December Update and Reflections on 2025

by Bobby Smith - Written on January 13, 2026

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Another month, another update. This one coming at you from the year 2026.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to the new year. I know I have, which is why this one is coming out a bit later than I would have liked.

Website Thoughts and Updates

This month has been kind of a quiet one when it comes to new additions, but I have started a series/process of bringing all of my old blog's posts over to this new site.

The reason for this is to preserve the content and make it more accessible in the future. Also I don't like the idea of having old links which might break over time. And I'd love to take a look at what I once created and see what I can improve or update. This was covered in a blog post from early December. I hope you enjoy as I start bringing more of them over.

Screenshot of the first Write-n-Refactor Archived blog post. Taken on January 13, 2026.

A screenshot of the first Write-n-Refactor Archived blog post. Taken on January 13, 2026.

Blog Posts of the Month

This month has had a few posts go out, but nothing too major. My archived series has started and the November update was created.

Blog Posts From December

Current Projects

Small Combat

This month I spent most of my time filing off some rough edges about the design of Small Combat and getting started on the meat of the program. I've made good progress on the prototype UI up to goal selection. It's been a great process and I've had fun working on it while out and about handling the Christmas season.

Here are some screenshots I've taken of the various stages of the game so far.

Screenshot of the Small Combat main screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

A screenshot of the Small Combat main screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

Screenshot of the Small Combat game settings screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

A screenshot of the Small Combat game settings screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

Screenshot of the Small Combat player settings screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

A screenshot of the Small Combat player settings screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

Screenshot of the Small Combat map select screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

A screenshot of the Small Combat map select screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

Screenshot of the Small Combat goal select screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

A screenshot of the Small Combat goal select screen. Taken on January 13, 2026.

What I've Been Playing

This month has been more of the same as last month. I've been enjoying my time with them and slowly working my way through them. Things have been busy, so I haven't played as much as I would have liked.

When it comes to time played I had a total of 17.3 hours played. Spanned over the following games.

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - 6.2 hours
  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - 2.9 hours
  • Flashpoint Campaigns: Cold War - 7.1 hours
  • Lord of the Rings Online - 0.3 hours
  • Battlefield 6 - 0.8 hours

Looking ahead to January

January is looking to be a busy month both for this site and for myself personally.

For this site - I've got a bunch of changes to the site that I have already covered in this post. I'd like to get working on that RSS feed I've been planning for a while now. Stay tuned for that and many more WNR Archived posts.

Personally - I'm planning to focus on more of my professional side. I have a few elections to go to his month, have one digitally to send out. I am going to a networking event Friday and hope to go to many more over the course of the next few months.

Looking back at 2025

2025 was a great year for me both personally and professionally. I made a lot of progress on my website, my projects, and my skills. I also learned a lot and had some great experiences that I will carry with me into the new year.

I've gone from working as the Lodi Public Library's Technician and a freelancing IT Consultant. Which was a big leap for me, but I feel was for the best.

This website was the first big project I wanted to take on for my new phase of life, and I've felt it has gone very well. I truly believe more people should have their own blocks of the web. Just to get outside of the algorithm fueled, centralized web and have freedom to do whatever they want.

And I've made it a habit to go somewhere every weekend and see new places. Really helpful in trying to heal and figure out what I want. I feel rejuvenated in a way that I was not a year ago.

Looking ahead to 2026

I look forward to seeing what I can do with the next year. There are so many possibilities. I hope to get into the software development space outside of my own projects. Expand this website in any way that I want.

Thank you all for reading and being part of this journey. Have a wonderful year ahead.