New Year’s Eve

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I think I will make some resolutions this year. I didn’t last year, and that worked out okay for me, but not so well as I would have liked. Last year, I posted a “ten things I want in 2006” entry and I reached half of them but really only nailed three. There are some goals I’d like to reach in 2007 and I’m going to take Kizz’s advice and speak them out loud in the hopes that expressing intention helps me bring them into being.

1. I will exercise more. Right now, I’m only in the gym because I’m being paid to be there - the only workouts I get are the ones I’m leading. I will add two sessions to that routine - maybe three, depending on how it goes. I’m not so concerned about weight loss (though some weight loss would be nice) as I am about my overall health. I come from a genetic cesspool and would like to not share the same fate as my sedentary relatives.

2. I will get organized. I’ve already started the process on this one, and having the extra space of the addition has helped a lot. I’m thinking, specifically, of my teacher files and the dreaded linen closet at the moment, but there are a lot of other places that could use a good going-over, if not outright purging, and I mean to get that done. Oh, and this also includes putting our estates in trust and finding someone to take the girls should some tragedy befall husband and me simultaneously. I fear we have too many proverbial loose ends.

3. I will spend more time with friends and family. April’s unexpected death reminded me, in a very visceral way, that we can’t take a moment for granted. I’m pretty sure all my people know how I feel about them, but it can’t be a bad thing to remind them.

4. I will continue to make time for my children. This was on last year’s list, and I think I did a pretty good job of it, but I’d like to do more. We’ve started cooking together, the girls and I, and we’ve started a fun tradition of going bowling on Friday evenings with Bowyer and the boys as a family. I need to pay more attention to Punkin, though, as she’s starting to enter her awkward pre-teen stage. She needs more snuggling, and I think it’s important that she has it.

5. I would like, by this time next year, to have a fully completed house. This was also on last year’s list, but only got about 3/4 done. There are two rooms upstairs - the bedroom/bathroom combo - that are still done up in plywood, and it’d be really nice to be able to move in because doing so would change the entire set up of the house. The girls will move into the room Husband and I sleep in now, which means everyone will sleep on the same level of the house (the girls’ room is presently downstairs). It will also mean we can split the bunk beds, which means I will be able to reach both my children for proper smooches goodnight. How can THAT be bad?

I wish you all a fun, safe New Year’s celebration. Please be careful - you may be okay to drive, but that doesn’t mean the moron in the other lane is….

Here’s hoping that 2007 is the best yet!

***p.s. sorry about the comic - I couldn’t figure out how to format it so it fit the page. Click on it to get a full-size image…