"All of us every single year, we're a different person. I don't think we're the same person all our lives."*

   It’s snowing again today. I think I’ve almost had my fill of the snow. It's very cold and slippery and in this particular case it's covering a layer of ice from a rainstorm two weeks ago. Every time I go outside, I pray that I won't break an ankle. Especially since my favorite boots are essentially made of plastic.

   I was, however, inspired enough to draw this picture for you to enjoy:

This is a sort of Russian Doll snow globe. 

   It’s a nod to the snow and has nothing to do with Christmas, which is LONG OVER. It’s over, Hy-Vee and KGOR and Whole Foods and A.B.’s, and Dundee Presbyterian, so stop with the damn Christmas music! I HATE IT! (Except for “Last Christmas,” which is awesome and I love.)

This is Dundee Presbyterian. Their bell tower plays music all day. I took this picture while walking home from Emily's parents' house. After taking this picture I slipped off the curb in my plastic boots and bit it on a short snowbank.

   Anyway, it’s the New Year (why does that have to be capitalized? Dumb.) and I have a few resolutions that I’d like to pass along to you. This is going to be my best year ever, especially if I can keep my resolutions going at least as far as February.

   Resolutions for 2013

1. Exercise every single day of the entire year. This will ensure that this year will finally be the year when I get in shape for once and for all. Maybe sometime around September or October, once I’ve gotten a decent exercise groove going, I’ll throw in a couple marathons or something. I want one of those 26.2 bumper stickers that everyone else has.

2. Stop sleeping for 12 hours every other night. I used to think that 12 hour sleep-a-thons made up for the nights when I logged about 5-6 hours (work nights, super productive nights, cleaning rampages), but truly I don’t think sleep is cumulative. At least not for me. So I’m going to attempt an average of 8-9 hours every night. Which leads me to…

3. Stop going to bed at 4 in the morning. That creates a ridiculous lack of sleep and the whole next day is essentially wasted because I’m too tired to function. Instead of having one day be super productive and the next day be completely unproductive, I’m going to aim to be sort of average every day of the year (hooray for average!). I feel like that’s how grown-ups do it.

4. Wash off make-up every single night. An easier solution would be to stop wearing make-up, but I look like a 67-year-old woman without make-up…and now that I think about it, it’s possible that my face is old and wrinkly because I don’t wash off my make-up. But I doubt it. I think it has more to do with years of smoking, mild-to-moderate sun exposure; too much smiling and heinous bad luck. But I’m sure the make-up I’m sleeping in isn’t helping, either.

5. Find a hobby. (This is probably self-explanatory.)

6. Make some new friends. (Embarrassing and sad but necessary. And it's always good to meet new people.)

That ought to be enough to keep me busy until February.

I am so glad it’s 2013! Not that 2012 was super bad, but it wasn’t the best and I hate numbers that end in two, so the whole year was somewhat destined to be stressful. 

*Steven Spielberg said this.