Only 51 Weeks Until Christmas

That's the new way I'm looking at New Year's Day.

It's traditionally the day for me to set goals for the year.  Resolutions never last, but setting a goal and holding yourself accountable usually does.

This year is no different, except in one regard.  It's always been taken for granted when I've set goals that life in this country will continue on like it always has.  But now I doubt it will.  It's taken me a while, but I think I'm finally over the fact that the country I grew up in, the one that I thought was so great, no longer exists.  Boiled like the proverbial frog.

So, realizing that conditions have changed, and that setting and making goals may not turn out to be so important by year's end, I hang myself out there once again.

This year I have set the goal of reading the Apocrypha.  I have always wanted to do that, but never have.

So last week I ordered The Apocrypha: The Lutheran Edition With Notes from CPH.

In glancing through the book, it appears to be quite substantial in its detail and completeness.  The introductory chapters are a hundred pages long.  I think. 

You see, my only criticism so far is that the introductory chapters have Roman Numeral page numbers.  C is 100, right?  My Roman Numeral days are way too long ago.

I think we should have the option of opting out of Roman Numerals when we're out of school.  There should be 2 ways to order a book- Roman Numeral and Non-Roman Numeral.

Anyway, there's a nice reading guide at the beginning that includes a daily Bible reading.  The Bible passages are chosen to relate to the Apocryphal reading that day in some way.

Once we're done with that, we'll move on to the Book Of Concord.  We are fortunate to have 2 editions in our house.  We have the Tappert edition and the more recent edition, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. 

I've read most of Tappert and almost none of the newer edition, so I am really looking forward to that later in the year.

As far as exercise, I will keep my goal at 25,000 push ups and 25,000 squats.  I am adding to that 7500 pull-ups/chin-ups.  I'll need more recovery time between days for the pull-ups, so I won't be able to do as many for the year.

This year will also mark my 50th birthday, so I want to be able to manage 50 push ups or more that day without stopping to rest.  This will, of course, depend on my health at that time.

I am setting a goal of 300 posts for the year on this blog.

Last year was a vast wasteland for this blog.  I just was not inspired to write much.  Which meant I needed the break.

Writing is something I do everyday in my vocation, and I'm not a writer by trade, so sometimes extra writing can seem like a chore.

I also intend to veer this blog back to its original off-kilter-ness, if possible.  It's lost some of its goofiness through the years. 

Hey, give me a break.  Eight years is a long time to stay fresh.

How in the world did Ozzie and Harriet do it?

Well, I guess by doing things like Ozzie's Girls.  But I promise not to do that.

I do want to get back to doing NFL uniform critiques on this blog, something I started in the early days of 2005 and stopped doing because of time constraints.

The one big goal for this year around the house is putting in a patio.  That has to get done. 

I also want to start most of my annuals and vegetables by seed this year.

I guess that's about it.

Besides not screwing up.  But that's not very likely.

That's my new year, Deo Volente.