Happy New Year!

It's not the start of the new year (January 1), or the new school year (because let's face it... I'm sooo far out of school. But I'd go back at a moment's notice for any number of disciplines. It's the truth.). It's not the beginning of fall, calendar-wise or temperature-wise, as the mercury is predicted to top out over 95 degrees today. (Ugh. ENOUGH with the hot!)

But I'm treating it as a personal new year. As in, I'm spending today doing the things that I'd like to carry forward into the next several months.

• Spending quality time - and not just time-in-the-same-room - with hubby and the animals.
• Getting organized. (Yes, while I hate cleaning, I'll be doing some much needed scrubbing/purging. If you're looking for kitchen supplies or clothes, you should email me at days' end. I'll totally be able to help you out.)
• Making music. I have a date with a piano and some seriously fabulous poetry.
• Writing lesson plans. I'm teaching this class in a few weeks, and need to reconstruct my LPs from the first go round. I also need to update my pop music binder. Wheeee!
• Gym. Just for an hour, but I'll be there. For an hour. One.
• Eating well and healthfully. 
• Taking time to reflect and be grateful.

Ok, so it's a big list. But the great thing is that not one of these things needs to take up all the whole day...I can parcel them out, spend an hour on one, thirty minutes on another (hmmm....maybe I'll shorten that gym slot...), two hours on another. The amount of time doesn't matter as much as fitting them all in, to some degree. And, after several days of relaxation at Chez les Oncles, I'm ready to dive in.

Right now? I'm working on that last one. Sitting on the porch, coffee in hand. Thanking the neighbors for making sure our (overfull) garbage can made it to the curb while we were relaxing at the beach. Watching a little female cardinal hop on the railing towards me, head cocked, not sure if she should be nervous or not. (Watching the cat watch the cardinal...you don't need to be afraid of me, but the cat? Perhaps.) Noticing that the porch needs a good sweep, that the plants need a drink, and deciding that maybe my tidying cycle will begin out here.

What's your not-so-new-year's resolution?

My five:

1. Time away from normal routines.
2. Great friends and neighbors.
3. Sore muscles.
4. Generosity.
5. Time.

Edited to add: It's 9:08pm on the first day of my own personal "new year." Items 1, 2, and 7 are totally checked off: I purged my wardrobe, the office, the linen closets, took three big bags of trash out and have 3 boxes and 2 bags ready for Goodwill! (Call dibs, my darlings - some of this stuff is CUTE, even if it's not me.) And I sang along with the MusicSource mix aaaaall day - am a wee bit hoarse from it! So I got some of the music-making covered...kinda.

I also ate a bag of cool ranch doritos, three big handfuls of tiny-yet-evil oatmeal (read: BUTTER) cookies, 2 glasses of sangria, and a full-on steak dinner. I did not go to the gym, write any music or lesson plans. So, while I didn't sit still all day? I didn't work out and I ate a bunch of my favorite foods. 
I guess I'd consider today a win.