here at BIC. It's been a good year of accountability, encouragement and inspiration as we've pursued our self-care practices. Thank you to all who have made these monthly challenges so engaging and inspiring. Excited to hear how everyone closes out 2025 in your own self-care style.

FYI

January 2026 wellness bingo card will be up on the 1st, sometime between 12midnight PST and 9:00am PST. Looking forward to continuing on our wellness journeys together in the new year!

A spoiler for next month's wellness bingo card:

Spoiler

One of the squares on January's wellness bingo card will include an activity titled "2026 Self-Care Focus" the intent of which is for you to (1) identify an area or activity that you want to focus on in 2026 (or at least focus on for wellness bingo in 2026) and (2) for January and the particular square, to do something in that wellness area or to do that activity if you chose an activity to focus on. Note somewhere (on your phone, on a post-it note, etc.) the area/activity you choose to focus on as a similar self-care activity may come up in another square in a future wellness bingo card. Hint, hint. Now, rest assured, there's flexibility with this particular activity - life happens and for some of us, our self-care needs may change during the year. All good. You can adjust the area / activity of focus, if an as necessary.