Photo: ori2uru'sphotostream/FlickrHappy New Year! May this year be a wonderful one for you!
I love champagne, but usually only drink it on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Those bubbles are wonderful and adding a berry somehow makes it taste so delicious!
I'm not doing the standard New Year's Resolutions this year as I've opted for a more "down to earth" approach. Losing weight and exercising more just gets boring! I want to focus on different things for a better upcoming year!
1. Finish my surgeries. Yes, I have ONE more to go (and this SHOULD be the last one). When the nurses and cleaning people on the hospital floor know you by name, you've been there too many times!
2. Read a classic book, not necessarily a romance. I can't remember the last time I read a classic like "To Kill a Mockingbird".
3. Go to a movie theater. It's so easy to sit at home and watch a movie on TV, but I need to get out and go!
4. Get more sleep. I'm usually up late at night because it's the only time people don't "need" me for something. Then, I get up early. Raccoon eyes aren't attractive. More sleep is needed so I should go to bed earlier or get up later...or, take a nap during the day.
5. Try new restaurants. Yeah, we all have our favorites, but how many good places have I missed because I've gotten into the same "Let's go here...it's my favorite" rut?
6. Learn to say no. I have a horrible time doing this. Everyone around me seems so "needy" that I usually cave in and "help". Then, my time is shot to hell. As an organizer, I'm programmed to "fix" everyone so their lives run smoothly. Guess what? People still screw up no matter what my "suggestions" are. Saying "Figure it out. Sorry I can't help" should be my mantra.
7. Write names on the back of old photos before no one can tell me who they are. As a baby boomer, I have to rely on my mother for the names of unfamiliar faces in photo albums. I need names and hopefully some dates so I'll have these family memories to pass on.
8. Spend more time with older relatives to record our family stories. My mother is one of two remaining siblings out of ten. My uncle has Alzheimer's. Only she can now recall stories of the past and I want to record them all. She's now 86. How much longer can I put this off?
9. REALLY de-clutter my home. I've got tons of stuff, some from my kids, still lurking in my basement. I need to go through, room by room, and decide to get rid of stuff I haven't used in the last two years. I'll say goodbye to unused items/those I no longer use at all.
10. Say "please" and "thank you" more often. I've gotten into the habit of expecting things to be done and forget the pleasant feeling I can give someone with a simple "thank you". Saying "please" will make my request seem less like a command. I take people and what they do for me for granted, and forget the good manners I was taught as a child.
Happy New Year!
Marianne/April
www.mariannestephens.net
www.aprilash.net