Happy New Year

I’d like to say happy New Years to everyone out there. I hope that everyone had a safe time last night. My wife and I had a nice dinner with my parents-in-law at our house. We had some turkey (leftover from Christmas), stuffing, roll, cranberry sauce and some candied yams. Considering that this was the first time that I had made turkey or candied yams, I think that they both turned out pretty good. My wife made a wonderful cherry cobbler for dessert. Let the leftover lunches begin!

2003 was an interesting year for me. It was filled with firsts: It was the first time I had moved into my own house. It was the first time I had a holiday without my relatives. It was the first time I had a white Christmas. It was the first time my commute to work was a walk upstairs. It was the first time I drove cross-country. It was the first time I saw lightning bugs.

Like most people, I would like to make my list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2004: My first Resolution is to finish my Associates Degree. I had hoped that I would be finished by the end of the year, but my final project was larger than I had expected. The scope of the project centers on the computerization of a fictional doctor’s office. The project is broken up into 11 sub-projects. I’ve already finished the first two projects and I’m halfway through the third.

My second Resolution is drop down to the weight I was when I was in high school. Fortunately, I’m already halfway to my goal. My wife has been very supportive of me mainly by not laughing when I do my exercises and by not giving me strange looks when I by exercise-related equipment.

My third and final Resolution is to get a better handle on my debt. Unless my wife or I get a higher paying job or we win the lottery, there is no possible way to get out of debt this year. So, I am going to concentrate on the debts with higher interest rates, mainly credit cards. A few years ago, I closed all of my credit card accounts. Now, I only write checks or use a debit card. However, I’m still paying off the credit cards. My solution is to get an equity line on the house. That way, instead of paying an average of 13 percent, I will only pay 6 percent. That will enable me to pay the cards off faster. In addition, it should give a better cash flow so that I can pay more towards other debts as well.

Well, there was probably more that I wanted to say, but I hear a turkey sandwich calling me downstairs. Have a good year!

Tagline for today: “I was watching the Superbowl with my 92 year old grandfather. The team scored a touchdown. They showed the instant replay. He thought they scored another one. I was gonna tell him, but I figured the game HE was watching was better.” - Steven Wright