I have a fun tradition. Every year, I write a letter to myself, reviewing the previous year. I write it as if I hadn’t lived the year, and describe everything that happened. This year, it was painful to write, since this year has been arguably one of the worst of my life. Still, I have high hopes for 2010.

I also write resolutions. There’s a lot of argument about whether having resolutions actually works, but for me, they do. I keep them on my wall where I can see them and read them throughout the year.

I’d like to share mine with you.

1. Get my family back together.

2. Lose another 10 pounds.

3. Learn to snowboard and ski.

4. Have more than enough money.

5. Move to a city we all love.

6. Be more thoughtful toward husband.

7. Love son hard.

8. Change someone’s life for the better.

9. Get a camera.

10. Be happy.

You can see, they’re simple and attainable. I plan at the end of the year to be able to say, “Yep, did that one,” for each of these.

What about you? Do you make resolutions or goals at the start of the year? Why don’t you share them with us so we can help keep you accountable to your own success?

We’re a few days into our week long vacation in New Orleans. This is the first vacation we’ve ever taken for this long!

Happy New Year!

I’ve been telling people about our holiday traditions lately and I thought it would make a good post.

Some people decorate their Christmas trees with the same ornaments, like all red balls and silver ribbon. I scoff at those people (sorry). My mother’s tree, and now mine, are a culmination of 45 years of collecting. Every time we go on a trip we get an ornament. She still has the tacky Charlie Brown ornaments I painted with that awful sticky paint 25 years ago. The God’s Eye one of my brothers made. The plastic Santa and reindeer that topped one of my father’s cakes 30 years ago. And I love it all.

I love that each ornament takes me to the place we bought it. The kiosk in Holland. The RiverWalk in San Antonio. Tarpon Springs. And I look forward to the day that Max (or maybe his significant other) will want to take some of them for his own tree, just like I did when I went off to college.

What about you? How does your family celebrate the holidays? What are your traditions?