525, 600 minutes=1 year

Huh? Another year has rolled around? Where did all those 525, 600 minutes go? How many of them did I WASTE? Too many, I am afraid. It has been a crazy year, but isn't our life always crazy in one way, shape or form? That's a rhetorical question because those of you who know us know that we have never known any other kind of lifestyle!

I am starting a list here of resolutions. You know the regular ones: lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier. Yada, yada, yada....Aren't those all a given? My daughter, Jenny, started hers early and has been smoke free for 4 days! Wow! So, I already told her my first one tonight. I didn't know what it was until I made it:

1) All of my children and grandchildren will be passport holders yet this year so they are able to visit us anywhere in the world. If we can't get them here, maybe we can meet in Paris, or Jamaica (yeah, yeah, Jamaica, mon!) or something!

2) I will complete a 50 mile (80 km) endurance ride here in Qatar or in the U.S. No guarantees about surviving it, just finishing it. Personally, I'd love to do the Shore to Shore 250 again......I'm not that crazy.....it will take me more than 7 months to be ready for THAT!

3) Visit another country we have not yet been in (layovers during flights home do not count!), preferably Egypt, Oman, UAE, someplace Middle Eastern or European. Hey, we went to Paris last summer and actually spent a little time there. :)

4) Research and present my research at more professional conferences, especially in reading. The more I teach, the more I see the NEED for more reading in this country. I want to find out how I can make that happen!

5) Continue improving myself as a teacher....I learn more and more with each passing semester from my colleagues and especially my students. It's an amazing process.

6) Have more fun with FRIENDS. Slow down and make those stops to say HI and chat. Have more BBQ potlucks.

7) Have more fun with NELSON. My status reports that the top ten words on my list includes Nelson as the #1 word. So, why aren't we having fun yet? Well, we are, but not enough. Here's my resolution for that: A hug a day, every day, no excuses!

8) Learn the names of all the people in our lives who try to be shadows due to race or culture or perceived status, and thank them for whatever it is they do in our lives: it's the right thing to do.

9) Count at least one thing each day that I am thankful for....doing that at Thanksgiving on Facebook was fun and enlightening. I should do it everyday, on or off Facebook!

10) Learn more about the ugly things in the world, so I can be more politically active and make informed decisions and have informed opinions. I may live "abroad," but I don't feel I have a broad sense of the world and what is happening in it. It's too easy to let myself become encapsulated in the little world of Qatar University, my job, my students, my own aches, pains, and complaints. I need to look outside my window and see what's beyond, learn what's out there, and if nothing else, seek truth and recognize injustice when I see it.

OK, that's a good start. Maybe I'll add more later. Officially, it is 2010 here now although it won't be for another 8 hours back home. Time for bed and another new year's resolution: Get more sleep!