Happy? New Year's Day

Twas the day after New Year's and all through the house,
not a person was stirring, not even a mouse.
The bottles were strewn on the floor without care
in the hopes that soon sober people would clean up there.

I've never under stood the tradition of staying up as late as possible to greet the new year, so that we can start it off with a riotous party and then collapse in to a coma. We torture our bodies, either with alcohol or unhealthy food, then we begin the brand-new year in some kind of pain, either a hangover or indigestion or some combination of other, easily avoidable ailments. I'd almost think it would be better to go to bed early, then wake up at midnight to greet the new year and actually spend some quality time with it, whatever that means to you.

Then we have resolutions. Now, I've never been a huge fan of New Year's resolutions, but I have been inspired this year. I'm not generally the kind of person who is dedicated enough to complete a daily goal for any period of time. I have multiple Journals with only a few, widely spaced entries, and my attempt to write a book this year went horribly awry as well. About the only thing I am sure to accomplish daily are my natural body functions, which apparently includes video games. Which, buy the way, is pretty much what I accomplished on January 1st this year; massive amounts of gaming.

However, I was inspired by a good friend this year to try and make something more out of myself. He did accomplish some great things this year. He had set a goal to become a better artist, so he took to drawing a "daily sketch." Over the course of the next 365 days, he drastically improved his artistic skills. He also successfully completed NaNoWriMo, and managed to write a 50,000 page novel in a month. So, as a tribute to him (or something), I've decided to take advantage of this New Year's Day and make a couple of resolutions for myself.

Number one: I am going to write more. I'm resolving to write something worthwhile every week, whether it be here on this blog, or a novel I'm working on, or appreciative notes to my wife for what she does for me. (Note to all guys; regardless of your marital status, all girls love these kinds of notes. Especially mothers.) There are two reasons that this isn't a daily goal. Firstly, I'm a full-time worker and a part time student with a wife and daughter, and another one on the way. Secondly, I know I won't achieve a daily goal, but I have had success with weekly goals in the past, so here we are.

Number two: I am going to spend more time with my daughter. Our daily schedules tend to conflict, but I am going to make sure to take advantage of the little time we do have. Because she is only 18 months old, she sleeps a lot, so the only time I'm home and she's awake tends to be between 6 and 8 pm. Of course this means more than just holding her on my lap while the TV is on, (except on Mondays at 7, when Chuck is on.) Now that wife will be taking evening classes, I am going to get plenty of time alone with our little girl, and I want it to be more meaningful than just her watching Daddy play Epic Mickey and Little Big Planet. Until, of course, she's old enough to play along.

I wish you all luck with whatever you choose as your endeavors for the new year, and if you are interested in mine, you can see how I'm doing right here. And if I know you're watching, I can make sure I'm doing something too, so you are keeping accountable. Sound like fun?