2007. Wow. That sounded so far away when it was first mentioned as my possible layoff date.
Dick Clark. Geez. Ok, maybe I'm not inclusive enough or sensitive enough or whatever, but PLEASE do we have to see him every year so diminished from what he was? A minute or two's appearance would be ok, even heartwarming, but don't prop him up like some taxidermist project behind a desk like he's really appearing or something.
The fireworks off the top of Pike's Peak were especially beautiful this year. Maybe the coldness or all the snow or the almost-full moon. Quite lovely. No, I didn't get any pictures - standing in my robe on the front porch at 19 degrees Fahrenheit was enough suffering without struggling for the proper midnight camera settings. Just lazy, I know.
I am always reminded of New Year's Day in Kona when some neighborhoods looked like it had snowed a red blizzard all night. People lit 100,000 count firecracker strings like there was no tomorrow. Some Asian superstition/tradition about scaring the bad demons away from the new year
Resolutions. I sometimes make them, sometimes not - rarely keep them. It crossed my mind several times recently that Quitting Smoking is NOT on the resolution list for the first time in at least a decade, maybe 2? I knew I should quit long before I would admit it to anyone else. I was going to be a "die-hard" -- pun intended. I'm so glad I have 359 smoke-free days behind me. I continue to be, and probably always will be a puff away from a pack a day but I think as long as I avoid drinking alcohol with smokers, I think I can stay smokefree. As long as I always remember it's the first puff that kills you.
These thoughts lead me to consider that perhaps I can now move onto another important New Year's resolution. This one I haven't had on my list since "Tainted Love" was a hit by Soft Cell. It's related to a resolution I've had longer than the quit smoking one. I always VOWED to lose weight. Obviously at 15 weeks pregnant, I won't even consider that for this year, but I CAN consider....
Exercise. Yes, intentional exercise on a regular basis. I think 4 days a week, 30 mins minimum is reasonable, measurable and specific enough. I know that to many thousands of Americans, that would seem like a lame target -- but I know that to many MILLIONS of USA-folk, it is beyond what is currently achieved. Most importantly, it is much needed for me. I have had several streaks of 2-4 weeks this year but I have never, ever stuck to a routine for very long.
I don't want to get bogged down into all the reasons/excuses why I haven't done it before or why I have stopped. I want to focus on all the very good motives I have to do it this year. And that is a post for tomorrow.
1 comment:
Like Mr. Monk said recently, I was LOL'ing out loud when I read the Dick Clark part.
My first instinct last New Year's Eve was to channel-surf onward but there was a morbid fascintation that stayed my fingers, waiting to see if he would actually move more than to blink. It's a tough thing when your reputation for decades has been to be youthful and now you are as inanimate as a mountain in a gentle breeze... we should all be so good as Dick Clark, though. Thanks.
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