Clutter as you enter my house: three scarves (Resolution No. 8), a stack of miscellaneous books, and a bowl from the Southwest, pre-1920.

The bowl is OK there. But the scarves and the stack of books should go some place else.

Resolution No. 8: Try to finish most of the 20+ scarfs I've started.

I bought this very neat seltzer water maker (SodaStream) to help me with Resolution No. 5. It will pay for itself by April.

Status report on Resolutions:
1. Don't eat after midnight. (a tiny bit of success, but not really enough to count)
2. Walk each day. (got off to a great start....)
3. Eat only fruit or yogurt before dinner. (some success at this)
4. Read each New Yorker as it arrives and never skip an issue. (100% success so far!)
5. Don't bring soft drinks into the house. (90% success!)
6. Read only one novel at a time and one non-fiction book at a time. (some progress; I have high hopes about this one)
7. It's OK to start knitting a new pair of socks but it's not OK to start any new scarfs or quilts. (100% success so far)
8. Try to finish most of the 20+ scarfs I've started. (nothing to report yet, but hey it's only Jan 22)
9. Finish at least two of the 20+ quilts I've started. (see above--too soon to tell)
10. Be better about replying more promptly to emails and acknowledging birthdays and gifts. (tiny bit of success)
12. Post something every day on this blog. (total failure so far)

A working list of resolutions. And I love my winter-blooming rosemary.

1. Don't eat after midnight. (hard but possible)
2. Each day walk around the pond next door or walk a mile on the treadmill. If I miss a day I can double-up the next. (easy and possible)
3. Get back to my years-long habit of eating only fruit or yogurt before dinner. Exception: I can have lunch with friends and eat a smallish lunch but I should always bring home leftovers. (possible)
4. Read each New Yorker as it arrives and never skip an issue. (hard but possible)
5. Don't bring soft drinks into the house. Instead, drink iced tea or water or those nasty Crystal Light drinks. (Goals = using less plastic, aluminum, and glass; drinking fewer chemicals; saving money.) Exceptions: I can drink a soft drink at someone's home or in a restaurant, and anything that someone else brings into the house I can drink. But I can't say "hey, while you're at the store could you pick up some soft drinks." (hard, maybe unrealistic)
6. Read only one novel at a time and one non-fiction book at a time. If I start the non-fiction but don't pick it back up for a week, put it back on the shelf and start another. (hard but possible)
7. It's OK to start knitting a new pair of socks but it's not OK to start any new scarfs or quilts. (very possible)
8. Try to finish most of the 20+ scarfs I've started. (hard, maybe unrealistic)
9. Finish at least two of the 20+ quilts I've started. (hard but possible)
10. Be better about replying more promptly to emails and acknowledging birthdays and gifts. (possible and should be easy)
11. Listen more, talk less. (possible but unlikely)
12. Post something every day on this blog. And either get over the feeling that having a blog means I'm either a narcissist or an exhibitionist (I don't think it about others, so why would it be true of me?) or quit blogging. (unlikely)