Happy New Year!

I'm sitting here at my computer listening to a LIVE concert of Daryl Hall and John Oates who are performing at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut tonight. How cool is that? I don't have to be out in the cold or fight the crowds but I get to hear my favorite group singing a personal concert LIVE to me here at home. (P.S. It will be rebroadcast Jan 4-12pm ET on Sirius Radio Ch 2 - The Blend - make sure you stick around for the encore.)

So it's New Year's Eve. A new start on the calendar. A new slate. Once again I resolve to live a healthier lifestyle and exercise more. I promise myself that every year. I feel a bit like Bridget Jones at this point - one of her diary entries was a negative for the year's total weight loss. Can you believe it - my total weight loss for the year is 2 pounds? To be honest, I haven't done much to move that number. I have a couple of goals for this year. My exercise goal for this year is to walk more, lift weights, and lose weight. I'm aiming for 5,000 steps a day and I'm not saying how many pounds. My creative goals are to quilt each day, and maybe write something each day. I also want to improve my photography skills (play with lighting more), and figure out a way to make more money with my photography (without doing weddings).

I want to nurture the relationships that are important to me and make sure people know how much I care about them. I want to keep our extended family connected. I want to cultivate my friendships and discover new ones. I want to travel more and enjoy myself. I'm making resolutions that are less about changing myself and more about keeping myself a happier person. I also want to find some small ways to help change the world. I'll let you know next year what I was able to do.

I'm resolving to spend less money and to get rid of "stuff" that is just cluttering up my life. I'm also going to read at least 5-10 books (aside from romance novels, which I love) recommended by Nancy Pearl (the librarian) in her books, Book Lust and More Book Lust.

Ah, an aside here - we're into the encore now - great concert. Now the second encore.

So to all of you out there Happy New Year!! I plan to be banging pots and pans (by myself this year) at midnight, as I have every year of my life. When I was going through my mom's apartment I pulled an old stock pot out of the kitchen cupboard that had big dents in it and it made me smile - there were many many enthusiastic New Year's Eve's hammered onto that pot. That's how I feel about my own pots and pans - they still work - so what if they have have divots in the bottoms and small dents and scratches?

Every one of those dents is a happy memory.