New Year's REVolutions

I have decided to create a new concept.  Every year people make New Year's Resolutions to start on January 1st of the next year.  Basically, we come up a list of things that we would like to do to make our old acquaintances be forgotten and our auld lang syne-ing.  But I really think we should flip the script on this old way of thinking.  We are going to be 10 years in on this brand-spankin-new Millennium (had to use spell checker on that one).  Time to make something new out of something old.

The old way of thinking has us putting things on our list like: This year I plan to lose weight.  That is a noble goal.  We could all stand to lose a few poundages here and there (some of us more here and some of us more there).  But there is nothing wrong with the goal.  The only problem is that most of us never lose the weight!  Our goal in the year 2000 might have been to lose 5 lbs and NOW our goal is to lose 40 lbs (This goal has the potential to get worse as the years roll on).  So what does that mean??? That means we get to use it for the same goal for the next year!  That is awesome!

We also put things on our goal-list like:  I will give more to those in need (be it time, money, advice... whatever).  This goal also has merit.  The only problem is that the longer we are in this world the more we find out that WE are the ones that need the time.  We are the ones that need the money.  And we certainly are the ones that need the advice (I fall into all 3 of those categories).  That makes for another goal to be passed down to next year's resolutions.

We also get to use the goal that we plan to save/spend our money wisely.  This one is important.  But we all have different definitions of "wisely".  To some of us, wisely mean spending money on a more fuel efficient vehicle to save more money at the pump.  To others, wisely mean spending more money on a 52" Flat-Panel Sony 1080p HDTV so they can watch Desperate Housew.... I mean... FOOTBALL. **Ahem** Football.  Alas... the goal is a good goal but how do you know when you have met this goal?  I guess your definition of "wisely" will determine if/when this goal can be checked off the list.

There are hundreds of more resolutions, but as you have read just a few of these you will notice a trend.  We all seem to keep putting the same things over and over in our resolutions.  Well, the time to change is NOW!  I am calling for a paradigm (HA! I didn't have to use spell checker on this one.  I did, however, have to use the dictionary though to make sure it's the word I wanted to use) shift!  We need to stop this tradition of cutting and pasting resolutions from one year to the next! Let's bury those traditions and lists like I did all of my 80s Afro pics (they weren't pretty.  And don't tell my mother.  She still thinks I "borrowed" them to preserve them in a digital format. SUCKER!!... Don't tell her I said that either.  Remember this post?).

My crazy plan is that from now on we stop creating a forgettable To-Do list for the following year and we start creating an interesting To-DID list for the year that is ending.  Instead of recycling those good intentions lists for the next year we should start a list of all of the things we actually accomplished THIS year.  This will change the success rate of the lists.  Since most of us fail horribly on our resolutions this would be a way to see a list of 100% success.  To me, It would be much more rewarding.

So, at the time of writing this you have 2 days to answer the question: What did I complete this past year?  And your list is due Dec 31st at 11:59PM (odds say the due date should be earlier because as the clock winds down on the year the chances of doing something productive goes down as well.  Just call me around 11:00PM on the 31st for case and point).

For some of you this whole change is too last minute.  There's just too much to accomplish in such a short amount of time.  Don't worry.  We can make an exception in your case.  Just make it your New Year's Resolution for 2010.  That way it will SURELY get done!  Just add it to the list right below losing weight, or stop smoking, or get a better paying job, or to stop watching too much TV (minus Desperate Housewives), or to read more books... You get the picture.

(Excuse me for a moment while I add this to my 2010 New Year's Resolutions.  I spent too much time writing this into my blog.  I will have to opt for the exception as well.)

My Awesomest Gymnast!!!

It looks like I have finally convinced the judges to see things my way.  I have been telling them all along that my daughter is the AWESOMEST!  And they didn't believe me... until yesterday.

(Unfortunately, this post will not be too long because we still don't have the internet at our home.  Our NEW internet should be on Tuesday (we shall see).  2 1/2 weeks in the making)

Yesterday, my daughter competed in the State meet.  We were worried because of the disaster from last year.  Last year she fell off the beam (twice) and that was the very first event.  And for those that know gymnastics... there goes your whole meet.  But this year was different.

She started off interesting... We didn't have to wait long because she was the 3rd person on the vault.  So she lines up, addresses the judges, they give her the ok and she takes off down the runway (I'm pretty sure that it is not called the runway but she doesn't read my blog so I'm not worried about her correcting me).  I have seen this a few hundred times so I'm waiting for her to get to the takeoff line (another plane reference (not sure why)).  And she runs right by it!  She also ran by the springboard.  Then she ran past the horse as well!  I had no idea what that was all about.  She was supposed to jump, spring, flip and land.  She was 0 for 4.  As my 4-year old would say: "That's not supposed to happen."  Luckily, her walk back to the starting point gave me time to think about what had happen and to assure myself that she didn't, all of a sudden, start thinking she was running track.  That would have been embarrassing for all.

So she lines up (again), addresses the judges (another time), they give her the ok (come on, come on!) and she takes off down the tarmac (last airport reference... until the next one of course).  This time she stays on the path.  However, she jumps from the wrong side of the line.  If she had been bowling there would have been that annoying BUZZ that would have accompanied her step.  She also didn't hit the horse right.  And she didn't land right, either.  I just shrank in my seat.  I was mentally dusting off that "you'll do better next year" speech that I had used at last year's State.  But since she didn't actually jump on her first pass, she gets another.  This time she lines up and nails it!

To make this not-so-long story shorter... SHE WAS THE BEST!!!  With each event I was refiling the old speech in my mental rolodex (for the younger generation: mental iPhone contact list).  I editing all of my words line-by-line until I finally had to rename the speech.  It became the "how does it feel to be the best 11-year old gymnast in the state" speech.  That right!  My daughter won the Bronze on the Floor.  She won the Silver on the Beam.  She won the Gold on the Bars.  And she took the coveted GOLD in the ALL-AROUND!!!  I would have given her the Platinum but the medals don't go that high (except in the mind of the fathers).

I will say this... I kinda teared up a little bit.  And not in that "why do they keep killing off my favorite people on Desperate Housewives" kinda way (even though I haven't finished watching this past episode so please don't spoil it for me).  No, it was a much more.  It was that MANLY "I just stubbed my pinky toe really hard on the corner of the entertainment center while my kids were watching and I can't say a bad word or cry" kinda way.

Either way, I'm very excited!  I'm very proud!  I'm even more happy about that than about finally getting the internet back working at my house after 2 1/2 weeks.  But truth be told, getting the internet working again will probably make me do the above Desperate Housewives cry.  I will keep you posted.