A New Year Brings New Resolutions

Happy New Year! 2013 has arrived, and with the arrival of the New Year comes the arrival of new resolutions. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past month thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2013. Coming to terms with the resolutions of 2012, what was successful and what was not, was a month-long task, but it was one that allowed me to determine what I wanted to put on my list of resolutions for 2013. Again, I think the list should be a rather short one. The more things we include, the more difficult it is to achieve them.

It would be easy to include my two most successful resolutions from last year as resolutions for this year. The two successful resolutions were trying a new recipe every week and updating readers every month about the success, or lack thereof, of keeping my resolutions. It would be easy to tweak the recipe resolution to trying two new recipes per week, but I think that now that we are in the habit of trying at least one new recipe per week, we will continue to do so just because we like trying new dishes. Since the goal was such a success (85 new recipes in 2012), I don’t think simply increasing the number of recipes would make for a great resolution for 2013. Therefore, this will not be on the resolutions list for this year; what is now a habit cannot be a resolution. There’s not a lot I could do to tweak the updating goal. However, just because it’s not a resolution does not mean you will not be updated. As with the recipes resolution from last year, this one has become a habit, and as a result, at the end of the month, you will get the update on my success or failure for the month. It’s just not a resolution in and of itself this year.

That said, there were three resolutions where I did not achieve the blaring success that I had with the aforementioned ones. Those resolutions related to my writing, my reading, and my weight loss. As such, those three will be tweaked and new resolutions will be set. Because I like having five resolutions, I will also add two new resolutions for 2013.

Resolution # 1 – Writing. I will continue to write something every day, and I will continue to post to the blog every day. These things have become habit for me, and habits cannot be resolutions, so while I will continue to do them, they are not the resolution for 2013. Last year, I said I wanted to work on my project at least two days per week. As we know, that did not work out. Here’s the thing. This project has now been in the works for a year and a half, and that’s just since I revived it. It had been sitting there for a while before its revival. I guess the good news is that I have been working on it over that year and a half, while the bad news is that I haven’t been working on it nearly enough. Therefore, my resolution for writing is to finish the project. When I update you about the success or failure of my writing resolution each month, I’m not going to focus on whether I wrote every day or whether I missed a blog. The real goal here is to finish the project by the end of 2013. And when it is finished, I will reveal what it is.

Resolution # 2 – Reading. I set a goal to read 75 books in 2012. Although I did manage to break my personal record for number of books read in a year, I did not meet my goal of 75 books. Because this resolution failed in 2012, I’m going to give it another shot in 2013. Once again, I’m going to set a goal to read at least 75 books during the year 2013. Again, if I can just manage to read 6.25 books per month, I should be able to reach this goal. I managed to make a late run and came closer to 75 than I thought I would for 2012. Therefore, I will simply pace myself and will meet my goal of 75 books in 2013.

Resolution # 3 – Weight Loss. This resolution was the biggest failure for me in 2012. I managed by the end of the year to weigh a whopping one pound less than I did at the beginning of the year. I know I can do this, and I’m going to work a lot harder at it. My goal for 2012 had been to lose 20 pounds over the course of the year. I’m going to put more pressure on myself this year. My goal is to lose at least five pounds every month. If I can do that, I will lose 60 pounds by the end of the year. That still won’t put me at my goal weight, but it would be a heck of a start. I’m going to use two apps on my Kindle Fire (the WWPP – Weight Watchers Points Plus – Calculator and Lose It!) to help me track what I eat so that I can make sure I’m staying within the appropriate boundaries to lose the weight I want to lose.

Resolution # 4 – Classic Movies. Every year in December, I show the movie It’s a Wonderful Life to my classes. It’s a classic, and many of the students have never seen it. This made me think about other movies that are classics, ones that I have not seen. As a result, I have compiled a list of classic movies that I will watch by the end of the year. It is possible that I may watch other classic movies that are not on this list, but after reviewing several online lists of classic movies, these are the ones I have decided I should watch. They are: The Shawshank Redemption, Casablanca, Schindler’s List, Citizen Kane, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sunset Boulevard, Rebel without a Cause, Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and White Christmas.

