Welcome 2010!

Hi neighbors. A new year is here! Did you watch the lighted ball drop in New York City's Times Square?

I like watching the people trying to figure out a way to stay warm while they stand around for several hours in the open air waiting for the big moment.

As much as I like watching it on television, I don't know if I would have the stamina to stand outside on New Year's Eve in New York!

I do celebrate some New Year's Day traditions though. One includes black-eyed peas and cornbread. The black-eyed peas are a southern tradition that supposedly brings good luck for the coming year if eaten on New Years' Eve.

The cornbread doesn't have any special significance other than I like cornbread. I don't know if it is supposed to bring luck or not, but I feel lucky to have it to eat when I get it.

My mother had another tradition that I sometimes follow and more often forget. She said if you put out some money (usually a penny or other coin) just before midnight and run out to bring it in right after midnight, you will be "bringing in money" all year.

I remember well trying to pry frozen nickels and dimes from ice covered porch steps in my pajamas as a kid.

Since I'm old enough to stay awake till midnight, I thought, I decided to try that this year. Well, I tried to stay awake until New York's midnight which was an hour before ours.

Unfortunately with each New Year come New Year resolutions.

One resolution I've made already and even started acting on in December was lowering my obligations to better match the time I had to offer.

It was really difficult to pry myself away from club and organization duties. But I really don't understand how other people can work a full-time job and still have time (and energy) to meet social obligations.

Now my job is pretty much my main obligation other than my family. I can't do anything before work but prepare for work. I can't do anything after work but recuperate and feign an interest in family conversation and television while secretly dozing in my chair.

I suppose other people have more energy, and who knows, maybe I will soon after "cutting back" on other commitments.

That leads to my other New Year's resolution -- get more exercise and improve my diet.

Of course, I make that resolution every year and so far the resolution only lasted as long as my determination. My determination seems to fizzle out about half-way through March each year. Beware the Ides of March takes on a whole new meaning for me.

My friend Flossie said she wasn't going to make any new resolutions this year, since she is only part way through with last year's. One of Flossie's resolutions last year was to visit Washington, D.C., as a tourist instead of as a T-shirt wearing member of a protest march.

Flossie protests a lot of things. She once said she wasn't all that enthusiastic about some of her "causes" but she did like collecting T-shirts.

She hasn't made it to Washington, D.C., as a tourist yet, but she didn't go to walk in a protest march either. She's half-way through that resolution, as she said.

Her other resolution was to see more movies at the theater instead of waiting for the DVD to come out.

She has attended 52 movies within the last 11 months and enjoyed most of them. A few she put on her "protest march" list.

She said she has limited her DVD buying to rock concerts and complete seasons of television series. Her logic is that rock concerts are better on the small screen for several reasons. You don't have to travel, it's cheaper than tickets and you can adjust the volume. She added that no one would throw up on her shoes in her own living room.

She buys the television series season by season so she doesn't have to "commit" to watching a show on its own terms. On the DVD she can watch without waiting for commercials.

I like these resolutions because it makes gift giving to Flossie a lot easier.

Until the next time friends remember we all make choices and we all make promises. When we choose to keep a promise, even one to ourselves, we are more likely to make it through another year. Have a Happy 2010!