2012 resolutions

You say you want a resolution ... wellllll, you know... we all dooooo what we can....

So it's 2012, and I was so busy I didn't see it coming, (or 2011 going) until it was nearly too late. In my jammies, fighting off sleep (Jenn would say losing) I watched Dog the Bounty Hunter, and switched to Buffalo New York's New Year's Eve celebration, with fifteen minutes left to spare. The Beiber was there, and I easily could have done without Lady Gaga at yet another photo op with yet another outlandish costume (shocking - yawn) and I rang in the new year with my lovely wife.

I didn't even think of resolutions until this morning. I have always thought resolutions were like an admission of guilt or fault for what happened in the year previous. I have never said to myself "I resolve not to wake up on the neighbour's lawn in my underwear with a hangover ANY MORE" ... My resolutions always seemed so tame and silly in comparison. So what DO I want for 2012 for myself and my family?

I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I don't speed. I don't hit people, or get arrested, or eat too many unhealthy foods (although that's debatable), or yell, or argue excessively ... so what do I resolve?

First, I resolve to write more blog posts. I know, anticlimax. But I've been terribly remiss in December, what with three negotiations, Christmas, and all the running around, I had been putting off my posting until my "vacation", which ended up being even more hectic than work, with some work to boot. I will still call it as I see it in politics, even if it pisses off so many Conservatives. I am Liberal. It comes with caring about people. I also resolve not to be silenced by those who hate. That's a big one, I guess.

I resolve also to finish my novel. No surprise there. It's nearly finished, but inherent in this resolution is to make the novel amazing ... to polish it like a gem, and bring the last 120,000 words up to the same crisp level that the first 30,000 are. Lots of work to do there.
 

Next, I resolve to continue some things that have served me well in life and in temperment. I will get sick less, get more sleep, sing at random, eat well, love much, live well, forgive, forget the slights of others, and try to teach my kids how to be great people.

I will love my kids, even more than I already have. They are great kids, and even if I get frustrated I will remember that I was not an angel when I was little...

(If 'pinkie pie' pony is going to have her batteries eviscerated with a butter knife one night when she's not looking.... well, things happen.) Deep breath, it's all part of childhood.

At work, I will continue to do what I do for the members, and will do it with compassion and diplomacy. I will keep working toward returning to operating cranes, which is what I love doing, but I won't abandon the members in this area until I am sure my parting won't affect them. That may be never. Who knows...

 

On that little piece of property in the north country, I will try to build a house. It's my first time, and I'll try not to screw it up. Is that boring? I guess. It's not quite as crazy and shocking as someone who resolves not to shoot people, get off meth, or out of jail, or to see their kids instead of going to the clubs, but then, our resolutions are a reflection of who we are, no? I count my blessings that I have no catastrophic things to resolve. Maybe that's the only thing worth resolving, to continue to live well. I wish everyone health, happiness and peace in the New Year.


My wife, Jennifer's, blog can be found here:
Cleverly Disguised as Cake

And my first novel, squeakyclean, here:
eBook, pdf, mobi, epub, rtf, lrf, palm, txt
Kindle US
Kindle UK
Kindle Germany