There's Gonna Be Some Changes

Twenty-odd years ago, a good friend and I would greet each New Year's with the same promise: this year, we said, "there's gonna be some changes."  One year it was when I got married; another year, she promised she was going to get a new job.  The dreams of each new year sounded big, and impressive, and maybe just a little scary at their immensity.

The first 31 days of 2013 suggest the old trope will actually be coming true this year: there's gonna be some changes, in 2013.  As the shine of New Year's resolutions fades and we confront in February the gritty realities of the year to come, there's still quite an extensive list of things we're planning to do this year:

• Tomorrow we go to visit the Fairfax County Humane Society's dog farm and look at doggies.  After months of "I wanna puppy I wanna puppy I wanna puppy," we're actually going to do it.  We've bought the food and water dishes and baby gates (to mark off space in the house so Doggy can get used to it gradually instead of Whoomp all at once), and we have our eye on one dog we're hoping to meet and who might come home with us later in the month.
• In mid-January Mary and I went to the Home and Remodeling Expo and began, formally, the process of spending tens of thousands of dollars.  The hope is to be able to redo the master bathroom and some portion of the kitchen; we've already contracted with one outfit do redo Sarah's and the master closets, and we've already met with three contractors (fourth is coming up) to see what they can do and how large a bag of money we'd need to come up with.  But one way or another, one room or another (if not both) will be done in 2013.
• After years of inaction, we're beginning to redo the living room: scrapbooking supplies are moving to the rec room, which brings us to...after years of inaction, work (of a sort) is starting on the train set, too!  I'm making the executive decision that some parts of the train won't ever be set up, and so I'm repurposing parts for later use.  The scrapping station will go where those unused train set parts are stored.
• I bought myself my own drum kit, which is now also ensconced in the rec room.
• And, perhaps inspired during my time at Harvard last month, I have started some writing projects, one of which I want to see through in the coming year.

And that's only the first 31 days! May the good starts begun in January bear fruit throughout the year and into the years to come...