It's that time again.
The holidays are over and now it's time to look toward the New Year, a time when we are prone to make resolutions so we can be better people. I always want to be a better person, but back in 2016, I decided I was no longer going to make any New Year's Resolutions. I mean, what's the point? If I decided I was going to cut down on my wine drinking, by January 2, I had a glass of wine in my hand. If I decided I was going to lose weight, by January 2, I was eating a donut followed by some wine. And if I decided to not spend any more money, by January 15, two boxes from Amazon arrived while I was drinking some wine.
So I decided to make "Un-Resolutions," resolutions about what I was NOT going to do in the New Year (and if you are interested, here is my original post about that from 2016 - "My New Year's Un-Resolutions." )
But now time has passed and much has happened since 2016.
First of all, was I able to keep my "Un-Resolutions" from 2016?
Sort of.
I didn't gain any more weight. In fact, I lost weight. When I get stressed, I stop eating, and moving back to my hometown after 14 years away was stressful, so since making that un-resolution, I actually lost weight.
If you read that original post, on numbers 2,3,4,7 and 8, I confess that I didn't do so well, because the state of the world has deteriorated quite a bit since then, but I have kept my resolutions to NOT stop watching TV (good thing, since the pandemic, what else is there to do?), and I have completely given up on Oprah discovering my blog.
But even though I was not able to keep all of my un-resolutions from 2016, that doesn't mean I'm not going to continue on my "un-resolutions" resolution. It just means more have come to mind, so if you will indulge me, here are some new Un-Resolutions for the coming year.
I will NOT send out Christmas cards anymore.
With everything that has happened, this holiday season doesn't put me in a celebratory mood. For one thing, not everyone celebrates Christmas and who needs the added stress of sending out Christmas cards before Christmas when there is so much to do and so little to do after Christmas when nothing much happens?
So if you have been on my Christmas card list and thought I wasn't thinking of you because you didn't receive a Christmas card from me this year, you would be wrong. I am thinking of you. I'm just not sending you a card. But if I had sent you a card, this is the one I would have sent you!
I will NOT be a victim of a scam.
I will NOT impulse buy.
After two (or more) glasses of wine, I sometimes get the urge to hop onto Amazon on the computer and buy the latest item showcased on "Shark Tank."
And then while sipping my glass of wine, I might think of something else I need.
It's just so easy to hit that old "Buy Now" button. Sip. It makes me feel good that Amazon knows who I am, where I live, my credit card number. It's just all so easy. Sip. But, no. No, no, no. Sip.
When Hubby's snoring keeps me awake, I will NOT give him a big nudge and yell in his face "Stop snoring!"
Though it is highly efffective, it is not very nice and scares the crap out of Hubby.
I am NOT going to do any more remodeling ever again.
When we moved to our current home a few years ago, we redid all of the bathrooms, the kitchen, added hardwood and a gas fireplace, and believe it or not, before we moved we had just renovated the kitchen of that other house... and then we moved...so TWO kitchen remodels in the space of a year.
It's nice to have a brand new kitchen or bathroom, but the getting there is soul destroying. So I have instructed my kids to shoot me if I say I want to redo the kitchen or bathroom ever again even though we need new windows, new flooring, it sure would be nice to paint... Stop it, Rosy! (You can relive my pain here if you want to - "My New Kitchen, or How I Survived a Kitchen Remodel.")
I am NOT going to use cooking as therapy anymore.
You see, when I am at loose ends, I tend to cook.
Like really cook...A LOT. I like to try various recipes, like three or four at a time. You see, for me, it's not so much about eating the food, it's more about making the food and tasting the food, so then when I am done, there is a lot of food that somebody has to eat. My cooking forays are usually following by Hubby shouting, "Who's going to eat all of this food?" Oops.
I am NOT going to stop exercising, even though my gym closed and I am tired of going for walks.
In the meantime, I have taken up YouTube exercise videos for old folks, some of which are a major hoot, especially the ones on yoga. However, I can't believe how difficult really easy yoga is. I can't even keep up with 80-year-old Betty who is trying to teach me from the living room in her trailer. And no, I refuse to do chair yoga. How can you do yoga in a chair? And anyway, that's for really old, creaky people, but geez. I can barely get down on the floor anymore without feeling like a beached whale. And getting back up? Forget it. But I will carry on as long as I can.
