ANOTHER NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

We’ve all sung that song. Most of us have kissed that special someone right before we began swaying and singing to the ringing in the new year. Many of us, on January 1st, make a list of the resolutions we are determined to keep – in the coming year!

Confession time! I am one of those people, on occasion, would actually sit, grab a pen and paper, and write down all the things I planned on changing. I used to do that, but age, wisdom, and arthritis put a stop to many of them.

For years upon years, I promised myself to lose weight. Remember that old song, “I’m a junk food junkie’? I sheepishly raise my hand. With my hand raised, I’ll quietly sneak into my pantry (yes, it’s a walk-in pantry), and reach for the bag of potato chips I hid on the top shelf (hopefully out of reach – NOT)

I can’t excuse the fact that I have Hashimoto’s disease. Even treating it with medication, my weight won’t drop. Hmm! Maybe I should stop buying the chips!

I wear baggy clothes because I make the Michelin tire man’s wife look slim. I can certainly avow that I have more rolls than a bakery.

### ### ###

Another foregone resolution is my sleeping habits. Or maybe I should say how I sleep? When I was much younger, I would say, “I need to get up early and get a jump on the day. As John Wayne said, ‘We’re burning daylight.’”

I’ll make a list of everything I want to accomplish the following day. I’ll set my alarm for 7:00am. Then, unless I have something to do before 8, I don’t have any problems hitting the snooze button. That’s being deceiving. I don’t hit the snooze button. What I do is grab my phone, hit the alarm off button, and set the timer for an additional hour. Ah! You’re wondering why I just don’t set my alarm for 8:00AM. That’s because my body thoroughly enjoys a bit of a “snooze” so early in the morning. Yeah, I know. It doesn’t make any sense but tell that to my brain!

This extra hour allows me to slowly awaken my mind and body. If I jumped up and began my day as soon as my alarm yelled at me (yeah, that’s how I think of it), by noon, I’d be looking for a nap. I’d really get nothing done, then!

### ### ###

Once I’m fully awake, depending on the weather, I’ll either sit at my computer and begin writing, or grab my camera and head for one of the nearby nature parks.

I know so many people who say they can hardly get through the morning unless they have their morning coffee. I don’t drink decaf but for the life of me, can’t understand this “morning jolt” experience everyone talks about. Yes, I drink a cup of coffee in the morning, but it does nothing to wake my brain. In fact, the only thing it does is slow down the progress I might make either writing or taking pictures because once I have my coffee, I need to … well, get to the bathroom before there’s a puddle on the floor.

I can’t even imagine drinking one or two cups of coffee, then heading to the nearest nature park to take pictures. I sincerely doubt the animals would enjoy a strange “scent” permeating the air.

What I do on sunny days when I plan on picture-taking is to make my coffee in a go-cup. I have and use resin cups with their matching lids. They keep the coffee somewhat warm and quench my thirst when I need to hydrate.

### ### ###

I would normally say I’d work harder to keep the house cleaner but, well, first of all, I don’t live in a museum with a staff to dust and clean every nook and cranny and dinosaur bone visible. My house is what we call a “lived-in house”. In other words, I don’t dust every day. As long as we don’t sneeze, the little dust bunnies can have fun flying in the sunbeams. I change my bed sheets every other week. No need to change them more frequently. While my husband and I are “senior” (VERY senior) adults, we don’t “wet” the bed at night. We shower every other day, unless we do something that makes us sweat more, then we’ll shower daily.

Yes, I vacuum the floors once a week, but I damp mop them every other night before I go to bed.

Which brings me back to my resolution about my sleeping habits. Most normal people will retire at night on or before eleven pm. Not me! Nope. My head usually hits the pillow around midnight but then I read for at least an additional half hour before I close my Kindle. Did I mention that I love to read? I have my paperback on the table near the couch (so if my husband puts some mundane movie on Netflix, I’ll read) and my Kindle on my nightstand near my bed. (Also, take note, two different stories).

Hey! Come on! I never said I was normal!!

So, as far as my making new year’s resolutions are concerned, I guess I’ll still make my usual list but just take one day at a time and take what each day throws at me. (Let’s just hope it’s not a brick!)