Resolutions, Part II

Where was I? Oh, right: I enjoy making resolutions just as I love "fresh starts" . . . like Mondays . . . except due to phone calls & delivery trucks, I haven't had much of a chance to "start" my day yet! :)

In the past, I've made unrealistic New Year's Resolutions. They've been too generalized and all-encompassing. Things like "eat better" or "lose weight". Nuh-uh. Ain't gonna happen that way.

(Geez, one hour and 5 minutes later, and all I've gotten written are these two tiny paragraphs! What a busy morning!)

So, this year I made (somewhat) realistic resolutions. Three, in fact. (Although there was another I shared with Tom yesterday over our yummy brunch, but that's already flown out of my feeble mind . . . .)

1. To stop swearing . . . in front of my parents. I told Tom I was going to try to stop swearing altogether, to which he provided me an EASY out by saying, "What?! You hardly swear at all!" So then, I amended it to the above 'cause I know they really, really dislike it. I've only seen them 1x since the 1st of the year and wasn't even conscious of my resolution that night. So, Mom, how did I do??

2. and 3. To return telephone calls and e-mails . . . in a timely fashion. There are currently 18 messages on the voicemail awaiting my attention, and 1,674 e-mails in my Inbox (already read but) needing responses. HOW pathetic is that?!

The telephone is my biggest hurdle. As the years have passed, I've just REALLY become adverse to talking on the phone. Part of it is the (less-than-ideal) phone service since we've moved up here AND the commonality of folks using cellphones now instead of landlines. I just HATE it when I can't hear 110% perfectly clearly. And, that does not happen with our phone system . . . and it's doubly bad when people call using their cellphones.

That fourth resolution is still elluding me, and I've even asked Tom if he remembers what it was (he doesn't).

Another task I ALWAYS want to be better at is getting ALL the Christmas cards out in time (I have N-E-V-E-R gotten them ALL out before Christmas) . . . but it seems silly to make a resolution that I can hardly even start working on for another 10 months, you know?

Then, I'm back to those too-generalized / all-encompassing ones that are in the back of my mind year-round like:

• To be more organized.

• To take better care of the dogs / cat (brushing them more, taking time to give them more love & attention).

• To be a better farmer (do chores right away in the morning and see them through to completion [i.e. replace the wood shavings in ALL the nest boxes instead of just the worst ones], etc.). Matter of fact, this is one of the reasons I haven't really been push, push, pushing for (us to get) our cow 'cause I need to know I CAN get out there each day to milk her right away and not have her moo-ing in pain and discomfort until I do haul my rear outside.

Anyway, those are my constant "challenges" for 2009. Any of you want to share yours?