New Year's Eve

I neglected to mention that Sun was my 4 year blogiversary! Hard to believe, but its true. What kind of gift does one give for the 4th year? According to this website its flowers, fruit, and appliances. Any and all virtual gifts will be warmly received and appreciated!

Well, its New Year's Eve and I am tempted to make a few resolutions. Most people speak disparagingly about New Year's resolutions, since most are not resolutions at all, but rather, wishful intentions that are forgotten within a week.

Here are the top 10 most frequent New Year's resolutions:

1. Diet
2. Quit smoking
3. Exercise
4. Quit drinking
5. Quit procrastinating
6. Save money
7. Go to church
8. Wake up early
9. Quit cursing
10. Read the newspaper

I, on the other hand, like to make a few resolutions each year that I really work to achieve. I also make sure my resolutions are measurable so I will know for sure I have accomplished them. "Stop procrastinating" is not a good resolution, as there is no real way to measure whether or not you've done this.

One year my resolution was to entertain on a regular basis. Spouse & I picked a weekend in every month and invited friends over for dinner both Fri and Sat nights. We did it, too, and had a LOT of fun. The dinners were often simple, and we ate casually in the kitchen instead of the formal dining room. It also forced us to do a really good/deep housecleaning once a month.

Another year my resolution was to sort, throw away, organize and file several bags/boxes of paperwork (ie: bank statements, paystubs, real estate documents, insurance documents, etc.) we had accumulated over several years. We did this, too, and will never again let our paperwork get out of hand. It was so frustrating to KNOW we had our car titles and birth certificates SOMEWHERE, but not be able to find them when we needed them.

This year my resolution is to enrich other peoples' lives (and my own) by doing something unexpected and nice for them, at least once a month for the entire year. Such random acts of kindness could include sending a friend a funny e-card for no special reason, sending Spouse flowers to his office for no special occasion, making cookies or brownies for a neighbor, donating to a charity, you get the picture.

Tonight Spouse & I are going to a New Year's Eve party at a friend's house, but I think we will sneak out at 11:30. Why would we leave a New Year's Eve party before midnight? Well, a neighbor told me that a neighbor on a nearby street rigs up his very own 'dropping of the ball' at midnight, and I want to see it! Apparently neighbors gather shortly before midnight to watch and enjoy this miniature replica of the famous Times Square event.

Whatever your plans tonight, I wish you a SAFE and FUN New Year's Eve celebration, and a...

I leave you with this.

Crush du Jour: Anton Antipov