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I don't do New Year's Resolutions. However, I do have goals. They're ongoing. They build upon one another. I'm a work in progress. Just because the calendar changes doesn't mean that the goals are any different than they were the day before. A new year doesn't make achieving the goals any easier or more difficult. I suppose the best I can say of January 1 is that it serves to focus, and that is always welcome.
So I have several goals that are everpresent.
One goal that pretty much never goes away, because for me, it's a constant struggle, is eating more fruits and vegetables and less.....well, crap. The problem is that I so much prefer the taste of crap to that of good-for-me fruits and vegetables.
Another constant challenge for me, but one which I continue to strive to meet, is cooking at home rather than giving into the lure of convenience and fast foods. It's not like I don't enjoy cooking - I do. A lot. And the stuff I make is so much healthier than convenience and fast foods. Plus, it's cheaper. I don't even mind cleanup if I've got a good book to listen to on my iPod. (Right now, I'm listening to JR Ward's newest, Covet. This is the first book by her I've read, and I like her style.)
And let's not forget regular exercise. I've even found exercise I like. Hiking and biking. I like yoga, too. Right now I have an excuse to slack. For the past 12 days, I've been suffering from what I've taken to calling The Flu That Ate My Family. It started out as a cough around 4:00 in the morning the Sunday before Christmas. The cough was joined by a headache by that night. By Monday, its buddies, aches and fever had joined the party. Then came chills. For the next two days I felt like I was wearing my skin nerve-ending side out. I didn't eat more than a couple of mouthfuls of food the entire time I was sick. I slept sitting up because my lungs were so congested. I'm so glad that I seem to have turned the corner. I'm still coughing up a lung, but I'm much better than I was. I cannot, however, take a deep breath yet. So working out will have to wait for a couple of weeks.
Doing all of these things regularly would serve to achieve a blanket goal - weight loss and overall better health. I mean, it's a no brainer. So why don't I do them all the time? I think if I could figure out the answer to that one, I could come up with a solution, market it, and be rich. Until then, I'll just continue on with my goals, meeting them as often as I can, and hopefully more frequently in 2010 than in 2009.
So what about you guys? Do you do resolutions? If so, what have you set forth to accomplish in this bright, shiny new year? Please share in the comments.
Before we go there, however, let's take a peek at tonight's Top Comments!
from jnhobbs
In plf515's diary, On privilege, 1864 House relates some personal experience with hate.
from ScottyUrb:
djtyg makes a snarkalicious rebuttal to my snark diary. theatre goon makes a worthwhile point too!
From sardonyx:
In merrily1000's welcome diary today, Molly Ivins for the New Year, there was much to remember and celebrate:
After EyeStreetMom notes that "some seemingly horrible occasion becomes hysterically funny in the retelling, Omir the Storyteller retells a hysterically funny story.
There were retellings of some stories Molly told herself, such as daulton's fave, invoking John Henry Faulk on dead chickens, and a second from daulton with Molly on Rush (echoed by bkamr 212 seconds later). Then there's the perfect one-liner recounted by nocynicism.
After the diarist wonders how BiPM "kept from writing entire C&J's consisting solely of curse words" after the Maine Equality bill was defeated in November, the always wonderful Bill in Portland Maine shares his secret.
my picks:
this comment by marabout40 is spot on for my diary subject tonight.
winnie gives links to farms that treat their animals humanely. Going vegetarian in my household is a gradual work in progress. Having choices like this helps.
this comment by wu ming in LokiMom's fascinating diary is really thought provoking. In all honesty, so many comments in that diary are. I highly recommend it.
From the same diary, this comment by MeteorBlades highlights perspective in parenting.
bkamr posts a great comment about different perspectives of families.
Captain Frogbert comments on one of my biggest pet peeves - the complicity of the traditional media in where we are today.
Top Mojo is brought to us tonight by the wonderful sardonyx - and it should be noted that tonight required some fancy footwork because of the whole comments spanning two different years thing. Thanks, sar!
Top Mojo (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, various pooties, and Mojo Friday:
1) I seriously believe that the rise we've seen by marabout40 — 108
2) Oh, wait. I thought of something except it by alliedoc — 103
3) The effort you put into this is amazing by chicago minx — 93
4) But elections are won in two areas by DanK Is Back — 91
5) My favorite Molly saying... by shortgirl — 81
6) And people wonder where cancer comes from. by Colorado is the Shiznit — 80
7) Thank God I stopped eating meat 15 years ago. by marabout40 — 78
8) Child-free by choice by exiledfromTN — 77
9) I'm privileged by marykk — 71
10) My crazy Aunt Marcia, by badscience — 70
11) Thanks from the silent majority on this by doc2 — 69
12) Unfortunately, Facts Have Nothing to Do With It by Mr X — 67
13) Garry Trudeau with wife Jane Pauley by Scarce — 63
14) A good start for a discussion by Alec82 — 63
15) excellent by bumblebums — 60
16) I'm awake by Patriot4peace — 58
17) Blue Dogs by JekyllnHyde — 58
18) For us oldsters by le sequoit — 57
19) Fabulous post, but my PC by blue jersey mom — 57
20) Our corporate masters have trained us to obey. by Jimdotz — 55
21) Hey, thanks so much for the diary. by karmsy — 55
22) BTW by Nulwee — 54
23) Thank you by MadRuth — 54
24) This is awesome video of a "Guitar Hero" house. by shortgirl — 53
25) I was child-free by choice for a while by jhw22 — 53
26) My husband and I waited 13 years by chicago minx — 52
27) Here's the truth by Keith930 — 51
28) Huge Racial Issue in Sentencing by Gooserock — 51
29) Molly on Rush: by daulton — 50
30) My fave, dead chicken by daulton — 50
31) I feel so at home and delightfully orange by Darcy Burner — 50
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by DanK Is Back — 441
2) What is making you smile this New Years Day? by Jimdotz — 400
3) Tip Jar by blackwaterdog — 307
4) Tip Jar by jennifer poole — 300
5) Tip Jar by Darcy Burner — 265
6) Tip Jar by LokiMom — 253
7) Tip Jar by teacherken — 251
8) Tips for recognizing how we are privileged by plf515 — 217
9) Tip Jar by Jesselyn Radack — 205
10) Scritchie Jar by triciawyse — 130
11) Tip Jar by Wintermute — 120
12) I seriously believe that the rise we've seen by marabout40 — 108
13) Oh, wait. I thought of something except it by alliedoc — 103
14) Tips HERE I guess by merrily1000 — 100
15) Mojo Mug by TexDem — 100
16) Tip Jar by Darcy Burner — 98
17) In memory of by monkeybiz — 95
18) Happy New Year Everyone by Spedwybabs — 93
19) The effort you put into this is amazing by chicago minx — 93
20) But elections are won in two areas by DanK Is Back — 91
21) To absent friends by noweasels — 91
22) Tip Jar by Hlinko — 88
23) We Remember Them by twilight falling — 87
24) Happy New Year to all! by blue jersey mom — 82
25) When? by TexDem — 82
26) My favorite Molly saying... by shortgirl — 81
27) The Lounge Is Open by TexDem — 80
28) More Mojo by TexDem — 80
29) We're Coming! by TexDem — 80
30) And people wonder where cancer comes from. by Colorado is the Shiznit — 80