Happy 2012!

Here we are, ready to ring in another year. I have so much to share with you guys. (Sorry I’ve been MIA – I was in Florida visiting my parents, friends and other family for the past week.) I could regale you with my latest Tarot card reading, my fun-filled Sunshine State moments, or my latest literary obsession, but I think I’m going to keep this streamlined and stick with the New Year’s theme.

So, in the spirit of what’s on most minds as we enter into 2012, I’m going to share my New Year’s resolutions with you. And, if you’ve been with me for a while, you know this is a monumental year for me, as I will be 40 toward the end of it. So, this year, my resolutions hold a little more weight.

You know I mean them. I'm vowing on my Robert Pattinson doll for fucks-sake.

Ready…

1. Spend more time with family. (This is obviously a reaction to the week long vacation I just spent with my Parents. However, the realization that they’re not getting any younger hit me hard this trip. I better savor every moment.)

2. Signal when I cross lanes and come to a full stop at “Stop” signs, rather than a gradual “roll-through.” (Clearly, I have “road issues.”)

3. Write more. (I know every writer says that everyday, but I mean it. I will write more in 2012.)

4. Car racing. I’m dying to go as fast as I can knowing that I won’t get a ticket!

5. Get healthier/exercise more. (Not a shocker of a resolution and I refer to The Baba Promise of 2011.)

6. Learn to do more than toast English Muffins, boil water, and heat-up chicken fingers. (I’m thinking grilled swordfish in a ginger soy sauce with grilled asparagus and pan-fried rice. For desert, perhaps a pecan pie with a little vanilla ice-cream on the side. Yum. A girl can dream. Maybe Mark will make it instead.)

**Do you like how number 6 directly follows my number 5 resolution of getting healthier? Totally unintentional.

7. I will go to a trapeze class. I know this sounds bizarre, but I’ve always wanted to fly through the air with only a net to catch me down below. (Mark and I were in Queenstown, New Zealand about 12 years ago, and I was dying to go bungee jumping in the town where it all started, but Mark wouldn’t let me. I figure this is a little safer version of that.)

8. Photography. I will get back into photography and will put all photos that have developed into a 2′ pile in the corner of my bedroom into their appropriate “albums.” (Ugh. This is the bane of my existence.)

9. Old friends. I will make more of an effort to stay connected to those I hold close in my heart, but rarely speak with or see.

10. Murphy. I will spend more quality time with my dog. I will walk her more and will be more attentive to her. (I may innocently ignore her, sometimes.)

11. The Chase Bank Manager at the corner branch, in town. I will not get annoyed with him. He bugs the shit out of me, but I will try to “let it go.” (I’ve snapped at him more than once.)

AND FINALLY…

12. Enjoy the little things, smile more, laugh more, and love more.

No looking back my friends. Just forward. Happy New Year! Here’s to a wonderful 2012!

Do you have any special resolutions?