On the brink

It has been a long time since my last post (December 23rd). Now, here it is December 31st, 2006, 3:15 PM. Only 8 hours and 45 minutes left in this year. After which, it will never be seen again. Strange and disturbing phenomenon, this reminds me of the post I did a few months ago about time; slippery stuff.

So, what's with the picture, you ask. Well, what with it being New Year's Eve and all, I thought it was a good time to post my new year's resolutions (following in the well known and highly praised footsteps of my daughter - this has to be a first, actually making her resolutions prior to the new year starting). That's a very good start in and of itself, Kara!

So, there are two resolutions I've already made in my mind, this is merely my documentation to make them both a reality and a means of holding "my feet to the fire".

• I will make every effort NOT to overcommit myself. This generally means not trying to cram so much into each weekend. Instead, I'm going to take some time off periodically from work to make sure I can do the things that are important and would be better done during the week.
• Scheduling lunch with Laura, Ty and Beckett with Wendy & Virginia on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. To do this, I will take a half day of PTO so I'm not rushed and we aren't limited to an extremely busy weekend day in a restaurant. This will make it much more pleasant for everyone.
• Taking a weekday off to spend it with my parents periodically. I need to do this when I'm not concerned about getting home to get other weekend things done.
• Scheduling a few days of PTO in April when I will fly with my mom and dad to Las Vegas to see Pam, Jim, the kids and Stephani. It will just be the three of us so we can focus on each other and there will be no other distractions.
• I am going to find an excellent piano teacher who will not force me to play in a recital but will help me to reestablish what little proficiency I had when I quit lessons in 6th grade and will help me to surpass that basic level.
• My ultimate goal is to be able to sit down at my piano and play Debussy's "Claire du Lune" beautifully and by heart.
• I may have to sell my car and replace it with an automatic to be truly successful with this. The joints at the base of my thumbs are both seriously deteriorating and I need to find ways to reduce the pain. Because I drive a stick, it contributes to the overuse of my thumb, at least on my right hand. We'll see once I am solidly into weekly lessons and lots of practicing. I had sworn I was going to keep it for 10 years and 2007 will only be 7 years.

Now, unlike my daughter, I'm limiting myself to only two resolutions because things like losing weight and exercise are ongoing issues for me and don't warrant the special attention of a true resolution.

I guess you could say I have a third resolution, instigated by my children. That would be not to buy new movies (unless absolutely necessary because I adore them) but rather to watch movies through our brand new Netflix service. We have been encouraged to do this for some time but in the absence of moving forward with this on our own, our kids took their own initiative and signed us up. So, we are sitting here with MI3 and Dear Franky, which we are hoping to watch some time this weekend. I'm sure they're right and this is the smarter way to go. To support this new opportunity, we replaced our old, rear projection 32" tv in the living room with a 40" flat-screened, HD rear projection tv.

Mike called it a relative recycle. We gave our old tv to Tracy & Pete and they gave theirs to Marilyn and Dennis. We do the same thing with my parents whenever we get a new computer.

Anyway, I'm encouraged about the new year and the sensible way I'm approaching it. I'm feeling well-positioned, so to speak. OK, this is officially getting boring so I'm going to sign off. See you next year.