And Like A Coiled Viper, SHE STRIKES!

"Because I have a big life, I get big lessons and that [being sued by cattlemen in Texas] was a huge one for me. Huge, huge, huge, huge, huge. To understand that things happen outside of you and the things that happen outside of you don't define you, even a lawyer spitting in your face, calling you a liar and a manipulator. The person you are describing is not who I am and that was the "bingo" moment for me. I thought, that's what all trial is. Everybody in the world goes through a trial in one form or another. Some people have disease as their trial, saying to you I'm going to take over your body and this is who you are, you are the disease. And you have to stand inside yourself and say no, I am not the disease. No. I am not the divorce. No. I am not the beatings. No. I am not the devastation that has happened to me.

No. THIS is who I am." - Oprah Winfrey


Ragdoll has always used the term New Year's Revolutions, and it's a term that frankly, I have always preferred. A resolution says "I will do." A revolution says "I will become."

So in no particular order of importance, here are my "revolutions" for 2006.

1. I will get a new hairdresser. Initially the cuts by my new hairdresser were good. But the quality has slipped. And frankly, I don't like having my hair done by somebody who's phoning it in, to the point where I'm getting charged full price [I realized later] and not getting my hair blow dried. I would like to go to a hairdresser who it is not like pulling teeth to have a conversation with and who does not act uneasy around me.
   
   
2. Speaking of hair, I will never again use cheap ass shampoo. When Ragdoll had her hip surgery her RRHB had to leave work early. So her condition came up in conversation because he had to explain why he needed to leave. For some reason, either who he was talking to or someone who overheard, gave him a teddy bear and an extra large bottle of shampoo and conditioner each. Yeah I know. WEIRD. Anyway, Ragdoll didn't need either so I, in an attempt to be frugal, took them. Last week, after over a year of this bullsh*t, I finally caved in and got regular shampoo. I now feel like I have a whole new head.
   
   
3. Operation Pudge Nudge: I will lose 60 pounds. More on this later.
   
   
4. I will get shelves put in my basement so that I can
   
   
5. Get organized once and for all.
   
   
6. I will pay off one line of credit.
   
   
7. I will garden more.
   
   
8. I will sing more.
   
   
9. I will complete a short story and enter it in the Toronto Star Short Story contest.
   
   
10. I will complete another short story and attempt to get it published elsewhere.
    
    
11. I will finish the first draft of my children's book.
    
    
12. I will eat a pomegranate.
    
    
13. I will stop buying so much frozen breaded crap from the grocery store and do more home cooking.
    
    
14. I will finish at least five chapters of my novel.
    
    

And there they are, my plans for 2006.