New Year's Resolutions

"There goes 6 hours I'll never get back!"

I've learned over the years that if I put my previously unstated goals down on paper, I tend to focus a little more on accomplishing them. Here are a few that I have for 2008. I will probably add more as this is a working list, but it's a start:

1. Avoid flights thru Denver in the winter (see previous post).

2. Take my sons hunting with their new shotguns. Deer, rabbit, squirrel, elk, bear, cats, rats, birds, fish, cans, trees, each other--it probably doesn't matter what. It's the act of getting out there and doing it, I think.

3. Take the family Salmon fishing. I hear the fishing is great around Seattle. The thought of my 8-year-old hooking a big 10 pounder would make my day.

4. Get my family to try (and like) fish. This is dependent on the success of number 3.

5. Get up to Victoria, BC, for a visit. I hear it's really a nice town.

6. Read three of the Easton Press classics in our bookcase that have been patiently waiting for me to spend some time with them. No Cliff's Notes, either.

7. Requalify as an airdrop pilot. This is the most fun flying there is in the C-17.

8. Cook a great meal once a month. Fishsticks and fries don't count. Neither does anything microwavable.

9. Write a song for my wife. I've got to up my game on the guitar this year. My wife has listened to the same renditions of "Folsom County Blues" and "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" for the past two years. Merely putting words to these melodies does not count either. I figure that would be a nice way to tell her how much I love her. Much better than a vacuum cleaner.

10. Make and can homemade jelly. I've been wanting to try this for years. I'm tossing around some new flavor ideas. Boiled gym sock, belly button lint, barber shop floor sweepings, gas station men's room urinal cookie, or strawberry. I'll let my kids decide.

11. Plant and (hopefully) harvest my own garden in my own backyard. I've always gotten a kick out of growing my own stuff. Legal stuff, of course.

12. Get the font scheme figured out on this blog. It just doesn't do what I want it to do. Banging on the keyboard doesn't work. I've tried that several times. No, I haven't read the directions. I'm a guy. It's supposed to come to me naturally, right?

I think this is probably a good start for now. Hopefully I'll look back on it in a year and check them all off. Headed downrange again tomorrow on another flight. Looks like I'll actually get in the seat and fly this time.