Happy New Year Resolutions!

Now that I'm looking ahead at a whole new year, with a whole new blank slate, I figure it's a good time to start filling that slate with a list of goals. Although I'm not sure if despite what I write, FATE has something else in store for me considering the 2 dreams I woke from on the past two mornings. Today, I was steering a sailboat through craggy, black rocks in strong winds and choppy seas. Yesterday, I was running from a crazy person intent on causing me harm. What's weird is that it's been a long time since any dreams graced my sleep.

Perhaps the fact that I escaped both scenarios without crashing or capture should lend me some peace of mind. Or perhaps the dreams meant nothing, and are simply linked to the migraine that's been lurking at the edges of the right frontal lobe of my brain -- a place that my bad headaches like to call home. Nevertheless, I resolved to make a list today to welcome in 2015, so I shall do it.

1. I'd like to cook more from recipes. Yes, I know how to cook, but with working more than full time, I tend to just stick to what I know and what is easy, which can get boring. So, at least once a week, I'd like to pull a cookbook off the shelf and find something unusual to make.

2. I'd like to make sure I keep getting to gym, so that I can keep hold of my health. It simply makes running around, particularly on the treadmill, a lot easier.

3. I'd like to take more time to do what I enjoy doing -- things that don't involve deadlines or commitments -- things like writing, drawing, hiking, or fishing.

There you have it. It's a short list, but my daily to-do is long-long-long, so I hope to find a way to squeeze these three big things into my each of my weeks to come.  Advice for doing so, or encouragement is always welcome!

Happy New Year and best wishes for your own hopes and good dreams!

Happy New Year! 2014 Resolutions and Revelations

Okay, so I'm a few days late and many dollars short, given that I've just been whirled through the holidays by teens that have an insatiable thirst for activities that involve dips into my wallet where they believe lies an unlimited stash of cash. Ha! That's all I will say on the matter.

But since it is 2014, I thought I'd share a couple revelations and resolutions I've dug up in the past few days of the new year.

First, some new activities are apparently in order. My first dream of the new year was the curious nightmare of my being drafted onto the National Men's All-Star Basketball Team. Curious, yes, especially since I have never in my life played a serious game of basketball outside of PIG, HORSE, and Around the World--and I must add, never once did I ever win one of those. The self-respecting basketball-playing-brother with whom I did play in my younger years never allowed it. Which lends perfect sense to the ending to the aforementioned curious nightmare of the new year, where the dream-team captain suggested I start things off with hitting the court to practice some simple lay-ups.

Simple? This is me we are talking about. And it never ceased to boggle the mind (especially that of my 6-foot-4 basketball-playing dad) as to how I could jump onto the back of any good-natured horse within reach, but couldn't dribble a ball and manage to hop and shoot at the same time. Go figure.

Being one to never walk away from digging up the meaning of vivid dreams like this, I think I finally can say that its foundation lies in two realities. One: the fact that lately I've been watching basketball games while I run on the treadmill at the gym. This always makes time fly since the game moves too fast for me to keep track of, combined with the fact that I only have a screen to view, but no commentary to fill me in on what is going on. (No, I don't like the feeling of ear buds in my ears). So I am left running in a state of perpetual confusion and distraction -- which is a good thing, if you really don't want to know where you are at in terms of distance traveled or calories burned.

And Two: I've come to the resolution to begin seriously writing again, and since I've been out of the serious writing game for more than a couple years for more than a couple tumultuous reasons that deserve no fleshing out here -- we're all human, so you can fill in whatever details you'd like -- I am definitely going to have to start easing back in to writing with the basics. Although I do hope it is more like riding a bike, rather than learning to play a new sport like professional basketball.

Now that I've shared this resolution, I feel like I'm stepping out on to a stage, and since I've already been published and should have made a bit more progress by now, I kind of feel like the world will be watching. (But since my world is relatively small, maybe it actually won't be all that bad).

Now on to revelations. First of all, my friend Rick pointed out that 2014 is the year of the Valentine, due to the fact that it is made up of those two numbers that pinpoint that annual day of love: 2 and 14. So, that is good. I'm all for love, and now I will be reminded of it every day all year long, thanks to the astute and positive outlook of my friend Rick Walton (who happens to also be an amazing and talented children's writer -- go on, google his name for yourself, and treat a little person in your life to one of his awesome creations.)


The second revelation came to me in a chain email from my mom, who was hoping that by sharing it would bring her lots of good luck. Time will tell in that regard, but I'm sharing the tidbit of info gleaned here (and since I didn't forward the email, perhaps this will count in not breaking the chain and dousing my life with bad luck): The upcoming month of August will have 5 full weekends! This is not a common occurrence apparently. So if you like your weekends, then August will be a happy month for you. And if you're not like me, you'll probably want to start planning now~

There you have it. A resolution and a couple revelations. I feel like my welcoming in of the new year is now complete.

Happy Valentine's Year! (And feel free to share your own resolutions and/or revelations here. Because honestly, if I were to put my own items to a list, it would be rather short.)