Happy New Year--And Pass Me The Nasal Spray

2011 is upon us--time to start the New Year with a bang.

Unfortunately, mine is starting with a whimper as I have contracted an upper respitory infection. It will also be beginning with a trip to the mall as our puppy ate a hole in the quilt on my bed while my son was "watching" her.

Okay, so we're not off to a stellar opening.

I always find it hard to muster a lot of cheer for the start of a new year because I am a holiday junkie. A new year means the that the wonderful holiday stretch from Thanksgiving through January 1st is over. We now have the long winter laid out ahead before any major holidays appear. I don't count Valentine's Day as a big holiday because the only way I get a box of chocolates is if I buy them myself.

When the kids were young and would become sad when the Christmas tree had to come down, I would remind them that we now have a whole year ahead of us to do all of the fun things we did last year over again. I try to remind myself of that "blank slate" before me that is full of possiblities and promises, not only to do things over but also to do them better.

I am not big on resolutions because when I "resolve" to do something, I always feel terrible when those expectations are not met. Instead, I like to set goals that require a number of steps to reach them. That way, at least accomplishing some of these steps means I'm on my way to achieving that goal.

Over the last two years, my main goal has been to compete in walking races, working my way up to the Crim 10-mile race and hopefully placing in some of them. I'm happy to report that I had three third place finishes last year and placed in the top 15 in my age group in my first 10-mile race. Mission accomplished.

Among my goals for 2011, I have decided to:

-Increase my speed in races to get below a 12-minute mile.
-Take at least one writing class
-Keep better contact with friends, especially those living out-of-state
-Eat more chocolate

As you can tell, I like to throw one in there that is really easy to reach.

No matter what your goals are for 2011, I hope you meet them. May the new year be filled with promise and potential, and may all your expectations come true.

And may you also get to eat lots of chocolate.