Friday, December 29, 2006

A Different Take on New Year's Resolutions

Well, it's that time of year --

  • lots of leftovers;
  • major sales of picked-over goods; and
  • commercials for diet plans, diet pills, and health clubs every 30 seconds.

Insult is added when the Valentine candy was put on sale the day before Christmas!

The more insightful among us use these final days of the year to reflect on the past and plan for the future.

The most common resolutions in the U.S. are (order may vary by region):

  1. exercise more,
  2. lose weight,
  3. get out of debt,
  4. quit smoking,
  5. quit drinking,
  6. spend more time with family,
  7. get organized,
  8. learn something new (read or go back to school),
  9. find balance in life, and
  10. help others more.

Noble, yes! All these things require so much discipline! Sounds like more work to me. Fortunately, I'm 50% there with the common resolutions -- can you guess which half? I figured that to only have 5 resolutions would defeat the purpose, so I've come up with 10 new resolutions for the year.

Here are my resolutions (or should I say "aspirations") for 2007:

  1. I will toss the burnt garlic bread out the kitchen window before the smoke alarm goes off.
  2. I will hit the snooze button no more than twice before starting the day.
  3. I will remember all the logins and passwords that I use on the internet.
  4. I will not buy any crack houses this year.
  5. I will complete the sleep study and do what's necessary so that my apnea won't wake hubby at night.
  6. I will learn to hip hop dance in a way that will impress my kids.
  7. I will do another stand-up comedy routine in public.
  8. I will embarrass my kids in public.
  9. I will laugh more.
  10. I will share my dazzling wit with family, friends, and anyone who crosses my path.

I wish you and yours a New Year filled with wonder, wisdom, love, great health, and prosperity.

Monday, December 25, 2006

2006 Christmas Fashion: Pajamas

We had our appointment with Santa at Phipps Plaza at 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve day. Katrina and Alexander cleaned up nicely and while they were working for coal in the car drive, they were sweet as sugar when they got their turn with Santa. Katrina is now 12 and this is her 11th year on tape with Santa. Alexander is 10 and 5/6 and this is his 11th Santa visit as well.

Robert baked another batch of his famous cookies for Santa and watched Miracle on 34th Street with the kids while I wrapped gifts and baked for Christmas morning. The kids were warned that they could wake us up at 9 a.m. and then we would open presents.

No alarm clock was needed this morning -- at precisely 9 a.m., the pitter patter of their feet was heard down the hallway as the kids came into our bedroom singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas." Their dad tortures them by taking time to shave and brush his teeth before going downstairs to set up the video camera to capture their descent down the stairs to get to their stockings.

This is the first Christmas day where we stayed at home all day. This was quite disturbing for our daughter, who felt we broke the important family tradition of having Christmas dinner at Aunt Linda and Uncle Ted's home. In recent years, we would join our cousins Catherine and Christina at their parents' home. Now that Catherine's two kids are getting old enough to fully grasp Christmas morning, they decided to stay at home (in Florida) this year. Of course, that means that the grandparents would drive to Florida to see their grandkids. So we are left to fend for ourselves for Christmas dinner.

To prepare for Christmas breakfast, I made mom's famous Jewish Coffee Cake and Grandma Vesta's Blueberry Buckle. It's always fun to start the day with dessert first, and these go great with my morning coffee. Gram has been on my mind a lot the last couple of months -- I'm sure her message will reveal itself when I just sit still for a bit.

Robert and the kids decided to stay in their pajamas ALL day. Katrina and Alex are assembling Lego Ferrari cars and Hogwarts trains while listening to the sixth Harry Potter book on CD.

I got a great nap in the middle of the day -- I can't remember when I took a nap without being ill! I got a great book called, The Moon Watcher's Companion. It got me started to think again about the writing career that I've yet to seriously launch. What could I write about? So much has already been said. My brother Gus came up with a couple suggestions:
* Motivations for People Who Relax Too Much
* Google Zeros -- help for people whose names get no hits on Google

Friday, December 22, 2006

Locks of Love -- A Gift That Keeps Giving

December 22nd, 2006

Katrina went to Salon Greco this morning to get a very special haircut. She had 11 inches of hair cut off into three ponytails so the hair she's grown for three years could be donated to Locks of Love. This nonprofit organization accepts donated human hair in good condition and has wigs made for children who lose their hair due to cancer and other illnesses which cause baldness.

This is the second time that Katrina donated 11 inches of her hair to Locks of Love. The last time was over the 2003 Thanksgiving weekend.