There’s Still Time!

Today is the 316th day of the year which means there are now fewer than fifty days until that night we leave our friend’s New Year’s Eve party and fall into that hydrangea bush again. What’s worse, this is the absolutely fastest fifty days on the calendar, so the year is, for all intents and purposes, now over. Which is grim news for folks like me still clinging to New Year’s Resolutions made in the heat of guilt the better part of a year ago.

In case you missed my post (how could you miss one of my posts?!) here’s a refresher for you. (The numbers in parentheses were the odds of the given resolution being kept past January 15.)

1. This is my “No Help Here” category which, despite its name, was actually intended to help people. I haven’t really done that. In 2009 I resolve to try and help people on this blog beyond just the usual entertainment and commiseration. (42%) Don’t worry, though. It’ll still be funny. (98%)
2. I resolve to lose more weight, exercise more often, and blah dee blah blah blah. (28%)
3. Remember the Alternate Reality #1 post last year? Well, I still have a strong interest in music. I should spend more time with it. In fact, I resolve to re-learn how to play the third movement of Moonlight Sonata by the end of this year. (17%)
4. I like to write. I’ve been trying to write, in one form or another, for nearly sixteen years now. I’m already working on my next book. (Actually, it’s a three-book series.) I resolve to finish the first pass of the first book by the time I re-learn how to play the third movement of Moonlight Sonata. (14%)
5. I resolve to finally get the garage cleaned out. (2%)

So how’s reality stacking up to the plan? Well, let’s take a look:

1. I know I helped one person because she sent me a lovely note about it a couple weeks ago, so I’ll count this one as done. And I think things are mostly still humorous around here.
2. Lose more weight? Well, yes, technically. I began 2009 at around 210 pounds and I made it all the way down to 193.5 on June 30, before everything sorta fell apart. But now I’m back around 205. Upside? Still technically less than where I started, and I shouldn’t complain about that. Downside, I’m up over 12 pounds from my low point. But don’t worry, next year I resolve to lose more weight, exercise more often, and blah dee blah blah blah.
3. No progress whatsoever. I hardly get to play at all.
4. When I wrote, “I resolve to finish the first pass of the first book by the time I re-learn how to play the third movement of Moonlight Sonata” I meant that to be a synonym for “by the end of this year.” Of course, now that I’m reading it 315 days later, the so-big-you-can-drive-a-truck-through-it loophole is definitely going to work in my favor. That said, I don’t want to wait that long. While there’s no way I’ll finish the first draft by year’s end, I’m definitely making progress, and that’s far more than I can say over the last sixteen years.
5. I took two days off last week to clean the garage. The garage is not clean. But it’s cleaner. Not a lot, mind you, but every little bit helps. At least I finally threw out (what used to be) $15,000 worth of computer equipment. Funny how something can go from shiny and exciting to worthless pile of metal and plastic in fifteen short years.

So there you go. How are your resolutions doing? There’s still time!