Category Archives: new year’s resolutions

2020 Vision

Song Lyric of the Day:

I dedicate my life to something richer / And all the things that come / Cuz that’s no price at all / And I know you’ll be there / And i want you to know I care because / Keep your head up, hold your head up even though / It’s a cruel world

Active Child / “Cruel World

The year is now 2020. Kind of hard to believe, isn’t it? As it is, a new year means a new, clean slate. In keeping with my laid-back approach to resolutions the last few years, I’m not making any hard-and-fast resolutions. I have general goals, of course, like taking professional development and photography courses, learning how to budget (officially), to keep decorating our house and working on countless home improvement projects, to write more, to travel more, and be healthier all around, mind and body (the never-ending struggle). But I’m not going to beat myself up if I don’t succeed at any, or, God forbid, all of these goals. Because I plan on doing the best I can, which will have to be enough.

My only real resolution for 2020 is to be happy, which means letting go of anger toward certain people and situations (SO HARD for me to do as it goes against my nature), and focusing on what’s healthiest for me and my family. Sounds easy enough, right? 🙂

Here’s to a great 2020!

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Resolved

Song Lyric of the Day:

Don’t stop doing what you do / I will be your something old, new, borrowed, blue / Don’t stop doing what you do

Gin Wigmore / “Don’t Stop

I’ve written about making new year’s resolutions in the past. My attitude about resolutions has changed over the years so that I wasn’t putting so much pressure on myself to achieve and/or stick to all my goals, and I’m not about to change that now. So basically my only real goal for this year is to be happy. To be happy in my day-to-day life, happy in my marriage, happy in my relationship with my kid, happy with my family and my friends, happy with what I have in life.

Now, if I happen to exercise regularly, eat better, plan meals, start and FINISH house projects, get more sleep, finish my book, and just manage to write every day — whether here or offline — so be it.

Here’s to a great 2015!

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A New Year, a New Pattie

Song Lyric of the Day:

Maybe it’s time to change / And leave it all behind / I’ve never been one to walk alone / I’ve always been scared to try

Like alot of people, every year I make new year’s resolutions. And, like alot of people, every year I’m successful for, oh, say about a month at keeping them. This year, while I’m still making resolutions, I’m not going to beat myself up for not keeping them to a T or kill myself trying to uphold them. I’ve decided that a healthier attitude about keeping my personal resolutions versus the compulsion to just be able to say I succeeded is more important this year. To that end, here are the resolutions that I aim to keep this year. Or not.

  • To work out regularly (aiming for cardio at least three times a week to start)
  • To eat better, especially since I now have someone to set an example for
  • To write something everyday, whether it’s working on one of my novels, a short story, a personal essay, a blog post, or a journal entry
  • To try to journal again since there’s a lot of stuff I can’t post here, things to be published with great fanfare and scandal upon my death. Or not.
  • To stop worrying what others think of me. I am who I am, and if they don’t like it, tough shit.
  • To update ye olde blog here at least four times a week (and post before nightfall — I’m over the nocturnal blogging)
  • To take a photography class at UTK or Pellissippi
  • To finally finish — and MAIL — that query letter I’ve been working on for eons now
  • To read more (and not just board and picture books to Coraline)
  • To create an Etsy shop to sell some of my photography
  • To try and live up to the potential those close to me believe I have
What are your resolutions this year?

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Happy New Year!

Song Lyric of the Day:

If I ever leave this world alive / I’ll thank ya for the things you did in my life / If I ever leave this world alive / I’ll come back down and sit beside your feet tonight / Where ever I am you’ll always be / More than just a memory / If I ever leave this world alive

Flogging Molly
/ “If I Ever Leave This World Alive

11:27PM.
Happy New Year!

Hard to believe it’s now 2008. God, I’m old. After a great last night of 2007 with Caren, her boyfriend, and Rich, I had a great first day of 2008. I saw P.S. I Love You with my sisters (and cried through the whole thing – go see it!), told Rich how much I love him (on account of feeling incredibly sentimental today; see: P.S. I Love You), got a hug from my mommy, and was productive around the house. Oh, and I once again hit Steve & Barry’s – they still have the everything-in-the-store-is-$8.98 sale going on. Today $58 bought me a pair of jeans, a pair of khakis, a pair of track pants (for house lounging), a long-sleeve Henley shirt (also for house lounging), a beautiful crocheted scarf, and a black quilted light jacket. Not too shabby.

Anyhoo, in the spirit of making new year resolutions that will hopefully not be broken too soon (if at all), here goes. This year, I will do my best to:

  • Get back in shape
  • Swear a lot less, if at all (this is a perennial on account of my potty mouth being an inherited trait)
  • Write at least a paragraph of my book every day (that way I can feel that much more accomplished when I churn out a page or more), which will help me to
  • Finish another chapter of my book so Rich can pony up that Pottery Barn desk he promised me
  • Spend more time with my family
  • Be more tolerant, patient, and forgiving (also a perennial)
  • Create and stick to a budget
  • Journal every day
  • Cut way down on fast food, including not value/up/biggie sizing it
  • Get a lot more organized when it comes to house paperwork (so many things to file…)
  • Take at least one photo a day
  • Save up and buy that digital SLR I dream of, which will help me to
  • Take a photography course
  • Set up an Etsy shop for my photos
  • Read a lot more books
  • Whittle down the towers of magazine piles I have all over the house
  • Finish home improvement projects we’ve had in limbo forever
  • Clean Mo (my Xterra) so he once again gleams like the top of the Chrysler Building
  • Work up the nerve and make the time to be a Big Sister
  • Try at least one new recipe a month
  • Attend at least one film festival (I’m eyeing Tribeca or Toronto)
  • Buy a mountain bike so I can enjoy rides with the hubby
  • Punch up my wardrobe (now approximately 25% from Steve & Barry’s)
  • Wear skirts and dresses outside of special/formal occasions
  • Be a better person all around
  • Bonus resolution: finish the year-end blog posts I started and abandoned the last few days on account of enjoying my vacation so much

Best of luck with your own resolutions, and here’s to a great 2008!

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