Resolution # 5 – Food. Since trying a new recipe every week is now a habit for my family, my food-related resolution for 2013 will deal with restaurants. With three of our four children living in Lexington, we make frequent trips there. We have our favorite restaurants, and we usually make it a point to visit one of those whenever we happen to be in Lexington. For 2013, we are going to diversify. We are usually in Lexington at least twice a month, and at various times throughout the year we are in places other than Pikeville and Jackson. At least once per month, we are going to go to a new restaurant. By the end of the year, we will have visited 12 new restaurants and may even add a new favorite to the list. If we’re feeling really frisky and adventurous, we might even order something that we would never ordinarily consider ordering, though I’m not going to make that part of the resolution.

There you have it. My five resolutions for the year 2013. Five is a manageable number. Three of the five are more difficult and will require a significant amount of work on my part. The other two are fairly easy and shouldn’t be difficult at all to achieve. Remember, though, that we do need to feel good about ourselves, which means we have to have some success along the way. Hopefully the ease of the last two resolutions will help keep me inspired and motivated to achieve the more difficult first three. Either way, I’ll keep you posted.

It’s a Wonderful Life, Really

Can you believe it? The first semester of the 2011-12 school year is over. For those of us at Breathitt High, today was the first day of our second semester. That’s because our students started on August 1, and the only days off we’ve had were Labor Day, a one-day fall break in October, Election Day, and three days for Thanksgiving. So, today started our second semester, and because we’re going to school three days next week, we’ll actually have eight days of second semester completed before our Christmas break even begins, especially given that the weather forecast shows no signs of snow between now and then.

So far, I’d have to say the year is going well. My AP kids are getting into the swing of things and aren’t feeling quite as overwhelmed as they did before, even though we still have lots and lots of material to cover before the AP exam in May. The dual-credit classes are going well; we’re transitioning from Writing I to Writing II. Those kids had a lot of adjustments to make, understanding the weights of various assignments, the penalties for late work, and the consequences of not attending class. Fortunately, most of them have made that transition nicely. A few had to learn lessons the hard way, but I’d rather they learn them now, with one class, rather than next year when they’re off on a college campus with a full course load.

I’ve had a lot of fun with my classes this year. The AP kids are finishing up their drama unit, and we’re looking forward to (at least I am; they may beg to differ) poetry after Christmas. The dual-credit kids are looking forward to earning three more college hours. Hopefully with the lessons learned from first semester, they’ll have an even better second semester.

And in order to kickstart the semester, at the end of this week, all of my classes will be watching It’s a Wonderful Life. Many of them have never seen this movie, mainly because it’s “old” and the original was in black and white. The version I’ll be showing them is the colorized one, which will lend some appeal to it for them; however, I can almost hear the groaning now. As you might guess, they don’t mind watching a Christmas movie, but they’d rather watch something more current, even if it’s one they’ve already seen. But they’ll deal with it, and if they are like most students who’ve sat through this movie for me, when it’s over, a few of the brave ones will confess they actually enjoyed it.

I didn’t watch this movie until I was an adult, and I absolutely love it. For one thing, Jimmy Stewart is just awesome. But beyond that, I just love the theme of the movie. Everybody is important. It really is that simple. With the help of an angel trying to earn his wings, George Bailey (Stewart’s character) sees what life would’ve been like in Bedford Falls had he never been born. It’s amazing how many lives we touch during our lifetimes, and how radically different things could be had we never been born.

So, despite the moaning and groaning I’m sure I’ll get to hear when we start the movie, I’m going into the movie with enthusiasm. I’m hoping the kids will all be pleasantly surprised and discover a love for this movie as well.

It’s the Season for Classic TV

The fall holiday season begins in October with Halloween and runs through the end of the year. Each year, there are numerous television “specials” and movies that return to entertain us during this wonderful time of the year. Here are a few of my favorite must-sees each year. Most of mine are Christmas specials, but I do have a Halloween and Thanksgiving special I like.

1. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – This is really the only Halloween show that I watch on a regular basis. I’m not into scary movies, so all the Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, or Scary Movie movies are out for me. Halloweentown and other more kid-friendly movies are OK for the kiddies, but they don’t really interest me either. But when it comes to the Charlie Brown cartoons, I do enjoy their holiday specials. The crazy thing is regardless of how many times you watch the episode, like Linus, you believe that just maybe this year will be the year the Great Pumpkin shows up.

2. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – When Peppermint Patty invites herself to be Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving guest, you know there must be some sort of mayhem to follow, and that, of course, Charlie Brown will be able to pull something out of his hat. You even believe Lucy when she wants Charlie Brown to kick the football, and this time it will be OK because the football game is part of Thanksgiving tradition, and surely she won’t pull it away this time.

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas – While we’re on a Charlie Brown roll, we may as well finish with the classic Christmas cartoon. Who could forget that pitiful Christmas tree that Charlie Brown cared so much for? As Charlie Brown fights the commercialism surrounding Christmas (and this cartoon first appeared in 1965, wonder what he’d think now!), you’re right there with him looking for the true meaning of Christmas. Of course, he finds it; it wouldn’t be a good Christmas special otherwise.

4. It’s a Wonderful Life – I was an adult before I watched this movie, but I love it. It stars Jimmy Stewart. who makes George Bailey one of the most memorable and loveable characters of all time. Watching as George learns what life in Bedford Falls would be like had he never been born allows us to wonder about our own lives. We have no idea how many people we influence over the course of our lives. George learns his lesson, and all his friends come to his rescue at the end in order to repay George’s many selfless acts over the years. It’s heart-warming to think that there are still some good folks out there. Because this isn’t at the top of most teens’ must-see movie list, and because this is a classic, I try to help the cause of educating our children by having my classes watch the movie every year. A few of them are not ashamed to admit they enjoy it.

5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – You all know the story. Outcast Rudolph has been banned from reindeer games because he’s different. He runs away with the misfit elf and by the time their adventures end, Rudolph realizes he must go home, and he arrives just in time so Santa doesn’t have to cancel Christmas. He uses that bright red light-bulb nose to guide Santa’s sleigh through the snowstorm, and even rescues all the toys from the Island of Misfit Toys. Later, they made Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie and Rudolph’s Shiny New Year but those just don’t measure up to the original for me.

6. Frosty the Snowman – Every year you watch Frosty and you hope he’ll make it to the North Pole before he melts. The magic of the snow helps bring out the kid in you, remembrances of snow days, sledding, and building snowmen. This little cartoon just brings out the fun of the season, and, of course, everyone’s thrilled when Santa arrives to admonish the sneaky magician who returns the hat so Frosty will live. Again there are spinoffs, Frosty Returns and Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, but they don’t have the same magical feel as the original.

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Who doesn’t love Dr. Seuss? This classic Christmas story is an all-time favorite of mine. I love the original cartoon and can nearly recite it word-for-word while I watch. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Jim Carrey movie did not disappoint me, and now, each year, both the cartoon and the live-action movie are on my list of holiday specials. You just never get tired of watching the Grinch steal Christmas, only to discover he didn’t really steal Christmas.

8. Mickey’s Christmas Carol – There are almost too many versions of A Christmas Carol to count, but my favorite remains the Mickey Mouse version. I’m not normally a Charles Dickens fan, despite the fact that I teach English. I do, however, like the opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities, and I like this book. The Disney cartoon sticks quite close to the original story as Dickens presents it, which only adds to the appeal of watching Mickey as Bob Cratchit and Uncle Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. Watching Scrooge learn his lesson never gets old.

9. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street – I know there are newer versions of Sesame Street Christmas movies, but this one remains my favorite, probably because it’s the one I watched with my kids. Our resident grouch, Oscar, tells Big Bird that if Santa can’t fit down the chimney, there will be no presents, and this, of course, worries Big Bird who ultimately learns that there’s more to Christmas than the presents anyway. Of course, there have been numerous Sesame Street movies since, but this one remains my favorite.

10. A Christmas Story – Would any list be complete without this classic? All little Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun. Of course, his mother is opposed, because obviously he will “shoot his eye out” if he gets one. There are so many memorable scenes in this movie, from Ralphie’s little brother being so bundled up in his winter clothes that he can’t move to Flick’s tongue getting stuck to the flagpole to Ralphie’s dad receiving the leg lamp to Ralphie shooting himself in the eye with the BB gun.  Given that there’s usually a 24- hour marathon for this one, you don’t really have an excuse to skip it.

So, this is the list of my favorite seasonal classics, and between the time with family, the wonderful dinners, the shopping, and all other things that make this such an exciting time of year, these classics just add to the excitement. If you haven’t seen any of them, I strongly suggest you check them out.