December 29, 2001

With New Year’s just around the corner, it’s time to completely revamp one’s life with what I call the Resolution Revolution. I tend to take New Year’s Resolutions very seriously. With the dropping of the ball and the birth of a new year, its the best time to take a new lease on life, slip into the body that I’ve always dreamed about, clear my skin, become more spiritually focused, get involved in civic affairs, become a cook, a gardener, a sky-diver, a nuclear physist, the list goes on and on.

But seriously, I do have hopes of improving my life and well-being around the New Year’s holiday. The holiday holds so much promise.

Last year, one of my major New Year’s resolutions was to become a full-time vegetarian. I had been dinking around with being a part-time vegetarian for a couple of months beforehand, mostly when it was convenient, but I told myself I needed to become dedicated to the cause. If it had the ability to take a dump, I wasn’t going to eat it. That lasted until we went out west for vacation and I discovered “Sonic” and “In and Out” burger. So much for that.

Another resolution I made last year was to not spend unnecessary money. In celebration of this event, I went crazy on ebay and purchased a cash register system from a defunct department store. I guess I needed a place to store all the money I was saving.

One of my better resolutions of last year was to learn to speak French. I did the whole CD tutorial thing, along with “French for Dummies”. Earl and I headed up to Montréal for a weekend, the perfect opportunity to test out my French. Trying to be friendly, I tried to strike up a conversation with a nice older woman in the mall. Since it was July, I simply said “Boy, it’s hot”. After she slugged me with her purse I realized that I had said, “I’m in heat.” So much for French.

The first resolution of this year is the only one I am going to share. I’m not sharing my resolutions with anyone. After years of making promises to myself, and announcing them loudly to everyone within a 50 mile radius of my mouth, people tend to not take me seriously anymore. But after my Resolution Revolution of 2002, suffice it to say that I’m going to be rich, famous, a contributing member of society and absolutely gorgeous to look at. At least until January 15.

Saturday- Earl and I are on vacation as I write this on my Palm Pilot. We’ve combined our fifth anniversary and New Years into a getaway weekend. We’re in center city Philadelphia at Embassy Suites Logan Square. We stopped off at Earl’s dad’s for a quick visit before coming into Center City. After checking in, we went for a nice brisk walk down Market Street and in the theatre district. I have a new appreciation for Philly. I’m looking forward to more exploring this weekend. Tomorrow is the Giants at Eagles game – we’re going with Earl’s brother. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Sunday- Well, I survived the game. Upon going to bed last night, Earl informed me that we needed to get up at 7.30. Mind you, this is for a 4 p.m. game!! His brother has an old UPS truck converted to a tail-gating party machine! So we got to the stadium around 10, fired up the grill and had a good time. David and I were interviewed on channel 10 about the cold temps (it was 20 degrees), so we were on the news…Earl too as he was the cook. It was a grear game, with it being close right up until the last second, but the Eagles pulled it off and became Division champions. I guess its official, I’m a football fan, but don’t tell Earl.

Monday- today we went to see the historic sights of Philly. If you decide to tour Philly, be sure to use PLASH, the tourist bus system. It makes getting around the city a snap.
We started off at the Liberty Bell, which was awesome. We then went to the visitor’s center for a bit before heading over to Independence Hall. I found the tour fascinating, and confirmed one of my New Year’s resolutions, to learn as much American History that I can. I must not of paid attention in high school, so I bought a book to read this winter. I am really looking forward to it. Earl and I both noted that there was no resistance from tourists to new security measures. Security was tighter than airport security before Sept. 11, I had to even take off my belt to have it inspected.
We also went to The Second Bank, now The Portrait’s Gallery.
We then went to One Liberty Place for a little shopping and CHICK-FIL-A. You know I couldn’t go without Chick-Fil-A!
For dinner, we went to The Chart House at Penn’s Landing. Back to the scene of the crime so to speak, as we exchanged our vows at Penn’s Landing five years ago on Dec. 26. The food was absolutely wonderful, our server, Michelle, was the finesr server we have ever had, and the company wad pretty good too! All in all, a wonderful New Year’s Eve!
Tuesday – We got up early and checked out of the hotel. I must say that I really liked Embassy Suites. I highly recommend them. We then went to Bristol to visit Earl’s folks, but they weren’t home, so we raided the fridge and headed out. On the way home we stopped at Best Buy outside of Scranton. We got a couple of geek toys and Earl got Creed and Train on CD. We then headed home, and I’m finishing this entry up on my Palm Pilot on I-81 at Exit 201. We should be home around 4:30.