2006, so far...

Its been more than a week since the New Year began, so I thought I should check up on myself to see if I have been following my resolutions.

1. Be myself. Yep, I think I've done a masterful job of that one so far. Just ask Bethany.
2. Have a more positive attitude. Well, I am positive that I can do better at this one.
3. Buy a new suit and wear it for no good reason. No new suit yet, but I did wear my new boxers when I went outside in the 31 degree cold to feed the goats this morning.
4. Drink full flavored beer again. It has been a distinct pleasure to conform to this one.
5. Be honest and fair while controlling my temper. So far, I have shown signs of improvement, except when I ran that little old lady off the highway yesterday after she cut me off in traffic. I'm sure she's fine.
6. Become more spiritual. I plan on checking out some books on Buddhism and Taoism tomorrow when I return some library books. (Do you think the Ashland library will be that enlightened?)
7. Take Alex on a weekly adventure. We watched bald eagles thru his new telescope the other day and we went to a family Christmas this weekend that included three kids under age 6, three dogs, and a dozen grown-ups drinking highballs and Missouri wine. (That's what I call adventure!)
8. Write a novel. I am working on chapter five and hope to have a first draft done by the end of February.
9. Perform one altruistic act per week. This is a tough one. President Lincoln was rumored to have ordered his carriage driver to stop so that Abe could hop out to free a pig from a mud hole it was hopelessly stuck in. A reporter asked him why he would ruin a good suit just to save a lowly beast. Abe said he didn't do it for the pig, he did it for himself. He claimed that he couldn't have lived with the guilt of knowing he did nothing to help the poor creature. Therefore, he concluded there are no altruistic acts, the motivation for his good deed was actually to make himself feel better- not the pig. I haven't done anything remarkably altruistic yet in '06. Maybe this will be the week.
10. Save up to buy a hot rod/family cruiser. Well, we are definately saving. Bethany switched us to a cash only lifestyle and a strict budget. So far, we have been shocked by how much money we are saving.

It seems that I have made some strides in the right direction so far this new year. Now that all of our holiday obligations are over, life will get closer to normal and I can kick the plan into high gear. OK, a Naughton's life can never be described as normal, but there's no harm in trying. Look out '06, here I come.