Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year!

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year? I always do. Here's my list for this year:

- Don't dress mice and birds in cute little outfits.

- Don't eat magic beans or witch-infested gingerbread houses.

- Never, ever wear glass slippers.

- Write every day.

- Tell my family how much I love them on a daily, if not hourly, basis (because one can never say "I love you" too many times and life is too short not to say it as often as possible).

- Don't worry about clucking like a chicken in public. It's okay to say something stupid every so often. In fact, given the number of stupid things that swirl through my head on a daily basis, it's pretty much statistically impossible to avoid.

- Be happy for everything that goes right and don't obsess over the things that go wrong. Remember how lucky I am. Knock on wood a lot so that wood spirits don't get pissed at me for thinking about how lucky I am.

- Don't annoy any wood spirits.

- Remember to put hair gel in the back of my hair. Just because I can't see the curls back there doesn't mean other people can't.

- Learn to cook something other than grilled cheese sandwiches. Perhaps a nice grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. (Any suggestions? Note: I'm not interested in any meal that takes longer than, say, five minutes to prepare.)

- Keep the house clean(er). Marginally hygenic would be a good goal. Currently, the crumbs on the kitchen floor would be enough to feed a small family of raccoons for the winter, and the dust bunnies under the dresser have been there for so long that they're close to achieving sentience.

- Remember to feed the cat, even if it's after midnight and the night's chapter is going well.

- Don't ride in pumpkins after midnight.

- Try to convince everyone that 2009 is the Year of the Polar Bear in honor of my new book.

- Revamp my website for my new book.

- Blog more.

- Email friends more.

- Eat more fruit and veggies.

- Don't cut back on eating chocolate. I know I'll never keep that kind of resolution so why set myself up for failure? It will only depress me and lower my confidence in my ability to keep the other resolutions on this list.

- Keep the resolutions on this list.

Good luck with your resolutions! And I wish you all a very happy, healthy, and magical 2009!