I have never missed a "Bachelor" or "Bachelorette" in all the years it has aired on television, even though as time went by I felt like I needed to take a shower after watching. I know. How could someone as erudite as myself watch such a show? Well, um, I am one of those people who has a sort of perverted loyalty to things. Even though I don't really want to watch, I feel since I had started and already given this show so many years of my life, I needed to continue or somehow I would miss something or even feel guilty for giving up on it. I know, it's a strange obsession that explains why I still watch "The Challenge" on MTV and "Sister Wives!"
"The Challenge" is a reality show starring ex-reality stars, most of whom were on "Real World (another obsession, but in my defense one of the original of all reality shows)" and some other MTV shows and was meant to give out-of-work MTV reality kids something to do. The contestants go through a series of physical challenges to win money. Funny thing is, though, this show has been going on for so long that some of those "kids" are no longer kids. In fact, they are probably grandparents by now. As for "Sister Wives," I can't explain that one.
But anyway, I know I need to break this addiction to certain reality shows, starting with "The Bachelor," but then, just when I am going to take it out of my taping queue, I think, okay, I would miss the really crazy girl that is always a part of the show every season and the host saying "This will be the most dramatic Bachelor ever" and then I think, okay, I will just watch the first episode...
I am NOT going to yell at Hubby for playing his harmonica when I am trying to watch "The Bachelor..."
... er, I mean, when I am trying to watch my usual very intellectual and serious television fare, like PBS or the news or "60 Minutes." Hubby is a really talented musician and plays the harmonica well, but we live in a small home, and I just don't like the sound of a harmonica that much and have been known to yell "Knock it off!" I will NOT do that anymore. But I think I come by that naturally, as they say. My Dad was a musician and played the trumpet and my mother made him practice down in the basement. At least, I don't do that. Wait, we don't have a basement!
I am NOT going to get on a plane for awhile, though, I also do NOT plan on giving up on travel.
I have a Swedish cousin whom I love, and who, when our son did his foreign exchange in Sweden, looked after him. She and her husband, Lars, meet up with us every time we go to Europe, so I don't want to think I will never do that again.
I have documented my many European trips on this blog, everything from Sweden to England to Ireland to Italy, Venice, Prague, Reykjavic, and more. It's my jam, so give me that damn vaccine and I'm on a plane outta here!
I will NOT get the virus.
Even though I am bored stiff, I am staying home more and, when I do go out, I stay away from people and with all of the new viruses to worry about I might wear a mask even though it messes up my hair, gives me acne and makes me look stupid. But I am doing my part to not get the virus and to make sure others don't get it either.
2022 update: I did get it!
I have also decided that I will NOT be held hostage by other people's agendas.
All of this staying at home has given me plenty of time to reflect, on life, on my mortality, on relationships and how I am spending my time.
I was taught that you are supposed to sacrifice for your loved ones, family and friends, that it's important to sometimes do things you don't really want to do, because you are doing them to make others happy. That's what family and friends should do. I still believe in that, but now that I have been face to face with the grim reality of my own mortality, and add to that the fact that I am old and have less time on this earth anyway, I will be less inclined and patient when led astray on someone else's journey. Among loved ones and true friends, there should be no jealousy or competitiveness. We should respect each other enough to be on time, to honor our commitments and to not bail on each other, to listen to them, to not be self-serving and thoughtless. Oh, and don't get me started on mansplaining and pompous asses.
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Even in the best of times, life is short, and the pandemic has shown us not only that life is short, but that anything can happen at any time. Sadly, it has also exposed our true colors and many of our fellow humans have not stepped up to the plate to care for others. I'm too old to put up with much these days, and especially after everything we have been through in the last few years, I want to spend what time I have left caring for others and with those who show they care.
Anyway, finally, I am NOT going to remember the last few years fondly, but I DO look forward to the New Year.
Nothing like a global pandemic has ever happened in my lifetime, and I've been around for awhile, and I think we have all come out of it forever changed. What I am hopeful about, though, is that we have come out of it changed for the better with more positive behavior - that we will be grateful to be alive and, because of that, we will have developed compassion for our fellow humans who have also been through this and that we will subsequently have a willingness to sacrifice for the greater good. May we all NOT be self-serving and thoughtless.
Happy New Year everyone!
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