2018

I always make a list of New Year’s resolutions.  

In the past, those resolutions were based on what I won’t do, rather than what I will.

I won’t eat sugar.  I won’t procrastinate. I won’t feel guilty.

But those resolutions have never gotten me anywhere.

So, this year I thought I might think about those things I want to add to my life.  Not subtract.

2018….

I will call you rather than text you.  At least sometimes.

I will take a hot bath at 6pm.  With bubbles and oils.

I will play “I spy” by myself in the car when I go to the grocery store.

I will buy pappardelle egg noodles rather than thin spaghetti for dinner.

I will learn the names of all the trees on my property.

I will sign up for a life drawing class even though I can’t draw.

I will become a rabid sports fan and wear a team shirt.

I will write down what I remember about all my relatives.

I will write a poem.

I will go to the movies by myself.  In the afternoon.

I will change my hair.  It’s been the same since 1982.

I will plan an exotic trip for the fall and cut out articles about it.

I will go to a lecture on something scientific that I know nothing about.

I will write my best friend a love letter.

I will watch old reruns of “Frasier” and “Seinfeld” at night after my husband goes to sleep.

I will sit in the church at the end of the street in the late afternoon.

I will buy a beautiful blue sweater.

I will learn to play suduko.

I will buy a rubber cap with flowers and swim on Tuesdays.

I will write a letter to my daughter about my life.  Things she doesn’t know.

I will sit with my back to the fire until I can’t any more.

I will have pink peonies in the house on the sill in the kitchen.

I will order what I really want in my favorite restaurant. Not what I think I should eat.

I will pick up a leaf and study the back of it when I walk in the woods in the fall.

I will go in all the stores in my town that I’ve never gone in.

I will read during the day. During the week.  And not feel guilty.

I will have my hair washed and blown dry for no apparent reason.

I will eat sugar, procrastinate and feel guilty sometimes.  

I will understand that old habits die hard.

I will.

2018.